Phillips: The show must go on

Veteran singer Sharon Phillips says she was humbled by the crowd's response to her extraordinary performance last Tuesday at Carifesta XIV's Castara Night.

Phillips was an overwhelming favourite at the event, which also featured performances by cultural groups from Antigua and Barbuda and Belize.

Carifesta XIV ended its three-day run in Tobago last Wednesday night with a cultural extravaganza at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex.

"I was very humbled because I have not performed at home in a very big show for a while," she told Newsday Tobago.

"The energy on the night was pure, passionate and very deep and the messages that were sent out from the audience to me, I collected it and I believe that they received it as well."

One of several Tobago artistes gracing the stage at Castara beach, Phillips opened her set with a slower, jazzy version of Fantasia's When I See You.

She then incorporated other songs into her presentation, including two of this year's monster soca hits: Nadia Batson's So Long and Kes Dieffenthaller's Savannah Grass.

Of the latter, she said: "That, for me, was a very big highlight because of the emotions it brought out and how people responded to it."

Phillips, who was seriously injured in 2015 after falling into an open manhole at Shaw Park Complex, said the crowd's response to her performance was doubly rewarding.

"I have not performed anywhere in Tobago on that scale while being injured, as I am right now, because I am doing all of this with the after effects of that fall."

Phillips said she ignored her doctor's suggestion that she not perform because of an inner ear infection.

"This show has to go on by all means necessary."

The singer said the atmosphere at the show was welcoming.

"Tobagonians, people I know, people I don't know, Trinis, foreigners, when I arrived for the show everybody was like one. Everything and everyone on the compound was at one. The human beings were at one with the sand, water and wind. There was just an expectation of greatness."

She said the atmosphere allowed her to deliver "because I didn't want to fall short."

Known for its breezy, laid-back ambience, Castara's pristine beachfront provided the perfect setting for the show. Singer Aniqua Lafeuillee, one of Tobago's rising, young talents, opened the show.

She sang several tunes, including one of her personal favourites, Lauryn Hill's Forgive Them Father. The pace quickened with a drummology from the Castara Drummers.

Next up was spoken word artiste Kleon Mc Pherson who performed a piece about Tobago.

Mc Pherson, who received the Barbados Independent Film Festival's prestigious Carmichael award in February, also delivered a thought-provoking piece, telling the crowd the only thing one can lose is one's mind.

Belizean band, Bredda David & Tribal Vibes performed several songs during their lengthy set. The one which had the most impact on the crowd, though, was How Yuh Feeling Tonight.

Bredda David & Tribal Vibes' presentation gave way to the members of the Tobago Performing Arts Company, who delivered their usual high energy performance. The group also did a spectacular limbo piece toward the end of the show's first segment.

Antigua and Barbuda's troupe followed in this vein, endearing itself to the Castara audience with an African dance and comedic piece about the hypocritical nature of eulogies.

Sung by a mixed choir, the lively tune, which referred to a drunkard, prostitute and priest, ended each of its three verses with the line, "If yuh want to hear torry (story), go to church and hear a eulogy."

Franz Job, who was born in the United Kingdom and raised in Charlotteville, spoke about his love for Tobago.

"My sweet island Tobago, I love you," he sang, "Land of steelpan, calypso, I love you."

The crowd later partied the night away amid the warmth of a large bonfire along the beachfront. The Castara Bonfire, held every Thursday night, is one of the fishing village's main activities, attracting hundreds of locals and tourists over the years.