Soca and Zouk share spotlight at major Caribbean concert

The final international concert spectacular of St. Maarten’s Carnival 2012 brought a plethora of the Caribbean’s finest entertainers to the adventure island. The much publicized Sunday evening event “One Love Soca and Zouk Xplosion” put a special spotlight on two of the region’s party music genres as top Soca acts shared the stage with world renowned Zouk band extraordinaire Kassav.

The event which took place at St. Maarten’s party central, the Carnival Village, attracted attendees from both the Dutch and French side of the island as well as fans from the neighbouring islands of St. Barth’s, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Interestingly enough, a large delegation of European and North American tourists who were experiencing their first tastes of Carnival culture were also in attendance.

The evening’s sizzling line-up of Soca artistes included St. Maarten’s Shadowman, Youth Extreme – Aruba’s Road March champions, Roxanne Webster (aka Roxxy) – the Calypso and Soca singing sensation from Anguilla, WCK – Dominica’s Bouyon Kings and a highly awaited band clash between the Awesome Jam Band from St. Thomas, and Anguilla’s reigning Road March champs, Pantha Vibes International.

Hometown hero Shadow Man along with his live band kept the crowd moving with his popular Soca tunes which include “Caribbean Cruise” and “White Line” while Roxxy enticed the audience with her originals “Delete” and “Ready for the World”. WCK kept the vibes flowing with high energy ‘jump up’ music and renditions of hit songs from Soca artistes Machel Montano, Kees Dieffenthaller and Kerwin Dubois and made way for the grand performance by the legendary Zouk band Kassav..

Kassav fronted by singers Jocelyne Beroard and Jean Philippe Marthely electrified the Carnival Village and had the audience lingering on their every lyric. It was clear that within the multiethnic, multicultural population of St. Maarten were throngs of Kassav fans as all present seemed to become one with the music as they sang along to their favourite Kassav classics such as “Siwo”, “Syé bwa” and “Zouk-la sé sèl médikaman nou ni”

With over 30 years of live performances and over 60 albums under their belts, the members of Kassav injected an unmatched level of vibrancy and vitality into the lives and hearts of those in attendance and set the stage for an unforgettable St. Maarten-styled Carnival.