A crowd estimated by concert officials at a massive 24,000 turned out Monday night at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain for the annual Machel Monday concert, dubbed “Machelements”.
A slew of soca stars and international acts entertained patrons for close to six hours.
Imij and Co, the first act on stage, had an hour-long performance, following which patrons waited two hours in high anticipation of the acts to come while the DJ kept them moving.
At around 10.25, the countdown to Montano’s appearance on stage began and anticipation ran high.
Montano appeared with a surge of energy, sending his fans into frenzy mode and from then on there was non-stop entertainment.
From “Float” to “Energy High” then “Witch Doctor” and “Congo Man”, patrons kept pace with Montano’s stage antics.
There were various dancers alongside Montano, including Urban Tribe, a thrilling dance group from Norway, as well as local African and limbo dancers.
Montano delved into every musical period of his career spanning three decades, from the days of Xtatik all the way up to HD status.
Two hours into his set proved to be an exciting session but Montano wasn’t finished yet.
There were performances from the likes of Kerwin Du Bois, Farmer Nappy, Lyrikal, Nadia Batson, Neval Chatelal, Michelle Xavier, Drupatee, Denise Belfon, Ravi B, Patrice Roberts, Cassie, Freetown Collective, KI, and the Blackman family, including Abby, Sheldon and Isaac Blackman.
The late Ras Shorty I’s relatives received a tribute in his honour.
One of the memorable performances was that of youngsters Aaron Duncan and Devyn Tyson who gave a beautiful rendition of “I Love My Country”, Montano’s 1986 hit, which is also off his recent Going For Gold CD.
The second half of the show was just as eventful as the first.
American rapper Pitbull, who is no stranger to Machel Monday, had patrons jumping, along with US rapper Trinidad James with his popular song “All Gold Everything”.
Jamaican dancehall artiste Shaggy was also on hand to perform a slew of old-school hits including “Boombastic” and “Church Heathen”.
Shaggy said he didn’t want to give his fans too much and said he will be back in Trinidad in April for a concert with compatriot artiste Sean Paul.
There were no major incidents at the show except when a young man fainted and had to be hoisted over the barriers so fire officers could assist him.
Some in the general admission section complained that they could not see what was happening on stage as there were only two screens to view the concert.
However, the concert finished on a high with Montano performing “Float” at around 2 a.m.