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St Kitts Music Festival 2005 |
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Monday, 04 July 2005 |
 As reasons to flee the UK become more obvious with every Thomas Cook and Lunn Polly ad that saturates our screens this summer, the thought of attending a descent music festival on sunnier pastures seems a pretty good idea. That said, kicking back in St Kitts turned out to be an excellent option – not only is it one of the most gorgeous islands in the West Indies, but its host to an annual four day musical feast which mishmashes rappers, soca MCs, reggae legends and soul singers, all intended to celebrate grand spanking good music.
The festival lived up to its round-the-year hype from the moment calypso great Roy Cape and the Kaiso Allstars hit the stage to ecstatic performances from David Rudder, Black Stalin, and soca legend Mechal Montano, who took the liberty of bringing the all-mighty Doug E Fresh on stage for an ingenious duet. And that was only day one. By the second day, the crowd had lapped up noteworthy performances from R&B newcomer Keshia Chante and Rupee before dancehall band T.O.K really showed how the West Indians like to get down. But Atlanta’s finest Ludacris hi-jacked the night once the likes of “What’s Your Fantasy”, “Move Bitch”, “Area Codes” and “Number One Spot” forced the crowd to “throw them bows” and then some.
 On Saturday, another ATL native, T.I, maintained the riotous mood with a superb albeit brief performance, warming up the stage for a highly anticipated set from Boyz II Men. Though one man down, the Philly boys didn’t disappointed judging by the thousands of hands which waved in slow-mo along to “End of the Road” and “Down on Bended Knees”. But this enjoyable trip down memory lane with Shawn, Nathan and Wanya wasn’t comparable to Wyclef Jean who was the main attraction, offering a performance which will go down as the most enjoyable spectacle of the whole festival.
All it took was a brief rendition of the classic “Fu-Gee-La” and “Gone till November” to get fists pumping, and by throwing himself into the crowd on a number of occasions, Clef more than proved he’s the worthy rock star. He even had us partying until the early morning and took over for his DJ by 4am, serving a crowd that clearly had no intention of catching sleep. Shame the final night of the festival wasn’t as live as lovely sets from Atlantic Starr and Country singer Kenny Rogers amongst others could hardly touch Clef’s killer and now legendary routine. Still, seeing Kenny close the festival by flaunting his youthful wife on stage like an O.G mack, and dishing up the classic “The Gambler”, had revellers leaving the grounds with plenty to smile about.
Words by: Matilda Egere-Cooper
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