By Orville Williams
In music and entertainment, there are performances and then there are PERFORMANCES. Dancehall superstar, Alkaline, certainly treated his fans to the latter as the headline act for the first ever Chattabox Festival at the historic Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) on June 17.
The 29-year-old hitmaker is notorious for his mysterious demeanour and borderline nonchalant attitude, but he shed that persona and delivered a set that will live long in the memory of the hundreds that gathered in front of the famous Andy Roberts Stand that Saturday night.
The “Extra Lesson” deejay was met with roaring applause when he took to the stage shortly after midnight, on the heels of quality performances from the likes of Stalk Ashley, Tessellated, Asher Otto and the Itchyfeet band, E-kon, Don Tigua, plus a number of local DJs and MCs.
For many, both long-time fans and casual listeners, he was like they’d never seen or heard him before, and that made the night even more satisfying.
“This is about my sixth time seeing Alkaline live and I’ve watched many more of his performances on YouTube, so he’s an artiste that I truly love and support…I have to say this is one of his best performances to date.
“I remember seeing him at New Rules in 2016 or ‘17 in Jamaica and this Chattabox performance reminds me so much of that. It wasn’t the thousands of people he’s obviously used to performing for, but he was having fun and had the entire crowd moving from start to finish,” 31-year-old Symmone told Observer.
Since his debut in 2011, Alkaline has steadily developed a reputation as a ‘dancehall hitmaker’, with his releases going viral across the nightlife scene and dominating the airwaves more often than not.
However, he has also had his fair share of run-ins with the law, with fellow dancehall artistes and even church leaders – such is his influence.
Back in 2014, outspoken clergyman Bishop Charlesworth Browne led a short-lived campaign against Alkaline’s scheduled appearance at an event in St John’s, citing the artiste’s “negative influence” on young people. The bishop’s efforts were unsuccessful, as his budding fanbase had hoped, and the young star went on to thrill what was also a vibrant crowd at Millers by the Sea.
Nearly 10 years on, Alkaline’s catalogue has grown tremendously, and that was evident in his Chattabox setlist, which was loaded with a number of ‘classics’ – including All About the Money, Champion Boy, Formula, My Side of the Story, Pretty Girl Team and Spoil You – that had a pumped-up crowd singing word for word.
There was almost a collective acceptance that, based on his absence from Antigua for so long, there was no time to waste on his part, neither the crowd’s.
“It is embarrassing to say that this was my first time seeing Alkaline perform live, because I’m such a big fan of his, but I’m so happy I didn’t miss it (even though my voice is basically gone).
“When I watch his performances online, he’s usually militant and serious, but tonight he was dancing, jumping all over the stage and serenading the girls – that was so amazing to see,” 26-year-old Danielle said of the headliner.
Those remarks are part of the reason the organising team, including Chattabox Company co-owner Raena Bird, worked hard to make the inaugural music festival a reality and why they are largely satisfied with the outcome.
“We believe the event, in and of itself, was a success based on all our patrons having such a good time and such a good experience. I think leading up to [it] we had some nerves about how it would go in terms of turnout, and we were pleasantly surprised on the night,” Bird told Observer.
She also shared the sentiments of several attendees where the performances and the response from the audience is concerned, noting the energy level on both ends.
“The crowd that we did get was so engaged. They gave great energy to the artistes and I also believe that the artistes went above and beyond in terms of their performances.
“I think we got some incredible performances from the locals and I think that Stalk [Ashley] and Alkaline went out of their way to really give some good performances – you can see in the footage we have that the crowd was happy and fully engaged,” Bird added.
The Chattabox boss and her team breathed a collective sigh of relief after the festival, testament to the strain of planning and executing such a high-level event, for the first time mind you.
Along with securing the venue, ensuring ticket sales and negotiating with a number of vendors, booking international artistes like the headliner was a feat that tested their mettle, according to Yorie Taylor with the Chattabox marketing team.
Despite the challenges, however, she explained that it was imperative that they aim for the best first-staging of the festival possible.
“The team would have felt that Alkaline is a major act with a large catalogue that would have framed the dancehall genre for a lot of people. [There are] the likes of Vybz Kartel and Popcaan…Alkaline is very much up there, and to bring somebody like that to Antigua for the first in a very long time was monumental.
“It was not an easy feat. There was a lot of work that was put in to bring him here, but for a first Chattabox Fest it really required that headline artiste that [would set the tone]. Chattabox is all about making a mark and creating that ‘big bang’ in Antigua and across the region, so what better way to do that than to bring one of dancehall’s biggest stars.”
The Chattabox brand was conceptualised years ago and the company was officially started in 2017 with the objective of amplifying Caribbean culture through innovation and forward-thinking.
That objective was on full display leading up to the staging of Chattabox Fest, with eye-catching promotional graphics, consistent social media engagement and the inclusion of non-fungible tokens – popularly referred to as NFTs – a few elements of a well thought out marketing strategy.
One of the few downsides of the inaugural Chattabox Fest staging was the absence of soca singer Nailah Blackman, who was announced weeks prior as one of the major acts.
A statement from the company soon after the show revealed that missed travel arrangements due to “unforeseen circumstances” were the reason the “Baila Mami” singer was not able to grace the stage, but that hiccup certainly won’t slow the progress of the organisers who are already gearing up for the 2024 staging.
“Since the event, I haven’t been able to go anywhere without multiple people coming up to me and telling me they enjoyed themselves and they’re coming back next year no matter what, so [while] the turnout we got this year, we’re happy with it, we hope to triple or quadruple that next year,” Bird declared.
Next up for the Chattabox Company is the Carnival season, with J’ouvert stops planned in a handful of countries – including Antigua and Barbuda – ahead of some creative surprises and collaborations toward the tail-end of the year.
