It was his 15th appearance in Barbados, and Moses Beenie Man Davis made Brandons beach his own playground at Sunday’s Reggae Beach Party.
With the strains of Hallowed Be Thy Name fillingthe air around 8:40 p.m., the party which had begun since 3 p.m. started anew, and on a note of serious reverence from star-struck Barbadians who have been following the king of the dancehall for at least three generations.
Thus, the undisputed “gals dem suga” was able to connect with folks that were fans since the early 1990s when a very young and pint-sized Beenie was performing at the old Caribbean Pepperpot with his then mentor, Pinchers, as well as teeny-bopper fans who started checking his music last year.
He proved on Sunday that he has simply aged like fine wine, with hits that sound as fresh as if they were made in 2011, as he threw down numbers like Tell Me (What You Want), Toyfriend, Who Am I? (Sim Simma), Old Dog Like We, Wickedest, Me Nah Go Separate, Whatever Me Like and the more recent smash hit I’m Drinking.
And the thousands who took up just about every available inch of space off the Spring Garden Highway sang along to his every lyric and enjoyed the amusing antics and slick dance moves that have set him apart from all the other dancehall rivals of his era.
Beenie Man was preceded on stage by dancehall queen Lady Saw,
who was as saucy as ever, even though she toned down some of the more explicit parts of her songs.
She, too, connected with her Bajan audience by teasing them with old and new selections, including the evergreen Sycamore Tree and Gimme A Reason.
Sharing the seaside stage were homegrown acts Peter Ram, Gucci, Versee, Mr Levii and the G-81 crew, Phantom Dundeal with LRG, Omar Mcquilkin and Kirk Browne.
