THE fourth staging of the Jamaica Rum Festival was marked by spirited performances, but the attendance at the jam-packed Aqueduct venue in Montego Bay, St James, on Saturday, reserved the loudest cheers for Rastafarian chanter Capleton.

The self-proclaimed ‘King of Fire’ brought the curtains down with a scorching set as he served up hit after hit.

Moments after being introduced on stage by emcee Miss Kitty, ‘The Fireman’ immediately connected with the masses with selections, including Don’t Change, Slew Dem, and Or Wah.

With the nation recently convulsed with news of the butchering of a Clarendon mother and her four children, Capleton made a timely call to end to the killing of women before jumping into one of his timeless hits Cold Blooded Murderer, much to the pleasure of the already pumped up audience.

“Can’t understand why dem a kill out the woman dem, can’t understand why dem a kill out the woman dem,” he lamented.

‘The Fireman’ came after Sanchez with his smooth, velvety voice threatened to steal the show, belting out his classics such as Love Me Lover Bad, Wild Sanchez, Lonely Won’t Leave Me Alone and much more.

He had the patrons cheering and singing along as he segued into his rendition of Tracy Chapman’s Sorry, Dennis Brown’s Revolution, Freddie McKay’s Picture on the Wall, and Gregory Isaac’s Night Nurse and Number One.

The top-notch singer, who lost his mother and his son earlier this year, revved into top gear when he jumped into gospel selections I Love You Lord, Amazing Grace, and Sing of the Goodness of God.

“All that I have been through, God has seen me through,” he said before transitioning into gospel mode, eliciting wild cheers from the audience.

Despite the onslaught of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which put a hold on live entertainment for nearly two years, the entertainers did not appear to be rusty. In fact, it seemed that the layoff served to provide added impetus to their delivery which was well received by the yearning audience.

Romain Virgo was one who appeared to eagerly welcome the return of live performances and reported in scintillating form, holding the audience captive.

The former Digicel Rising Star winner scored with songs such as Stay with Me, Live Me Life, Can’t Sleep, Rich In Love, Say Too Beautiful, and Rain is Falling.

“For the past three years we [have] been through so much as a people. We deserve this,” he said.

Another crowd favourite, season five winner of The Voice Tessanne Chin also welcomed the return of live stage shows.

The past three years have been a trip,” underscored the I am A Winner singer, before kicking off Don’t Waste No Time.

Breakfast in Bed, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Underneath it All were other gems she delivered before securing the night’s only encore.