‘SOCA Showdown’ was a resounding success, drawing patrons in their multiple hundreds to gyrate to popular songs belted out with inimitable Caribbean passion by several leading artistes. Shortly after midnight, a heavy downpour of rain unfortunately put the brakes on the show, forcing revellers to run for cover; nevertheless, some remained to revel in the rain.
While Destra and her band were performing, heavy downpours persisted, causing the show to come to a premature end, even as many chanted for the show to go on. Destra, too, was upset because the show was kicking into gear, with revellers doing their thing to her songs.
Destra’s performance was sufficiently exciting to elicit screams from the crowd. She even invited a male and a female reveller who took to the stage to ‘Bruck It Down’ with her to dance in competition with her.
But Blaxx and the Roy Cape Band, who were making their first performance in Guyana in this ANSA McAL 20th anniversary concert, completely stole the show.
Whilst belting out several popular soca songs, Blaxx asked the upbeat revellers of the VIP section to ‘get down’ in dance to his songs, as the general admission section began doing their thing from the time that the show started, ‘wining’ to the beat of the music as they enjoyed alcoholic beverages.
Blaxx said he was enthralled with Guyana and its people. One young lady even took to the stage to dance with him, and he complimented her on an excellent performance.
Even after midnight, people were arriving in their numbers at the show, when it began to rain despite Destra’s efforts to continue her performance to entertain the sizable crowd.
After some time without respite from the rain, the show ended, to the palpable disappointment of many, who did not get to see Kes and his Band; crowd favourite Bunji Garlin; and Fayann Lyons and the Asylum Band perform.
The Guyana National Stadium ground became flooded after a while, and revellers had to seek shelter from the rain. Nevertheless, the party went on at a nearby bar at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
In summary, the ANSA McAL Soca Showdown was a raging success. Artistes delivered on their promises, and the bands that came for the occasion delivered memorable performances. The only proverbial fly in the ointment was the inclement weather that put a damper on the show. Despite this, the attendance was excellent, even as revellers got an Emancipation soaking from the rain.