“Stunned and disappointed” is what one organizer of the Sweet Sunday Vibes show said after the show ended at the Reggae Lounge last Sunday.
Empress Roli Roachford told the WEEKEND NATION that she felt let down by Jamaican musician Courtney Melody who was supposed to be the headline act on the night.
The other performers were Wolf Man, Sluggy Dan, Albert Olton, Orackle, Empress Roli and LRG.
The scores of fans who gathered at the popular St Lawrence Gap location could not resist moving to the rhythms of electrifying reggae played by live deejays.
But that came to an end when the live performances started, albeit a hour later than scheduled.
Perhaps one of the better performers on the night was Empress Roli herself, starting off with her hit Rolling With Jah. She commanded the attention of the crowd as she performed in her usual style with eyes closed.
However, patrons left in the end disappointed and short-changed, with some even saying they wanted their money back.
Much to their surprise, Melody, dressed in a white pants and shirt to match, came on stage and did just two of his popular hits – Dangerous and Ninja Me Ninja, before exiting.
It took much effort from the organizers, as well as cries from the large crowd, to get the once popular artiste back on stage.
And after another short performance, one with Empress Roli, he left the stage for the last time.
According to Roachford everything went contrary to the original plan and she believed it was largely due to the fact that the show was organized by women – she and her sister.
What is more, she said they spent thousands of dollars to produce the show and to bring Melody in the island, and in the end they lost big time although the show was well attended.
“I do apologize to the public,” she said. “People know this is not the Empress style.”
“To market and to produce it we spent over $4 000 and that is not including the couple of thousands that we spent on Courtney Melody because of all his needs he had while he was staying here. So in the future I am going to be working with a team of men. I feel they did that because we were women,” said Roachford.
“I am so disappointed. The love that my Barbados audience gave him was enough for him to give them another five or six songs . . . . At this point we are really stunned and extremely disappointed,” she said.
She estimated there were between 250 and 300 people at the event.
She said that although she lost quite a considerable amount of money she would not be taking any steps to recover any of it. (MM)
