Caribbean Summer Concert Series Brought The Best Of The Islands To Six Flags

There was a multitude of Caribbean flags waving at Great Adventure earlier this month as CCB International and Six Flags Inc. brought their annual Caribbean Summer Concert Series to New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure. Trinidad & Tobago’s 2009 Carnival quadruple champion Fayann Lyons along with the ‘Fire Man’ Bunji Garlin, Billboard topping Soca artist Kevin Lyttle, Iwer George, and Trini Jacobs gave park goers a hearty dose of Carnival during a day-long festival that brought the sights, tastes, and sounds of a Caribbean ‘daycation’  to Great Adventure.
 
Hosted by veteran master of ceremonies Wassy and DJ Norie of Power 105.1FM’s ‘Anything Goes-Caribbean Edition,’ program, the Caribbean Summer Concert Series attracted over a thousand Caribbean music lovers and park patrons to Great Adventure’s Northern Star Arena where Caribbean food and craft vendors were on hand with traditional island cuisine and art work. Inside the arena, the theme park was transformed into a full blown Caribbean carnival, complete with masquerade costumes, body paint, and the lively ‘powder posse’ known to throw powder and water around the crowd to cool off the often overheated carnival revelers.
 
Kevin Lyttle delivered a well-received set, capping off his performance with his 2004 Billboard topping single “Turn Me On.” Well-known Soca veteran Iwer George, dressed in Trinidad’s signature red, black, and white colors, showed Great Adventure that he was “The Boss” with  a high energy performance, pulling hits from his twenty-year reign as one of the island’s most celebrated Soca performers. Capping off his performance with the aptly titled latest hit “We Like It,” Iwer gave one of the evening’s best performances.
 
After a lively performance from statuesque beauty Trini Jacobs, event headliners Fayann Lyons and Bunji Garlin gave an action packed performance, complete with a Soca-styled tribute to the ‘King of Pop,’ the late Michael Jackson that had the crowd reeling. Backed by the Asylum Band, the dynamic duo reeled of hit single after hit single from their individual catalogues including Fayann’s lastest smash tune “Heavy T” and her  Road March winning tunes “Meet Super Blue” and “Get On,”  and Bunji’s crown-winning singles “Fiery,” “Blaze de Fire,” and his signature tune “Brrt.” Bunji was joined on stage by his ultra hyper Asylum band member Scar for an energetic performance of “By De Bar.” Lyons closed the show by having the entire audience form a massive circle, with fans all whining, jumping, and running in unison to show that despite their many cultural, ethnic, and racial differences, they are all “one people” and “one Caribbean.”
 
Internationally acclaimed Soca artist Rupee, and Antiguan band Burning Flames, both of whom were slated to perform, were not present. CCB International Operations director Hector Carter, attributes both non-appearances to the artists, stating that:
 
“Rupert Clarke, known to most by his stage name Rupee, and Burning Flames decided not to attend the event, despite being contractually bound to perform. CCB International is in the process of dealing with this breach of contract. On behalf of CCB, we apologize to our patrons for their non-appearance, as they were advertised as part of the line-up.”