Persons dancing on stage during Flo Rida’s performance on Sunday.
COLE BAY--Reggae legends Inner Circle and rap artiste Flo Rida headlined Saturday and Sunday’s shows at the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, closing out the fortieth edition of the event in style. Both shows took place at Regatta Village at Princess Port de Plaisance Resort and Casino.
A variety of local acts set the stage for Saturday’s show, with Saba reggae group One Blood Band and St. Martin’s Youth Waves Band performing before the international artistes. Gee Money and DJ Mixmaster Pauly hosted the event.
Jamaica-born recording artiste Tessellated came on stage around 10:30pm Saturday, performing his songs that combine dancehall, reggae, funk, R&B and jazz. He ended his performance with his biggest hits to date, “Pine and Ginger” and “I Learnt Some Jazz Today.”
After a short break, reggae legend Inner Circle started its performance. True to its promise a day earlier, the band involved the crowd, doing frequent call-and-response chants.
Much of the performance consisted of covers of other artistes such as Bob Marley, Junior Reid, Beenie Man, Shaggy, and Ed Sheeran. One of their covers included a reggae rendition of rap artiste Wiz Khalifa’s “Young, Wild and Free”, with which many persons sang along.
Despite having a short stint of technical difficulties, Inner Circle rocked the crowd with dancehall and reggae selections before performing its hit songs, “Tenement Yard”, “Sweat (A La La La Long)”, and “Bad Boys”. The crowd called the band out for an encore, which it did.
Sunday’s show was hosted by Gee Money and Cutcreator DJ Outkast. After the official prize-giving, Tanya Michelle and What the Funk opened the stage for Flo Rida.
In front of a packed Regatta Village, Flo Rida performed many of his hit songs, including “Whistle” and “Low”, at one point calling persons up on the stage to join him. This move surrounded the artiste with a multitude of dancing, energetic partyers – a stylish end to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta.
