A late start, power outages, no-show of billed artists, and a small bout of bottle throwing marred Saturday night’s staging of Taurus Bash in Chocolate Villa St Elizabeth.

It was close to midnight when the show scheduled for 9:00 pm began. A small group of patrons stood almost motionless at the front of the stage. However, about an hour later, the vibe got livelier as Ras Penco did his performance. Several lighters went in the air accompanied with the blowing of horns. Tyrical, Droop Lion, Nesbeth and Jimmy Riley were also well received by the small gathering.

BIG YOUTH… had the patrons in a sing-along SIZZLA… closed the show (Photos: Simone Morgan)

However, it was veteran artist Big Youth who had the patrons in a sing-along. Hit The Road Jack, Dread In A Babylon, Ten Against One and Give Praises were a few of the songs that he delivered. Throughout his performance Big Youth, whose real name is Manley Buchanan, showed off some of his dance moves which included a special waist gyration.

After Big Youth’s electrifying performance, on came dancehall act Danny English. Less than a minute into his set came a power outage.

“Why as mi come on light gone?,” he jokingly said before continuing his performance without the backing of the Warrior Love Band. Minutes later the microphone went dead but that did not prevent English from continuing his performance and the patrons applauded. Patience soon ran out and persons started complaining.

“What kind of slackness is this? It has been over 20 minutes and none of the organisers has said anything to us. I want back my money,” an angry patron shouted before hurling a bottle on the stage.

Few other persons joined in the ‘missile throwing’, which lasted about two minutes. During this time, patrons, artists and the technicians on the stage scampered for cover while others made their way towards the exit.

It was almost an hour later when the venue regained electricity and dancehall act Powerman took the stage spitting the lyrics to songs such as Miss Kill And Bury, Wife and Girl A Call. Other highlighting performances also came from Lutan Fyah, Stacious, Turbulance and Fantan Mojah.

As dawn approached, all eyes were glued to the stage as MC GT Taylor announced that Sizzla Kalonji would be the next performer. The lighters were lit once again and the horns blared. The ‘fire burning’ Rastaman had his fans in a musical frenzy as he jumped, danced and singjayed his way throughout his set. Like other performers before him, Sizzla paid tribute to the mothers in song. Other songs included Simplicity, Love Is Always There, Good Ways and Guide Over Us.

The show came to its end after Sizzla made his exit.

Several patrons became angry that headliners Bounty Killer, Mavado, and Gyptian were a no-show. Female DJ Spice, who was billed for the event, was present but never graced the stage.

Also, there was no presentation of awards as previously indicated. Those expected to collect awards were Winston ‘Wee Pow’ Powell (Lifetime Achievement Award); Bounty Killer (Iconic Award); and, Sizzla (Cultural Ambassador Award).

Efforts made to contact promoter Paul Lowe-Chin were unsuccessful.