Summer Splash runs out of luck - photos by Claudine Housen/freelance photographer

Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter

WESTERN BUREAU:

Despite setting its triple seven event date, Next Level Entertainment's 'Summer Splash' at Capitol Hill in Montego Bay ran out of luck last Saturday when the Montego Bay police called for the early closure of the session.

With gates open from 10:00 p.m., the session started with DJs Super Blood and Richie Killer warming up the turntables. They were followed by Wickidness International at about midnight.

After approximately an hour of rocking the turntables with old hits such as: Gyal Dem Gizzada, Go-Go Wine, Done Wife and Gyal Fi Beg, the Miami based duo turned over the tables to Renegade and Black Chiney who did half-hour sessions to give the crowd a taste of what was to come.

After the double half-hour session, the party was finally beginning to get started, when the some 300-strong crowd started to move. Then it was DJ Wayne's turn to build the vibes. Returning from a three-year hiatus from 'Summer Splash', DJ Wayne started at about 3:00 a.m. with a Munga Honourable infused anthem. From there, he just kept dropping tune, after tune, including one new Munga tune on the Torpedo riddim.

He was not the only DJ to promo a new tune by an artiste, however, as DJ Liquid, who followed on the turntables, had the audience calling for more with a new sexually explicit Mavado single.

At about 3:45 it was Black Chiney again.

Starting with a cultural flavour, Black Chiney dropped Sizzla's Praise Ye Jah and a selection from Jah Cure before moving into lovers' rock. From there, hemade a smooth transition into reggae/social commentary with Buju's Driver A and Junior Gong's Welcome to Jamrock before seamlessly moving back to classics such as Junior Reid's One Blood, and Half Pint's Greetings through Buju, Beenie and Bounty into Mavado.

Just after dropping a Killing Me Softly remix with Mavado; the session came to a crushing halt and expletives were hurled at the stage as the police flexed the muscles of the law. Despite a brief reprieve on the basis of turning down the music; the party never regained its former glory but merely limped along until dawn.

Disappointed with the police dampening the mood, party promoters could only shrug their shoulders. "We did all the necessary paperwork," one promoter said. "Someone called them and when they get called, they have to come. They gave us half hour, it is up to the patrons whether the party goes on now."

Guess the lucky seven date did not help as they say sometimes: "Bad luck worse than obeah."