Spiritual blessings at Come Celebrate Jesus
Patrons were in for a spiritual treat at Come Celebrate Jesus 2017, which saw gospel acts delivering soul-stirring performances at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Saturday night.
The event climaxed with a riveting set from American artiste Kurt Carr, who had members of the audience singing along and dancing to his songs, laced with catchy punch lines, in praise and worship of Christ Jesus.
The American reeled off hit after hit such as Awesome Wonder, Reign, The Presence of the Lord is Here, I Pray For You, and He Kept Me.
Before he was halfway through his performance, most of the patrons were on their feet dancing and singing along with Carr, who took the stage following a pulsing set by Kevin Downswell.
“Who was that guy?” an impressed Carr asked onstage, in reference to Downswell.
The You Make Me Stronger gospel singer wasted no time in connecting with the audience after he was introduced on stage. Starting with If It’s Not You, he was warmly welcomed by gospel fans.
He then sailed smoothly into The Meaning Of Life, Good News, Nobody Loves Me the Way You Do, Goodbye World, That’s Enough, I Feel like Running, before unleashing his monster hit, You Make Me Stronger.
Meanwhile, Minister Marion Hall did not disappoint on her greatly anticipated debut performance in St James.
The seasoned performer did not allow the early challenges with the volume on the microphone to spoil her ministry in song, as she belted out I am Ready, I am Fire, I Had Jesus to tumultuous applause.
She also sampled I Won’t Worry and Devil Get Out of My Way from her latest album, His Grace.
Minister Hall, formerly Lady Saw, queen of the dancehall, infused in her act testimonies of the goodness of Jesus.
The former star of the secular musical genre recounted that, after her conversion to Christianity, many of her detractors wrongly forecasted that in no time she would return to the dancehall.
Earlier performances at the well-attended event were Anique Morris, Ramone Watson and The Leharia Singers, all of whom were well received.
Emcees were Markland Edwards and Nadine Blair.
The founders of Come Celebrate Jesus are siblings Reverend Talsy Brooks and Donald Brooks.
