ANTHONY B ...earned three encores (Photos: Joseph Wellington)

THE script was apparently written in stone. Beres Hammond, the darling of local audiences, had just finished pulverising the Alpart Sport Complex in Nain, St Elizabeth with his slew of hits. On any other night the rest of entertainers to follow would have struggled to keep up with the blistering pace set by the effervescent Hammond.

But last Saturday, at the DanceAll Rock concert, the script read differently. The artistes who followed Beres stepped up to the plate and delivered to leave most patrons who attended the show, satisfied that they had spent their $800 wisely.

DAMIAN MARLEY...handled himself well on stage

After good performances in the earlier hours of the show, from Junior Kelly, Chuck Fenda, Richie Spice and Gentleman, (a German national who is by far the most authentic sounding foreign national to try their hand at Jamaican popular music), Beresford Hammond did his set to leave the large turnout of patrons simply breathless.

He delivered all his hits with aplomb and the crowd inside the Nain Sports Complex just loved it. Putting Up Resistance, Double Trouble, Rock Away, Don't Worry What The People Say and Pull It Up were just some of the classics the masterful Hammond placed on the venue. Backed up skilfully by his Harmony House Singers, Hammond left the stage after close to an hour of screaming, shouting and flag-waving from an appreciative crowd.

Grammy Award-winning Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, followed and although he did not quite match Hammond's intensity, he handled himself well to win the crowd over by the time he left the stage. He scored well with Raggamuffin Mr Marley, Me Name Junior Gong and It Was Written, which was done in combination with elder sibling, Stephen.

Anthony B, credited with starting the fire phenomenon in the dancehall, was in his element. He used witty stage craft and biting lyrics to emerge as one of the leading acts of the night. Anthony B was in simple terms, the artiste who managed to raise the energy level a few notches higher than Hammond had left it, and earned three encores for the night.

Bonfires were lit around the venue when Capleton, commonly referred to as 'The Fireman', was on stage.

The sweet singing Coco Tea started on a lukewarm level, but gradually came into his own to woo the audience with his smooth singing and crystal-clear vocals.

Capleton, "The Fireman", was handed the task of closing the event. He did so in his customary, blazing fashion which had patrons making huge bonfires in salute of 'The Fireman'. He jumped, pranced and belted out his 'conscious' lyrics to bring an end to DanceAll Rock at approximately 4.45 am on Sunday morning.

Many patrons, although expressing satisfaction at the high level of performances to which they were treated, were peeved that show organiser, Barrington Levy, did not perform. Another notable no show was female singjay, Ce'Cile.

MCs for the night were Irie FM's Elise Kelly and Ron Muschette.

The fear factor

Feeding the multitude

DANGEROUS PETS