Moses ‘Beenie Man’ Davis has expressed regret for his absence at the Portland Jerk Festival held last Sunday at Folly Estate.
When contacted, Beenie Man’s publicist Ray Alexander told THE STAR that he had tried everything humanly possible to make it to the Portland Jerk Festival.
Lost passport
Alexander explained, “his flight was at 8:00 a.m. and when he went to check in, he realised he had lost his passport, he called immigration to see if he could get an emergency passport but he didn’t have any ID on him ’cause he didn’t carry his driver’s licence. Even then he tried to make other arrangements to see what could be done.
“When nothing could be done he called the promoter in the evening to inform him. During the performance of Angel and Sanchez, he was still on the phone with the promoter so he could inform the people of what was going on. He also called the police to inform them as well.”
Not his fault
Alexander also said that Beenie Man wished to apologise to the promoter and the fans for what had occurred, even though it wasn’t his fault. To make up for not appearing Beenie is willing to perform for the promoters at another show for free.
The Portland Pepsi Jerk Festival held on Sunday night was marred by a bottle-throwing incident, after it was announced that Beenie would not be performing.
The incident took place about 11:45 p.m., less than two minutes after veteran reggae artiste, Sanchez, who had the crowd in a frenzy at the grounds of the Folly Estates, exited the stage.
Master of ceremonies Colin ‘Shaka Fame’ Bell, band members of Chronic, camera men, and stage security also exited the stage hastily as irate patrons, positioned directly in front of the stage, started pelting bottles, and other missiles – claiming also that they were robbed.
“I came here with my husband and four kids,” said Michelle Haughton-King, a patron who indicated that she came all the way from Iron Shore in Montego Bay. “It is my first year at this festival, and I have heard so many good things about it. It was a good festival, but I blame the organisers for failing to tell patrons from early that the guest artiste would be a no-show.”
The bottle-throwing incident also resulted in thousands of disgruntled patrons making a hasty retreat in fear that something worse could happen. It is the first time that such an incident of violence has occurred at the eight-year-old festival, and no one was hurt during the incident.
Enforced law
Commanding officer for Portland, Superintendent Dudley Scott, who earlier confirmed that the number of patrons at the festival far exceeded 20,000, quickly dispatched law enforcement officers to the troubled location, which brought a halt to what might have been an ugly incident.
One of the high points of the festival was also the coordinating of parking arrangements by the Portland police, who were lauded for their hard work and professionalism. Unlike previous years where the festival was plagued by poor parking arrangements, there was no such glitch on Sunday.
Earlier, the festivity was in high swing as backing band Rhythm 2000 kept patrons rocking. Byron Lee also had the crowd in a carnival mood. The entertainment package, was the talk of the night, at least before a handful of patrons disrupted the festivity.
It was the combination of Noddy Virtue and Jody-Ann Pantry who first captured the hearts of patrons, followed by Christopher Martin. But the toast of the night was easily female artiste D’Angel, who took the stage at 9:30 p.m., and worked up a storm, showing off her hotness and ending with the grand finale Stronger.
Sanchez was his usual self and he, too, thrilled the crowd, leaving the women screaming for more. He reeled off popular hits such as Here I Am, Hallelujah, This Little Girl, Love Mi Girl Bad, Chronic, Kutchie, Forever, Given a Chance, Wild Sanchez, and Falling In Love.
In the meantime the Portland jerk festival committee is expected to hold a press conference later this week to discuss the incident, which may have left a scar on the family fun event.
Source: Jamaica-Star
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