Sting Dancehall Festival 2023 Review…
STING, dubbed the greatest one night show on earth has hit its 40th year as a mega festival in its country of origin, Jamaica. As a cultural entity, Sting is as iconic and institutional as they come. The festival, started by one time top cop Isiah Laing has been the training ground for raw dancehall talent of almost every major Jamaican artiste, some of whom have reached the heights of global fame.
As customary, the show is a seasonal staple set on Boxing day since its inception. Over the years, the allure for Sting has waned perhaps due to alleged personal conflicts and economical factors and since its glory days, more reggae and dancehall festivals commonly called stage-shows have emerged. Despite some obvious disparity in production quality and caliber of artistes between the long-running Sting and some other mainstream events, Sting has an envied history and an unmatched brand recognition that cannot be understated or imitated.
This year’s staging was a bit of an irritant for many Sting enthusiasts particularly those who had hoped for a seamless streaming experience. The streaming was marred from the onset by what appears to be poor coordination and miscommunication, made worse by the exclusive use of the PayPal payment platform, which left subscribers to the festival’s advertised stream no choice to use more suitable options. Judging from the many complaints online, this was made worse by the inability to access the platform for some paying subscribers, our writers included. As if this wasn’t unfavorable enough, their irresponsible refund policy should have served as a huge red flag. The hosts of the live stream were unprepared and subpar which made some parts of the streaming experience rather dull. The streaming was glitchy for a better part of the night’s event and it appeared that the service personnel were more concerned about booting stream sharers from the YouTube platform by issuing multiple copyright reports and warnings. The time could be better spent making the stream more palatable for global viewers.
Bad streaming service aside, Sting started off the way it normally does; amateurish, scattered and slow to build. All this forms part of the fabric of what makes this event the quintessential community dancehall concert for the patrons who travel from near and far to support unknown, emerging and established acts. Like many mega dancehall events, arriving before midnight won’t get you the energy and enthusiasm you seek, instead you might be subjected to a talent pool of young acts who are just learning to maneuver the stage. This year, unlike previous years, the females ruled the hosting duties. Nicola ‘Nikki Hype’ Shaw who hails from Canada held steady for almost four hours, among the longest stint for a mega event host non-stop. Her stamina is unmatched and her personality and signature Canadian’ manners made her hosting prowess even more digestible. Others were somewhat loud and overpowering, almost too verbose for comfort. Even for a dancehall show that has some of the hardest audiences and performers alike, Nikki handled her stage appearance with grace, grit and gusto.
Sting themed on giants this year, showcasing ten of the most prolific veterans of the genre including dancehall powerhouse Bounty Killer popularly known as the ‘Warlord’ for his unmatched ability to clash competitors lyrically and Capleton, aka ‘The Fireman’ who never disappoints . Macka Diamond, the energizing female veteran artiste was in good company with the likes of singjay D’Angel, who’s crowned herself the first lady of dancehall — gave an energizing, powerful performace, perhaps the best of her career so far. Both women were among a cadre of female performers who exhibited their craft flawlessly pouring from their catalog of well known tunes. The festival’s attendees seemed lively, vibrant and fulfilled from our vantage point as any good show indicates, until the very end when things turned sour between two clash artistes who decided to throw cowardly physical punches rather than hash it out as is customary, lyrically. The results of which ended an otherwise well ran show with near stampede flight of frightened patrons in a hurry to safely exit the event’s venue.
Whilst we can’t say for sure who was crowned best at Sting overall and despite the marred ending , Bounty Killer’s set was memorable, D’Angel was magnetic and Nikki Hype’s professionalism stood out. The festival lived up to its hype and as the noise gets louder about the difference in staging over the years, one thing is certain, Sting is here to stay.
