BERES Hammond was in fine form at Reggae Sumfest’s International Night I at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay, St James, on Friday night.

Taking the stage at 2:48 am to loud cheers, the veteran singer’s spirited, hour-long set was well-received by the thousands of fans who recited the lyrics to his songs in appreciation.

Opening his set with Can’t Stop A Man, Hammond took time out to recognise incarcerated artiste Buju Banton. He dedicated his performance to him.

Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was convicted in the United States on drug charges and is serving a 10-year sentence.

Hammond told the audience that Banton’s message to him was “lick off them socks” and that he did.

He had the crowd mesmerised as they gobbled up everything he could serve. His set, which included Putting Up Resistance, She Loves Me Now, Double Trouble, and Tempted To Touch, went down well.

American hip-hop artiste Flo Rida gave a memorable Sumfest debut performance.

The Good Feeling singer infused new energy into the crowd.

During his performance of Where My Girls At, he gave out roses to female patrons close to the stage and threw the remaining ones in the audience. He even invited a few on stage for Low.

He created a stir later when he sent those closest to the stage scurrying for cover, as he sprayed two well-shaken bottles of champagne on them.

His high-energy set also saw his guitarist being lifted in the air by his bodyguard while not missing a note.

The Hands in the Ayer artiste paid tribute to slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin before performing Cry. Martin — a 17-year-old African/American was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a mixed-race Hispanic in February 2012. The American court recently acquitted Zimmerman of any charges.

“There’s a Jah above that makes me do all things, that keeps me going,” he said.

Veteran reggae singer Barrington Levy, whose performance preceded Flo Rida’s, could also do no wrong.

“Long time mi nuh perform fi unno. Are you ready fi dis?” he said, before delivering Living Dangerously.

Levy made up for lost time as he dished out Prison Oval Rock, Unda Mi Sensi, I Was Born A Man, and 21 Girls Salute.

“We don’t need no auto smoke, no dancers. We real like dat,” he said.

He also used the opportunity to address the current state of dancehall.

“Nothing is wrong with dancehall. It’s just the lyrical content. We need to be more original and stop the ‘follow’ ‘ting,” he said.

He then went over his 45-minute time allotment to deliver Too Experienced, Murderer, and Teach The Youths.

“I can’t sing 10 albums in 45 minutes,” he said.

The evening also saw great sets from Tarrus Riley as well as up-and-coming artistes Kiarah, Droop Lion, Sophia Squire, Nature and Iba Mahr.

Reggae singer Jah Cure brought the curtains down on what was an evening of delightful performances.