SLUMPED to the stage with tears streaming down her face, Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez was caught in a moment of total pride and euphoria, overcome with emotion, she wiped away tears on Saturday night at the inaugural Rama fete held at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.
With her adoring fans chanting her name repeatedly, Fay-Ann was brought back on stage for a third encore to sing her Road March contender “Miss Behave”. But it was all too much for the former Soca Monarch champion who dropped to her knees and covered her face.
Speaking to Newsday after, Fay-Ann explained her emotional moment. “It was just touching to see that the crowd was so into what you are doing. It was just amazing. It reminded me of watching my dad (Superblue) as a young girl and hearing the crowd react to him. So to have that happen to me was astonishing,” the soca diva said.
Questioned whether it was the most love she received from a crowd this season, Fay-Ann noted that the reaction was just a result of the crowd’s response and the electric Rama atmosphere coinciding.
Indeed, Rama proved to be one of the biggest events for Carnival 2012 with almost the entire local soca cast present. Bunji Garlin and his Asylum band hit the stage at about 12.30 am yesterday and had the crowd in a frenzy with his Road March contender “Born Ready”. Donning a black suit, Bunji confirmed that he is ready for the Carnival season and had the crowd jumping and following his every instruction. Drawing from his extensive repertoire, Bunji dropped hit after hit including “Blaze the Fire” and “Bomb Song” to have the massive Rama crowd eating out of his hands.
Following the Asylum band was a tough act to follow but with Machel Montano’s resume he was the right man for the job. Opening with last year’s Soca Monarch winner “Advantage”, Machel had patrons in VIP and general admission behaving in similar fashion. He then delved into his 2012 hits including “Pump Yuh Flag” which had fans waving hands, cups, rags and whatever else they could thrust into the air. A woman even waved what looked like a bra.
Machel then switched to a groovy mood, belting out some of this year’s hits like “Bottle of Rum” and “On the Avenue”. The infectious music took its toll on a couple females in front the stage who perched themselves on top the barricading railing and began gyrating nonchalantly to “Bend Over”.
Also performing with the HD band was Farmer Nappy, Patrice Roberts and Kerwyn Du Bois who had a good response to his Groovy hit “Bachaanalist”.
Earlier, Kes the Band and their lead singer Kees Dieffenthaller put in a powerful performance to set the stage for the other acts. Vowing to defend his Groovy Monarch, Kees advised the crowd to dance their “Stress Away” and wine with “Precision”. Closing with “Wotless”, Kees showed that last year’s bumper season was no fluke and he is a real threat to retain his crown.
Meanwhile, Benjai used the occasion to ask for advice from the thousands of soca lovers at Rama. Unsure about what to sing for Friday’s Soca Monarch finals, Benjai is now certain to perform “People’s Champion” which has been slowly gathering momentum.
Coolers were noticeably absent at Rama with patrons storing their drinks in buckets instead. Bottles were on the floor and buckets in the air when Swappi hit the stage, however, to sing his smash hit “Bucket”. Other top artistes performing on the night were Shal Marshall, Super Jigga TC and Blaxx.
NEWSDAY
