Blues and Rhythms festival hailed a success

Despite a few ‘hiccups’ in its initial stages, this year’ Blues and Rhythms festival was hailed a success and is said to be growing in stature.

According to early reports coming out of the Ministry of Tourism, the weekend’s production went well and performances and attendance surpassed expectations.{{more}}

The late announcement of the acts in this year’s event may have hampered overseas promotion, but that could not be seen with the turn out on both nights, when music lovers were entertained and thrilled by the local and foreign performers.

Friday night’s acts had the Emerald Valley Casino and Resort jumping as that night was considered the ‘party night’, with local acts Axcess, Skarpyon and Kyron Baptiste holding their own on stage and receiving standing ovations.

Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin kept the crowd moving with his performance, switching from sax to clarinet to flute in an almost effortless style. At one point, he came down from the stage and mingled with the audience, and partying with a number of the ladies.

International media house BET J were on hand to film the event which will be aired in North America and Europe. The film crew and visiting executives were said to be impressed with the production and made a few recommendations for future events.

French ‘Zouk’ band Kassav brought the curtains down of the first night’s proceedings, taking fans back through the years with their hits and had to return to the stage for an encore.

On Saturday, the local acts consisting Bomani, Ashley Kirby and the Honky Tonics again did not disappoint, and the soulful vibes of Ella Andall, Marva Wright and headliner Stephanie Mills brought this year’s outing to a close with style.

This year’s event brought a greater spectrum of music to the show, justifying the name change of the event to Blues and Rhythms. The new location was regarded as being just as pleasant as Buccama On The Bay, and local sound system Dynamic guys who provided sound and lighting for the first time were said to be comparable to the overseas company used over the years.

An assessment session by the organizing committee is to take place soon, and the Ministry hopes to begin planning for next year’s session in the not too distant future.