Dancehall shines at Hennessy BRT Glow

It was a dancehall-filled night recently at the Hennessy BRT Glow event held at Pearly Beach, Ocho Rios in St Ann.

In between the dazzling display of neon lights, strobe lights, glow sticks and necklaces, dancehall was on stellar display, showcasing raw talent and a culture that is inherently Jamaican.

In true music festival style, there was a panoramic view of the artistes on stage for the crowd, which was ready and waiting to soak in the line-up with performances by Kraff, Skeng, Tactic, 1Biggs Don, Valiant, as well as Ding Dong and The Ravers.

Founder of BRT Weekend, Hans-Peter Mullings, was pleased with the overall turnout.

"All parties [were] received with overwhelming support and great responses. We are so pleased with the reception here," he said.

Kraff opened with a few singles from his recent 11:11 EP such as Big Crook and Karma Keyz. Skeng took things up a notch with an energetic performance that not only kept his fans busy chanting his lyrics, but kept his security team on their toes, having to help him up on stage after he took several leaps into the audience. Valiant simmered things down a bit with a steady flow of lyrics performing several hits such as Siance and Dunce Cheque. The artiste also teased fans with his signature Fada Rock before leaving the stage.

The show then hit a turning point when Ding Dong and The Ravers crew graced the stage with a high burst of energy which had fans dancing along for about 20 non-stop minutes. Ding Dong, performing alongside Bravo Ravers, performed some of their older hits such as Bad Man Forward and Flairy which led to some of their newer favourites such as Stir Fry and Bounce. He even performed one of his most recent singles, Bup Bup Bup.

Another noteworthy part of dancehall is the prevalent sound system culture. There would be no music and enjoyment without the effort of members of that community and their execution deserves to be highlighted. A few mainstays from the DJ camp were on the scene, including Chromatic sound, Cyclone, Noah Powa, Crazy Neil, Coppershot, and Lava Sound who contributed greatly to the experience of patrons.

Here are the highlights.