Kandré McDonald, Freelance Writer

Patrons get down at 'Honey' the '90s Retro House Party, held at Norbury Drive, Norbrook, on Friday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

'Honey', staged at 9 Norbury Drive, St. Andrew, last Friday, went on a roller-coaster ride before emerging into a good party.

Honey was slow in gaining momentum there were many females in the venue by midnight. They turned out in their numbers to take advantage of the free admittance extended to them by the event's promoters. Not only was the female number quite pleasing, but their garb was well coordinated with 21st century party fashion. A great deal of 'assets' were on display.

From the musical aspect of things, the party was sluggish up to midnight. The first forward that Coppershot received was at approximately 12:25 a.m., this was after playing for almost two hours. They 'dropped' Alozade's Watch Gal, to approval from the patrons, and later, Beenie Man's Red, Red, Red. They managed to further bolster this emerging energy with Row Like a Boat. Finally, the event began to feel like a party rather than simply a social gathering.

Using selections from Beenie's catalogue, Coppershot managed to further enthrall the growing audience. However, the party was still not in full swing as only few patrons were dancing. Many persons were still busy imbibing Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum mixes that were on the house.

The Coppershot selectors were calling for the Bloodline team to take over selecting duties, but they failed to comply and Coppershot used their extended time behind the turntables to further woo the patrons. At minutes after 1 a.m., after revving up the patrons with Timberlee's Bubble Like Soup, the police entered the venue and for several minutes, the sound system went dead.

Cheap component set

After some negotiation between the police and the promoters, the music was then allowed to continue, however, there was a noticeably drop in the volume. Just as the Coppershot selectors played Kartel's Beaten Beaten, the cops ordered the volume to be turned down even further. At this point in the proceedings, the sound system sounded like a cheap component set. The vibes and energy that Coppershot managed to build were deteriorating.

Even Beenie Man's Back It Up and a snippet of Erup's Click My Finger on the Gear Box rhythm had an insipid effect on the patrons' partying buds.

When Bloodline took over at approximately 1:30 a.m., they nudged the volume up somewhat, however, the music was just not reaching the patrons. A female patron was still concerned and queried as to why the volume was so low. As Bloodline's set matured, the volume of the sound system increased.

Soon, the volume was back at an acceptable level and the patrons were dancing again. Bloodline was now earning their forwards, and for those who were imbibing alcohol all night, it was now showing. The dancers emerged from the shadows and soon the 'uptown' party had a bit of a'downtown' ambience.

Dance-oriented songs such as Bad Man Forward, Stookie, Ruum Ram and Tek Weh Yuhself had the patrons dancing up a storm. The sight was one to behold as the male patrons did not try to outshine their female counterparts, but shared the limelight.

When ZJ Liquid took over at minutes after 2 a.m., the music was blaring in all its glory. He had the patrons partying like rock stars and his introduction of selections from Soulja Boy went down well with the patrons.

The Gleaner team left the venue at 2:30 a.m., pleased to know that the selectors managed to save the party from being a total flop.

Honey ended up being very sweet!