Hats off?to Gold Coast Records for producing the Fantasia In Concert show at the Garfield Sobers Sport Complex last Sunday.
Against the background of reports on social media about what should have been and who should not have been among the support cast, any objective observer would have left with a positive impression of local acts.
Fantasia, on her third visit to Barbados, did well enough to retain her fans, who seemed more interested in gawking at and taking pictures of her every move.
Not that all of them were perfect and in the same class as Grammy Award-winner and American Idol 2004 top voice Fantasia, but the show gave one a peek into the R&B/rap genres at the local level. And things are not sounding too bad.
Singer Jahir and rappers Magic City Fly Boyz, however, have to work on their tone; rapper Nitro, on the other hand, sounds like a success in the making.
But then there was Toni Norville, who lived up to the hype at her intro.
Asking the crowd if they were “ready for stories tonight, can I bare my soul tonight”, the pop singer-cum-gospel artiste worked the crowd with themes that spoke of personal stumbles and triumphs with songs like Miracle and Moving On.
She also paid respect “when respect is due” to Cindy Legall of Second Avenue fame who performed Moving Out – penned by Legall. She also teased with Mary J. Blige’s Not Goin’ To Cry.
Norville was in her element and, like Fantasia, worked the crowd with themes of moving forward and leaving the pain behind.
Host Kirk Brown was in control of the audience and held the show together with lots of savvy.
He also teamed up with Norville for her hit song Love Will Never Let You Down.
