The 'Warlord' Bounty Killer gave an awesome performance at Reggae Sumfest Dancehall Night in Catherine Hall, Montego Bay. - Photo by Noel Thompson

Western Bureau: On a night when the stars sparkled, the indefatigable Beenie Man once again proved himself the ultimate crowd-pleaser on the Dancehall Night segment of Reggae Sumfest, lifting appreciative patrons into a state of musical ecstasy at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Centre, in Montego Bay, early Friday morning.

Seemingly quite relaxed, the charismatic Beenie Man was, nonetheless, far from subtle as he took calculated jabs at arch-rival Bounty Killer, at one time stating that the Michael Jackson song, The Girl Is Mine, reminded him of his feuds with the 'Killer' over his estranged wife, D'Angel.

In addition, he also reeled off some of the popular clash songs from previous showdowns with Bounty Killer, including Heart Attack. He also openly endorsed Vybz Kartel's 'Gaza' clique, which is seemingly at odds with Mavado's 'Gully', which is considered a part of the Bounty Killer-led Alliance.

Prior to his performance, which started at daybreak but with the entire audience in waiting, Beenie was officially crowned the 'King of the Dancehall' by the promoter of Reggae Sumfest. To show his appreciation, when he returned to perform, he sang and danced up a storm, clearly reminding his fans that, after 30 years, he is still a performer at the top of his craft.

the poor people's governor

Bounty Killer, who hit centre-stage prior to Beenie Man's set, declared at the outset that his performance was dedicated to Miss Ivy (his mother) and would be one devoid of contentious issues. True to his words, the 'Killer' delivered a mature set in which he used no expletives nor took any jab at any other artiste.

In fact, in belting out songs such as Eagle and the Hawk and Look Into My Eyes, and others laced with social commentary, Bounty Killer pretty much took on the role of both the poor people's governor and wise old statesman on other national matters.

In a well-deserved encore, Bounty Killer used the opportunity to hail the late Michael Jackson as the greatest entertainer of all time before teaming up with Wasp.

D'Angel, who was the central figure in many of the Beenie Man/Bounty Killer lyrical feuds, was also in sparkling form. After making a spectacular entry, using an elevated platform, a red settee and a vertical sliding pole as props, the lanky deejay made her mark, dancing her way through songs like First Lady, It's Over and Blaze.

The use of the vertical slide pole was used after a seductive strip-tease in which she striped down to her eye-catching swimwear. The show of flesh on her well-toned body had a few male members of the audience both drooling and shouting out compliments. When she ended her creative stint with Where Are They Now and Stronger, there was no doubt D'Angel had made an impressive mark.

For many fans, it would appear, from their non-stop shouts of approval, that Vybz Kartel and his Portmore Empire did the trick for them and clearly with much justification. In a meticulously planned set, Kartel and the likes of Jah Vinci, Blak Ryno, Shaun Storm, Indu and Lisa Hype took the venue by storm, rolling out hits with relative ease.

man in charge

Kartel, who came out in a black and white Arab-style outfit, was clearly the man in charge as he showed he was ready to match all and sundry in belting out songs like Jail Time, Mama and the combination Kartel Come B ... Me, which ended prematurely when Indu got up and ran off the stage after she slipped and fell flat on her back. She did not return.

Lady Saw, who usually carries the lewd lyrics banner at Reggae Sumfest, pretty much surrendered that role, which was gladly taken up by her female counterparts Stacious, Spice and Macka Diamond. In fact, while the crowd had much difficulty in trying to convince Lady Saw to get wild, the other three females needed no such prompting.

For the most part, it was a much subdued Lady Saw, who stated that, at age 40, she basically wanted to mellow. In fact, accompanied by two female companions dressed as angels, inclusive of wings, she entered centre stage in a prayerful mood, going down on her knees to unleash the song, Praise Him.

After ending her profound entry, Lady Saw calmly got up and released three white doves into the night. She then declared, "Now that me bless the place, me a go wreck the place", but except for a stint in which she allowed a male visitor to pat down her groin area, she resisted going overboard.

encore

Stacious, Macka Diamond and the lyrical-versed Spice, who earned an encore, had a ball belting out sexually explicit lyrics, which had the hardcore fans in a cheering frenzy. While Macka Diamond was expressive, Spice, the reigning female deejay of the year, and Stacious, were both quite demon-strative but all in good humour.

Among the other acts, the dapper KipRich really had a lot of fun onstage as he unleashed the best-known hits from his catalogue. His former sparring partner Elephant Man was also in prime form, rolling back the clock with an energetic performance, which clearly took some members of the audience by surprise.

While Mavado was good, but not brilliant, despite reeling off many of his hits, the likes of Assassin and Busy Signal were both on cue and full of vibes. Assassin scored particularly well with Priority, while Busy Signal walked through his growing catalogue with nonchalant ease, creating much excitement along the way.

New kid on the block Charly Black, the 'Flossing King' Flippa Mafia, the versatile Voicemail, Bugle and Demarco, who had some real erotic fun with a fan he invited onstage, all had bright spots in their respective sets.

Poor and Boasy, the Magnum Kings and Queens winner, Nature and the Montego Bay entourage of Golden Voice, Chumps and Mikey Ranks all performed in the early hours when the majority of the fans hadn't arrived at the venue.