Tobago Rhythm and Soul Festival plagued with issues

The Tobago Rhythm and Soul Festival has apologised to patrons who were not able to see performances from Mical Teja, Coutain and Teddyson John at the Saturday night show of the Buccoo Seafood and Jazz Festival.

Reports are the show, at the Buccoo Multipurpose Centre, Tobago, began late and the acts in the first half ran long, including headliners Brian McKnight and Jon Secada. This resulted in the show running into the early morning hours past the agreed-on shutdown time and the police shutting it down.

One patron said Secada’s set was too long and he lost the crowd.

“The top artiste should have sung earlier. It needed better stage production and time management because it was an overpacked cast. The police just did their job.”

Another patron who spoke to Newsday on condition of anonymity said the show started poorly and had issues throughout.

“First off, they advertised a 4 pm time, which we interpreted as a start time, absent any other information. Thankfully, we found out from a performer that the gates actually were opening at 4 pm. When we arrived at 4.15 pm, we were told they weren't ready and we couldn't enter. When asked how long we had to wait, we were told till 5 pm.

“We went back to our car to wait and went back around 4.45 pm when we began hearing live music. Turns out the steel band was playing already. We entered VIP which turns out was the actual pavilion where you couldn't see the pan or any of the other pre-show performances. In fact, we didn't know that there were other pre-show acts because they never announced anything until the MC remarked that there were acts on the oceanfront stage over the public address system at some later point. We couldn't hear them over the DJ music from VIP so we had no idea there were other acts.”

He said there were also issues with the food and drink, as patrons were told their $1,000 tickets entitled them to only three drinks, which led to a lot of arguments.

He said there were also issues with the women’s toilets as there was no toilet paper and no AC.

“Eventually, the acts performing started on the main stage and by the time Vaughnette Bigford and company came on, the show was over one and a half hours late from her scheduled start time. Worse yet, the sound was atrocious. Loud, muddled and distortion was the name of the game throughout the show.”

He said there was a wait of approximately 30 minutes between Bigford and Brian McKnight who came onstage somewhere around 12.30 am.

“They never announced why the wait. All through that time, the DJ played which satisfied most of the audience who in true Trini fashion were singing and dancing. We actually left close to 1 am while McKnight was onstage.”

Other patrons called for an earlier start time, more options for VIP patrons, seating, better performances from DJs and shorter pauses between performances.

The release said circumstances beyond the festival’s control unfortunately led to the show being shut down.

“Our goal for the festival was to create a memorable experience and lasting memories for not just our patrons, but also our performers. We understand how much you were looking forward to seeing these artistes and also how much they were looking forward to performing for you.”

“We also apologise to the artistes themselves who put in time, effort and energy into preparing performances for the show which we truly appreciate.”

The release said the festival wholeheartedly shared in everyone's disappointment.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to anyone involved and we acknowledge the unexpected challenges that impacted the experience.

“Thank you for growing with us as we work out our processes to ensure unforgettable experiences going forward. The best is yet to come.”

Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Secretary Tashia Burris said she had no further comment other than the media release.

THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris also declined to comment.