Massive crowd turns out for Jah Cure in St Maarten!

After overcoming the initial fears of whether Jah Cure would have been able to perform at Reggae Explosion II in St Maarten on Wednesday night, an estimated 9000 persons turned out to see the entertainer on the show that the promoter described as the biggest show of this Carnival season.

"The show was beautiful," said a very pleased promoter, Clarence Darby. "It went very well."

sparked fears

Jah Cure had been billed to appear on the show as well as other Jamaican acts Beenie Man and Busy Signal. However, the arrest last week of the 32-year-old entertainer on drug possession charges, sparked fears in the tiny Dutch colony that he would not have been able to fulfil his obligations. When he heard of Jah Cure's arrest, Darby told THE STAR that if Jah Cure failed to show, he (Darby) would have been destroyed.

Jah Cure had a court date set for last Monday, 24 hours before he was set to depart for St Maarten. An entertainment talk show host in St Maarten was even telling listeners that Jah Cure was in jail and that he would not be able to perform.

In the meantime, Jah Cure, who pleaded not guilty to marijuana possession in court, flew to St Maarten on Tuesday as expected, making the promoter a very happy man.

"Once he got into St Maarten, the Herald (newspaper) brought out a big spread clearing up the matter," Darby explained. He said had Jah Cure not been able to perform, patrons would have been disappointed, but he was banking on the other big acts in Busy Signal and Beenie Man to save the day.

Reports out of St Maarten said the entertainer performed well. There were continuous screams of delight from the near full house at the Festival Village in Philipsburg as the thousands in attendance eagerly lapped up the performances. Jah Cure performed many of his crowd favourites but he was unable to complete his set as police shut the show down.

According to Darby, the show should have finished at 3a.m. as stipulated by the permit. When it didn't, the police arrived to shut it down. The police did allow an extra half hour but even then Jah Cure was unable to complete his set, but the crowd got enough to sate their desires.

In the end, everybody went away satisfied. "It was the show that everyone wanted to see," Darby said.

COURTESY OF THE JAMAICA STAR