By Makeida Antonio
Artiste Takeover promoter, Humroy Wright, gives thanks to patrons and performers for an excellent event just over a week ago.
Wright told Observer that to ensure that the event at Heineken Headquarters in Coolidge was a success, all artistes were mandated to soundcheck to make sure they were comfortable with the engineering. Additionally, backstage passes were allotted for the artistes and their teams to maintain positive energy throughout the night.
Wright claimed he was certain the event would be a hit during the long hours of preparing for the big stage.
“Just a few hours before the show, it was just filled with lots of energy, positive energy, and I knew then that the show would have gotten a really nice turnout,” Wright remarked.
Dancehall, hip hop, R&B, and reggae were some of the genres performed on the big stage. Wright said the fun music kept the patrons lively, while food and drinks were catered to the excited artistes mingling backstage.
The promoter said dancehall was the crowd favourite, and this was confirmed by the various Jamaican artistes who declared it to be the best-received genre at the event.
“The patrons were giving everyone love, but they responded to dancehall the most. I think dancehall is the most trending genre, not just in the Caribbean but in the world. Here we have all these dancehall Caribbean artistes, especially the ones from Jamaica.”
“You have Skillibeng, Skeng, Vybz Kartel and Alkaline trending all over the world, and I think it’s the same thing here in Antigua. Jordan and O Block were the favourites, but every single artiste came out on the night and performed very well,” Wright explained.
Additionally, Wright stated that it is now up to the discretion of other local promoters to choose to book these young artistes who are clearly talented and can manage themselves well during stage performances
“If promoters see the value in them, I think they should book them. These people are very talented and can make an impact on any show. I don’t think any dancehall show should take place in Antigua and not have dancehall artistes that live here on the lineup of the show. Same thing for a soca show. We’re not going to go anywhere if we don’t have that support from home,” the Sun’s Out Buns Out organiser added.
Meanwhile, Wright said Artiste Takeover will be slated as an annual event following the turnout and subsequent demand of a platform giving young performers an opportunity to showcase their talent.
“The support has been overwhelming. Everyone that has been to the show wants a second one, and a third one, so Artiste Takeover will be an annual event, and as we go on, we plan to take it to a whole other level.”
“They were very pleased, some of them did not even know we have this [array] of talent here in Antigua. They’ve already started to stream the music so all of the artistes on the lineup have gained new fans, new followers, and that is what the show is all about,” he concluded.
