Fans came from near and far, among them were fellow recording artistes and business executives.

The fourth staging of singer Romain Virgo’s The Gentle Man concert, held at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Sunday, was a sold-out affair.

From as early as 7:30 pm (the advertised start-time was 9:00 pm), when the
Jamaica Observer team arrived, patrons were already streaming into the venue.

As the crowd swelled, DJ Narity had patrons grooving to lovers’ rock and reggae tunes.

Emcee Debbie Bissoon brought on opening acts Janeel Mills and Tori Latore, who delivered entertaining sets.

Latore impressed with an original song titled Goodbye, while her take on Celine Dion’s hit To Love You More earned a positive response from the audience.

By the time Romain Virgo took the stage and sounded Mi Caan Sleep the crowd was erupted.

He ran through the hits — Live Mi Life, Taking You Home, Chatty Chatty, for which he was joined on stage by Christopher Martin.

Along with his recent chart-topper Been There Before, he also gave fans a serving of some of the songs from his recently released album The Gentle Man, including Driver.

Agent Sasco and the man-of-the-night tag-teamed on their 2015 hit
Fade Away, and attendees were treated to a surprise from elder statesman Beres Hammond, who had the audience on a high with No Goodbye and I Feel Good.

There were also cameo appearances by Jesse Royal and Protoje.

Cheerleader hitmaker OMI was among those enjoying the concert from the VIP section.

“Romain is one of my favourite singers and I just came out to support him. I went to the concert in St Ann, and it was good, so we decided to come to the one here in Kingston,” OMI told the Jamaica Observer.

The Gentle Man concerts were previously staged in St Ann, Montego Bay, and St Elizabeth.

Nadine Thomas-Hylton, brand manager, Johnnie Walker, a major sponsor of event, was thrilled with the showcase.

“Romain’s journey as an individual and artiste echoes the brand ethos of Johnnie Walker. At its core, Johnnie Walker promotes the drive to overcome challenges, the ability to focus on being successful at each step of the journey. Above all, to be better than before, to keep walking. Romain has displayed those characteristics. So the alignment is an authentic synergy between the brand and the man and artiste,” she told the Observer.

Romain Virgo has been a Johnnie Walker brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker since March.

Said Thomas-Hylton: “When we began The Gentle Man tour in March we expected Romain’s fans to turn out in a big way, but we quickly recognised that this meant thousands of people. So much so that we had to add the Kingston leg of the tour. This brought us full circle back to the December 2023 staging of the Keep Walking series. The Kingston leg of the concert was no less than expected, well attended. The atmosphere was about showing love and sharing a moment with family. Having Romain’s friends perform as well was exciting and unexpected.”