'Jomo', of Byron Lee's Dragonaires delights the audience at the Little Ochie Seafood Carnival. - Photos by Noel Thompson

WESTERN BUREAU:

Wow! What a performance! That was the statement on just about everybody's lips when the famous carnival band, Byron Lee's Dragonaires, unleashed a masterpiece on Sunday.

It was an electrifying late afternoon leading into midnight on the beach at the 11th staging of the Little Ochie Bigga Seafood Carnival in Alligator Pond, Manchester.

As the waves rushed into shore, patrons got an adrenaline rush when a nicely packaged entertainment segment was rolled out. Music was truly the universal language that everyone understood.

Della Manley, singer/songwriter, and friend B'Journ kicked things off with some groovy rhythms, with the Heptones' Book of Rules, Dennis Brown's If I Follow My Heart, and Fade Away, written by Chinna Smith and sung by Junior Byles.

All-time favourites

The veteran Ernie Smith proved that he was still in demand, as he plucked some of his all-time favourites from his musical collection, including the contentiously hilarious Elsada, Pitter Patter, and Duppy or Gunman for an encore.

But when Byron Lee's Dragonaires hit the stage, they totally transformed the small venue into a carnival parade.

The sun was broiling hot, the wind was strong and the sand blew into people's mouths, but they didn't seem to mind.

It was as if they were hypnotised for more than an hour, as the Dragonaires, Guyanese Jomo and Trinidadians CL and Lima took the thousands to another level.

Singer/songwriter Ernie Smith wooing the crowd.

The energy from the performers transferred to the crowd, and they behaved wildly, even though, by then, space was totally rationed.

By nightfall, magicians Andrew Bruce from Montego Bay and Merrick Panton from St Ann's Bay tricked the crowd with their many illusions.

Musical storm

Bass Odyssey raked up a musical storm for an unbroken period. But if the audience thought they had enough, they were in for even bigger surprises - Byron Lee's Dragonaires were back for round two.

And this time, their 90-minute performance was incomparable to their first, as they demonstrated their versatility in delivering music of all genres. The pace was set and no other artiste could either match or outdo them.

Tony Rebel, Leroy Gibbons, Gregory Isaacs, Lady G, Romain Virgo, Nesbeth and Queen Ifrica all performed well and equally earned the audience's respect and full participation.

Bass Odyssey closed the night with hardcore reggae and dancehall rhythms thumping from the jukeboxes.