THIS year’s staging of Magnum Follow Di Arrow, may have descended into anarchy with bottles being hurled, stampedes and the sound of gunshots being fired during Bounty Killer’s set. However, prior to the melee, the thousands who were gathered at the James Bond Beach in St Mary saw some marvellous performances from some of dancehall’s finest.

The show truly got going with the cultural segment. Teflon, Louie Culture and George Nooks all served up their usual brand of strong performances. Then came the veteran and lyrical Coco Tea. Not only a hit among the men, but the ladies adored him as he delivered 18 and over, love me truly, here I am, been around the world to name a few. From one veteran came another — Josey Wales. Looking dapper in brown, Wales had the crowd in a laughing frenzy delivering Love Triangle a song directed at Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and D’Angel’s relationship. The singer even dug deeper into his musical legacy with songs like Undercover Lover, Cowboy Style and Bobo Dread.

The ‘Outlaw’ even taunted with the likes of Vybz Kartel and Mavado referring to them as Vibes Cartoon and Mofrado.

However, the startime segment of the show clearly belonged to I-Octane. Before he was even visible to the thousands at the venue the air was filled with fireworks. The screams were almost deafening as Octane having the crowd’s undivided attention delivered a string of hits including My life, Puff it, Lose a friend and Badda Dan Dem with fast rising singjay Zamunda.

Future Fambo rocked centrestage delivering Drunken Dance, Rum and Red Bull, Swag to name a few. Mr Lexx, Twin of Twins, Hero, Captain Barkley and Wickerman and a fire burning Fantan Mojah also left a lasting impression on patrons at James Bond Beach.

As the light of day approached the ladies were left smiling by Gyptian who of course performed Beautiful Lady, Mama Don’t Cry, Na Let Go and Hold You to thousands of screaming fans. As anticipated fiery performances were given by Anthony B and Sizzla.

DJ Face led the pack of females to take to the stage. The raunchy lyricist delivered a tight set again throwing lyrical blows at MC Nuffy, Queen Paula, Macka Diamond and other entertainers that she had on her to do list. Halfway through her performance, Face introduced to the Follow the Arrow crowd to upcoming female artiste Mumselle who failed to leave a good imprint. Other females artistes including D’Angel, Stacious and Macka Diamond were also well received by the Follow Di Arrow audience.