ST. EUSTATIUS–Hundreds of people turned out to the Carnival Village at Mike van Putten Youth Center/Lion’s Den on Friday evening to witness and enjoy the performance of Da Onyan Effeck, who has been a favourite artiste on
St. Eustatius for more than 30 years.
Onyan originally was a member of Burning Flames band from Antigua, which used to play at the Community Center’s basketball court, as this was the only area large enough to house such a large crowd at the time.
Friday night had the largest turnout for this year’s Carnival season thus far. Before Onyan took to the stage, Turbulannz band and Jamm Boyzz warmed up the crowd. These bands put the crowd in the mood to jam out. By the time Onyan took centre stage the crowd was already riled up and ready to go. A few minutes after Onyan took to the stage, however, the sound system started to malfunction twice. Once the sound system was up and going again, Da Onyan Effeck was allowed to play on until the Police stopped the show due to the time limit early Saturday morning.
Due to the problems with the sound system, Onyan felt that the fans did not receive the full share of his production. Speaking with him after his performance, he said he appreciated the crowd. “Normally when a show is not going to the fan’s interest they become rowdy. This was not the case on St. Eustatius. I appreciate my fans for being patient,” he said.
He said he did not feel he had given his best performance, and after speaking with the Musical Foundation and other representatives he decided to remain on the island and give his fans what they expect from him with a repeat performance on Saturday night.
One day later, Winston Fleming of Musical Foundation told the crowd he had a surprise for them. When it was announced that Onyan would be on stage, the crowd went wild and started to scream.
Statia’s Robert “T-Ras” Spanner was the “bass-man” for Da Onyan Effeck and gave his best.
There were no incidents during the show, which ended at 3:30am. Fleming said he had informed those who had any inclination to fight to leave the show or be locked up until August 1, when Carnival comes to a close.
Tonight, Monday’s show will see the talented youths on the island take to the stage for Youth Extravaganza.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/67905-onyan-gives-statia-crowd-double-treat
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