Spice and Beenie Man deliver at Moonlight Soiree
Dancehall heavyweights Spice and Beenie Man delivered scintillating performances to a receptive crowd at the FIP Entertainment-produced Moonlight Soiree at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Saturday.
The event was billed as a showcase of the ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ of Dancehall and the artistes did not disappoint their fans as they delivered their usual entertaining and high energy sets.
Dubbed the Doctor, Beenie Man, whose given name is Moses Davis, was the first to hit the stage and he wasted no time in quickly injecting energy into the crowd with hits from his earlier years such as ‘Wickedest Slam’, ‘Ole Dawg’, ‘Let Him Go’ and ‘Dancehall Queen’. His 50-minute set was filled with his usual quips, crowd interaction and dancing.
During the set, Beenie Man also brought on Leroy the Hornsman for the 1996 hit ‘Blackboard’ as well as upcoming artistes from the Wolf Pack. The seasoned performer then easily brought the crowd to a new high with ‘No Gyal’, ‘Clean Heart’ and ‘King of the Dancehall’, eventually closing his set with ‘I’m Drinking Rum & Red Bull’ and ‘I’m Okay’.
Spice brought the curtains down on the show, but not before reminding fans as to why she transitioned from Queen of Stage to Dancehall Queen. Known for her attention to stagecraft, the artiste, whose birth name is Grace Hamilton, brought on her dancers with props including poles and easily built on the energy from the previous set, launching into ‘So Mi Like It’, ‘Clap Clap’, ‘Indicator’ and Sheet’, which of course saw the sheet coming out and two male patrons in competition with the dancers.
She also addressed her medical scare as a trip down ‘death’s road’. She spoke of her renewed faith and dropped her new songs ‘Spice Marley’ and ‘God A Bless Me’.
Changing gears, she moved into her hits with Vybz Kartel ‘Romping Shop’ and ‘Conjugal Visit’ backed up by DJ Richie Feelings dropping Kartel songs ‘Swear To Jah’, ‘Stop Gwaan Like Yuh Tuff’ and ‘Any Weather’, while the dancers paraded portraits of the incarcerated artiste.
Spice then took patrons down memory lane with her fans dubbed “besties” with songs such as ‘Fight Ova Man’ and ‘Jim Screechy’. Bringing it back, she called on Montego Bay-based artiste Brysco, who delivered ‘Code’ and ’10th Floor’. Spice then went in on the ‘Dumpling’ remix and eventually closed her stint on stage amid fireworks.
Earlier in the night patrons were entertained by juggling from DJs Crazy Neil, Chromatic Live, Fire Stick and DJ Quan.