‘This is not the end of Sting’ – Roberts

Ghetto Splash founder Patrick Roberts, who was present at Sting 2022 when the event descended into disarray, feels that poor management led to 'the greatest one-night reggae and dancehall show on Earth' ending abruptly on Tuesday morning.

Roberts, however, is confident that Sting, which was coming off a seven-year hiatus, will remain a staple on the entertainment calendar for years.

"Regardless of what people might be saying or feeling right now, this is definitely not the end of Sting. It is a name and an event, and people love it. Sting trades on 'expect the unexpected' and the element of surprise, and that can be anything, from great to exotic to almshouse to gimmicks. And that is what patrons go there for. People need to understand that Sting is Sting; it is not Rebel Salute or Reggae Sumfest or Ghetto Splash," Roberts said. He opined that the breakdown happened at the stage management level.

"As a promoter, you have to be mindful that when you have more than 50 acts on stage, you have to sectionalise them into 'mediocre', 'starlight' and 'show closers'. The stage manager has to know that when it reach crunch time and everybody wants to work at the same time, you have to manage without breaking the vibe of the event."

When contacted for a comment, promoter Heavy D said "This year was the testing ground for a young, new set of stage managers and also emcees. We want to take some things out of the hands of (founder Isaiah) Laing and Heavy D. It is important to inject new blood because Sting continues to build and will be around for many, many years."

Sting, the traditional Boxing Day gala stage show, changed venues from JamWorld in Portmore, St Catherine, to Grizzly's Plantation Cove in Priory, St Ann. Fans were left sorely disappointed as top acts, including Skeng, Valiant, Jahshii and Dovey Magnum, did not make their much-anticipated Sting debut owing to time constraints. In fact, Dovey Magnum had actually touched the stage when the curtain fell prematurely.

"The promoters and stage managers need to understand that when it reach 5 a.m., Sting crowd has no time for foolishness...you have to be stinging. That's why it's called Sting," Roberts said, adding a word of advice to up-and-coming acts.

"If you as a new act have a one hit and you are on at that time, go on stage, perform that one song and wave goodbye. And another thing is that performing for 30 seconds on TikTok is different from doing 15 minutes on stage. Thirty seconds on TikTok cannot make you a star," he said.

Roberts advised the organisers, Supreme Promotions, to go back to the drawing board.

"If the nonsense never happened towards the end, it would have been a good show," Roberts said.