Two-day festival Reggae Sunsplash culminated

yesterday after another delayed start, but organisers did, at least, rid the

fragmented stream delivery that disrupted the event experience on Friday.

Night Two was dedicated to the fresh faces of

the festival, and Agent Sasco and Romain Virgo were standouts.

Sasco established the virtual festival house

rules, advising patrons to make use of the fire, hand and dog emojis for his

opening number Mix Up. The

4000-strong audience complied as the deejay spat rapid flows, clad in his go-to

jogging suit look. Fire emojis reigned in his performance of Fade Away (which features Romain

Virgo), and the artiste requested some real flame effects from show producers as

he got into his 2018 hit Banks of the

Hope. At this point, hearts, diamonds, bombs, prayer hands, trophies,

speakers and quite frankly the whole emoji keyboard was thrown into the chat.

The deejay showed mastery of the virtual stage and asked patrons to switch

things up by typing the letter “W” during his performance of Winning Right Now. His high-energy

continued on tracks like Loco and a

medley mix of songs including Anywhere

We Go, Nothing At All and Almighty Protect Me.

Virgo had also performed his Sasco-collab in

his earlier set, and received virtual torches just the same. One patron

described Virgo as the “golden voice” of the Sunsplash stage, which

proved true as he belted his soul on love ballads like Taking You Home, Love Doctor

and Wanna Go Home.

Dressed to impress in a deep blue and white

suit, the singer also got loose on stage, grooving and dancing with his

background vocalists. The touching number, Dutty

Man, set the virtual chat ablaze with fire emojis, with some patrons asking

for an encore.

“I’m so happy to be on this platform

right now, Reggae Sunsplash, to bring ‘cross a message like this to the world

cause we need this in this time when our children are at home with no one to

protect them,” he said.

The father of twins also performed Hero, and encouraged viewers to remain

positive during this COVID-19 era in his performance of Who Feels it Knows it. His wife Elizabeth and singer

Christopher Martin showed their support in the chat as he continued with

vibrant deliveries of Leave People Business Alone (of which Martin is

featured) and I Am Rich in Love.

The night’s starter, Jesse Royal, delivered an

easy-flowing set which heightened with the upbeat number Jah Will See Us Through. Though released in 2017, the song’s

message of hope resonates with the times, and his interpolation of Jimmy

Cliff’s I Can See Clearly Now was

icing on the cake. He also sang songs like Lion

Order, Modern Day Judas, Natty

Pablo and his Vybz Kartel-collab More

Than You Receive.

The other act of the night was Masicka, but

his performance mirrored the basic experience of an in-person concert. The

“dash weh dat” ritual was alive and well, the cliché interludes about

poverty and haters were abound, and “balance!” cues were occasionally

given to the band. Nonetheless, the deejay has a catalogue that cannot be

denied and got virtual *forwards” for tunes like Top Striker, Changes in Life,

They Don’t Know and Image. Teasers

of Hard Ball and Top Form could have at least made it to

the second verse, but he did give a considerable performance for the

inspirational number Stay Strong.

The Genahsyde ladies weren’t neglected, and had their moment with 10 Outta 10, Blessing and Queen Inna Di

Deck.

The night went to show-closer Dexta Daps,

which was the case for Night One’s closing act Capleton. Other performers of

the 2020 staging of the festival were Richie Spice, Tanya Stephens and Ras-I.