Don’t get us wrong the first ever WinterSoulstice Music Festival held in Nassau this past weekend was pretty lit and the artists on the lineup for sure put on two dope shows, two nights in a row.
If you missed any of the nights, you missed out BIG TIME!
If we could, we’d give the promoters daps for bringing in musical A-listers to headline the two-night festival. It was truly disappointing, though to see how small the crowds were each night, since we really expected these artists to draw massive numbers.
Not only did we get treated to a hip hop legend and lyrical genius when Nas hit the stage, but we were graced with the presence of reggae royalty with Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley. Rick Ross brought something to fresh and infectious when he hit the rap scene and had us all going crazy during his performance. Ty Dolla $ign’s set was impressive and he performed his a$$ off!
When it comes to the sound, the lighting and the stage set up, the festival hit all the right notes, but, in our opinion, fell flat on everything else.
eLIFE242 was out at Winter Soulstice and quickly realised that event planners and promoters missed the mark on some crucial points that could’ve really given them the “soul” they were looking for. Here are five of them.
Bad timing – If you know Bahamians then you’d know that during Christmastime, Bahamians only care about Christmas and free parties, event and outings. Trying to throw any event in the middle of the holiday season could leave you with small crowds and no profit. With just about every business, organization and office hosting parties where you enter, eat and drink for free, Christmastime just ain’t the time to pick at Bahamian’s wallets. And since we’re not a celebrity driven society, name dropping means nothing to us when our sister gets us into her work party for free food and drinks all night.
Is this what you call VIP? What kind of bar is that? – Speaking of drinks…the bar at the WinterSoulstice was whack! The selection of drinks available was not like anything Bahamians are used to when we go to parties. Two wines, one brand of vodka, Bacardi Anejo and…something else? The bar certainly did not lend to anyone enjoying the event as much as we would’ve liked to. And with drink prices just as high as those at Baha Mar…issa no for us! Making matters worse, there was one little food stall serving plates. We’re used to festivals being loaded with stalls serving local foods, treats and snacks, but we were left hungry and thirsty.
Little/no local support – Now we don’t know how true this is, but word on the street is that the foreign promoters (again, we say they did a good job), didn’t seek out a partner with local promoters like they should have. Again, we don’t know if this holds any water, but based on the turn out and layout, it’s clear the promoters needed some Bahamian injection in this event. It was missing that oomph, that IT factor, that little thing that would’ve made it Bahamian.
No advertising – Literally the week of the event, Bahamians were on social media asking, “Is this concert really happening?” The week of the event, WinterSoulstice banners were just being draped across Bay Street and other main thoroughfares. How, Sway? Bahamians need time to get used to anything, especially an event they have to spend their money on. Months before the festival, we literally had to go to a friend’s Instagram page to get to someone else’s Instagram’s page just to see the flyer. We only heard radio ads a few days before and Bahamians just weren’t talking about it. The event had no street cred and in Bahamian culture, that is what gets tickets sold. We have a culture of “monkey see, monkey do,” unfortunately, and if my homeboy in the barber wasn’t talking about it or if my sister’s nail tech didn’t ask her about it then…more than likely none of us going. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened.
Local acts got no real play – For years we here at eLIFE242 have celebrated our Bahamian artists, of all disciplines. So we were excited to see some local acts light up the stage at the festival…but that never happened. Now, this part of the argument for us is two-fold. Yes, Bahamian acts did take the stage, but their crowds were thinner than paper. Yes, they did perform on time as scheduled and this is part of the reason no one saw them. We would love the day that concerts in The Bahamas start on time! Really, that would be dope AF! But knowing the culture, we don’t head out to events on time because we’re used to performers hitting the stage well after 1 am. The thing is, if those “bigger” acts were allowed to stay backstage and not perform until they crowd got bigger (this is what we heard), why were the Bahamians rushed on stage to perform for the sand and beach? Why weren’t they allowed to hold out to perform for more people when they arrived, like everyone else did? Again, we would love to see these things start on time for once, and delaying these acts could further delay the whole event, but it might be nice for our Bahamians to also enjoy a crowd to perform for.