International band Third World, Dancehall singer Barrington Levy and Soca Queen Alison Hinds, made the 2021 Caribbean Food & Rum Festival an enjoyable production on Sunday, December 12, at the Hollywood Arts Park in Hollywood, Florida.
A good mixture of island people and those who love the culture witnessed a quality entertainment package and savored the tastes of Caribbean Food and Rum at the rescheduled festival. The show was originally scheduled for September 5th but was postponed to December 12th due to a surge in COVID-19 delta variants in Florida, and the subsequent directive from the City of Hollywood.
Patrons had a wonderful time sampling various brands of rum and enjoying the many Caribbean delicacies from numerous vendors.
Andriene Parker came in from New York for the show, and even though she seemed a bit tipsy, she was sober enough to express her sentiments. “I came specifically to see Barrington Levy because I haven’t seen him since 2003. I enjoyed his performance, but it was obvious he wasn’t in his usual element. I am glad I made the trip though because he is one of my favorite dancehall artists,” she told Caribbean National Weekly.
Kingsley Wilbert and his wife Savana-Kaye were moved by the “amazing” performance from Third World. “You cannot get it better than AJ Brown and Third World. They have never disappointed, and tonight was no exception,” said Kingsley. His wife was also very excited about Alison Hinds’s crowd-pleasing performance. “Alison is in a class by herself when it comes to exciting the crowd. Tonight, she again proved why she is the queen of soca,” she noted.
The evening’s entertainment started out with an amazing performance from gospel sensation, Pastor Kimola Brown-Lowe. She was exciting, lyrical and entertaining in delivering her Reggae gospel songs. Trinidadian Soca star Patrice Roberts also gave a credible performance as she worked the crowd through her top singles.
International Reggae infusion band, Third World took the stage at 7 pm and for one hour and fifteen minutes, fused the small crowd with numerous hit songs. Their playlist included Loving You is Easy, Sense of Purpose, Reggae Ambassador, 96 Degrees, and Try Jah Love. Cat Coore again demonstrated why he is one of the best multi-talented musicians around, when he delivered an award-winning performance on the cello. His rendition of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song really showed his incredible talent. The Grammy-nominated band ended their stint with vocal extraordinaire AJ “Boots” Brown teaming up with Coore on cello. Brown gave an emotional performance of Andrea Bocelli’s Time to Say Goodbye, which got an enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
Barrington Levy took the stage at 8:40 to a warm welcome from the waiting crowd. His entrance was not as lively as he is known for and was also marred by microphone issues. But once those problems were sorted out, the ace dancehall performer took the fans down memory lane with his barrage of hits. He had the crowd rapt in songs such Murderer, Under Mi Sensi, Too Experienced, Here I come, and Prison Oval Rock. His forty minutes was engaging and kept the crowd rocking to their favorite tunes. At the end of his performance, Levy was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Jamaica’s Consul General for the Southern United States, Oliver Mair.
The energy of the crowd during Levy’s performance was nothing compared to that of Alison Hind’s set. Dressed in a body-fitted white shorts, the “Roll it Gyal” singer had the crowd gyrating, jumping, and waving. For forty minutes, she gave the receptive crowd an extraordinary lesson in “bumper rolling,” stamina, and hip flexibility that defied the normal movements of a 51-year-old woman. The “Baddest Wine” performer mesmerized the crowd with two epic performances that showed why she was “Born wid it.”. First, she brought on her friend Peter Ram who got her to “back it up like a Bedford truck” to his gyrating hips. Then she got the crowd to pick a male audience member to ride her riddim. The eventual choice did not disappoint, and both gave the appreciative crowd a night to remember.
Overall, the promoters of the event should be happy with the production, even though the crowd support was understandably below satisfaction.
