(Trinidad Express) MORE than 10,000 patrons came out to World Music Night of the 2014 Tobago Jazz Experience at Pigeon Point Heritage Park in Tobago on Friday, when Grammy Award winner John Legend was the headline act.
The sold-out event left many satisfied, but there was also disappointment with some arrangements, in and out of the venue.
There were severe traffic woes both to enter and exit the Pigeon Point venue. Traffic backed up along Claude Noel Highway for hours, as day turned into night, while shuttle buses were also held up in the melee, leaving many angry faces along the way.
Leaving the venue was equally frustrating as many decided to walk out of Pigeon Point.
Along with Legend, there were performances from local band Dil E Nadan and American recording artiste Brandy Norwood.
Brandy, who is also an actor on the BET show The Game, delivered songs such as “What About Us”, “Top Of The World”, “Talk About Our Love” and “Have You Ever”.
Her set, which started around 9 p.m., lasted about 45 minutes, during which she also sang some Whitney Houston hits.
She expressed her delight to be in Tobago as the people were friendly and she said she loves the island.
Brandy was followed by Roger Stephens, better known as John Legend, the main attraction of the night.
Legend gave an hour-long performance, which many in the audience lapped up and sang along, belting out favourites such as “Stay With You”, “Ordinary People”, his current hit “All of Me”, “No Other Love” and “Green Light”.
Connecting with the crowd, Legend noted it was his first time performing in Tobago and he was delighted to showcase his music since appearing in Trinidad in 2006.
Many times he allowed his fans to sing along with him, often asking people to sing during intervals.
As he ended following “All of Me”, Legend said Trinidad and Tobago was the first country to make the song a hit, and he was thankful.
Off the stage, there were long lines for food in the VIP section, while in the general admission area, patrons had to resort to taking in the event via the multimedia screens.
Because of that, some left the venue before the show got underway.
There were also no areas designated for the media to videotape the proceedings, as cameramen and women had to make their way through the massive crowd to film highlights of the show.
Earlier on Friday, Bunji Garlin, Fay-Ann and the Asylum Vikings opted out of the show, as a lack of accommodation for band members was the sticking point at Grafton Beach Resort.
Bunji and Fay-Ann communicated with their fans via Twitter about the mishap as the band headed back to Trinidad.
Jazz Experience event co-ordinator John Arnold said the matter was eventually resolved and rooms were made available, but the decision was already made by the band not to perform.
Neil Iwer George took their place.
Tobago Jazz Experience continued at Pigeon Point last night when fans were expected to be entertained by Tessanne Amanda Chin, Jamaican recording artiste and winner of Season 5 of NBC’s reality TV singing competition The Voice, along with Gerard Balfour, R’ Kardo Stevon and Erphaan Alves.
Labelled Youthopia, the event is the newest addition to the Tobago Jazz Experience line-up.
Earlier in the day, there was “Jazz on the Beach” at Mt Irvine Bay and the Tobago Jazz Experience wraps up today when Earth, Wind and Fire take centrestage.
