After the cancellation of the 2015 edition of the World Creole Music Festival the Dominica Festivals Committee and Discover Dominica Authority went all out to give the patrons of the most indigenous music festival in the Caribbean a memorable experience.
With a line-up of 18 acts instead of the usual 15, it seemed a bit of overkill, but one can never have too much of a good thing.
All three nights of the festival were of a high standard, but by far the best and most creative performance was put on by the international star OPHELIA and her crew which included a crack team of Dominica’s best musicians including a surprisingly tight horn section of young musicians led by Marvin Marie.
Also on the WCMF stage for the first time was one of Dominica’s most versatile musicians Andrew “Bird” Bellony also known as Stone Ranger on lead guitar.
From the moment OPHELIA was announced as “The Cadence Queen” by Haitian Rapper DON ONE we knew right away that she was indeed The Cadence Queen for Life. The audience was spell bound and could barely believe what they were seeing and hearing.
OPHELIA was dressed in a white tight fitting ankle length dress made of hemp and trimmed in gold around the mid-riff and decorated with a specially imported genuine hand crafted Egyptian beaded necklace. We immediately knew that we were back in ancient Egypt with the Queen Cleopatra.
OPHELIA’s entry onto the stage was immediately followed by the professionally superb dance troupe from Martinique, POM KANELLE who paid homage in dance to the Queen. The 12 dancers would grace the stage four more times in brilliant, creole inspired costumes, including during a duet between OPHELIA and Daryl BOBB on Son Tambour La which featured some inspired drumming by Lincoln Riviere on the Tambou. OPHELIA then left the stage to Daryl Bobb who treated the audience to his own composition “Just Be” in English, Spanish and Kweyol.
In less than 5 minutes we heard OPHELIA’s voice soaring alone over the audience singing Psalm 23 from the bible acapella in French. One truly did not know what to expect. The band then surprisingly struck up a reggae beat and OPHELIA reappeared on stage to the delight of the massive crowd in a completely new Rasta inspired hair style, a red bustier and gold coloured pants. The stunned audience was treated to a majestic rendition of “Jerusalem” in French, Arabic, Hebrew and English. Jason “Froggy” Joseph and Fred Nicholas, on drums and bass respectively, were really tight holding down a rock steady rhythm while Stone Ranger delivered some scintillating rock inflected guitar solos.
After this brief but delightful detour the Queen was back in her Cadence kingdom with Chanson d’amour and one could hear our neighbours from Guadeloupe and Martinique singing along with her. OPHELIA finished this section of her production with her best known song “Aie Dominique” which saw the reappearance of the POM Kanelle dancers. OPHELIA then left the stage to Marsha Augustine, a new up and coming singer, who has just released a new single “Kreole Whine”. Marsha had the crowd moving and swaying to the catchy melody and made a very good impression on the large audience. We were impressed with her presentation and think that if she keeps it up she is destined to be one of Dominica’s great performers.
After Marsha finished her number OPHELIA was back with an up-tempo number and a new brightly coloured outfit topped by a queenly crown topped by a depiction of a King Cobra. Yes the Queen was back in charge and the dancers were back with her and we knew that the temperature at the stadium was set to increase, but before we could feel the heat OPHELIA took it down a notch with a delightful ballad in French during which the choreographer of POM KANELLE, dressed in a bright gold lame jacket, did a couple pirouettes depicting a jilted lover. OPHELIA was in good voice and she belted out the number to the delight of the entire crowd. It was now time for the grand finale and all performers came back on stage to bid the audience good bye. The horns were on fire, OPHELIA was on fire and POM Kanelle really let loose on Dingolay and Mwen Kay Helay.
This was indeed a splendid performance. The choreography and costumes were a delightful spectacle, OPHELIA‘s voice was in top form, the band was well rehearsed and the lighting was great. The songs were well chosen and put in the right order and it was clear to us that the production had a lot of thought. We were not surprised to find out from OPHELIA after her performance that her team of performers and support personnel numbered forty. We were not the only ones who thought that OPHELIA’s performance was superb.
A cursory check on social media turned up a cascade of good reviews a sample of which we reproduce below: “Congrats Ophe great performance. You were just spectacular,” “Last night was awesome. You had me hooked miss Marie. Stunning… spectacular, awesome, you had me in shivers…that’ was a masterful performance,” “Oh absolutely Ophelia Marie this was a spectacular performance…what a production…La Grande Dame!”
See photos below. All photos by Jordan Jerome.
Some people don’t know when to wrap it up – And they don’t know when they have lost the touch. Like Sampson, Delilah cut off his hair (strength) and he didn’t know his strength was gone. There’s nothing wrong in waking up to reality. Just retire, nuh!!
@bumblebee. You should just shut up you hater. It is always a mistake to cast Pearls before Swine. You definitely have no appreciation of class and finesse you moron.
Definitely overrated, poor on material, just the musicians were great. The Martinique dancers and costumes are always great production, Kassav has used them, but I wouldn’t do a lengthy write up on her as the voice isn’t there. Both opening acts Midnight Groovers with that deadly Cadence riddim and Dede St.Prix with a quarter of the audience, all spellbound, are more deserving of this lengthy writeup. I must admit the dancers and musicians Freddy, Bird and horns played like pros do. If she was on a little later I would climb into a seat to take a nap.
I must have missed something. I really didn’t enjoy her performance. I preferred Midnight Groovers, when it came to local acts.
Why is there a big foot with seven toes behind Ophelia’s head?
Her performance was boring, they should have allocated more time to Kes and Killa, and less time for her. Also Wyclef needs to sing more of his songs rather than DJing off others songs……
Yessss! I must add that Ophelia was outstanding, superb with her performance. It was well rehearsed and we could tell the dancers were professionals. Of very high standard, entertaining, just very very very good, bon, bueno!!! Coming from a regular person who watched the show from the US via internet. I’m already planning for next year’s wcmf trip.
Zandoli, credit was given where credit is due…we allow others to sing the praise of our greats while we sit and wallow in our misery…sometimes its best to say nothing at all, because that only enforces the notion of your ignorance.
Jealousy and ignorance……..the trademarks of too many people in DA and that is what keeps it backwards.
Job well done. The performance was great. Dancers were great and the musicians were on the money.
Sorry but she is a has been.. Michelle Henderson was sooooo much better than her… That whole dialogue was an exaggeration if you ask me… Stupessss
Referring to this article as an ‘exaggeration’ of Ophelia’s performance and especially the crowd being ‘spellbound?’is in itself very understated. In fact, while I must admit that she gave out her best (Daryl Bob and dancers being relatively well-received), Ophelia’s performance didn’t ignite much energy and enthusiasm and a significant section of the audience took a break to get themselves some refreshments from the food court and to have a chat awaiting the next act. I truly believe that she should not have come on at ‘prime time’ but maybe a bit earlier, especially since it’s probably close to a decade since any new material has been released by this lady. I suspect that her husband probably wrote this article. Anyway, it was good of him to have allowed the radio stations to air this year’s performance live for a change.
Congrats Ophla – yes very few call her Ophla but hopefully she will know who the few are to know how proud we are of her excellence. She has been a role model for many especially us fellow singers and musicians. I may not have been there but this excellent review allowed me to see you in action. Congrats again on a great performance. I am blessed to call you Ophla and to have you as a mentor and friend. We love you Ophelia (Ophla)……
Ophelia’s performance reminded me of Cassave’s performances… Indeed a brilliant and entertaining performance from the true Queen of Cadence!!! Lovely, Lovely!!!
Thanks for sharing this piece, DNO. I enjoyed reading it. Ophelia, you make us proud. Based on what I have read here and on social media, you put on a show of high international standard as should be expected of the WCMF. Keep shining, La Grande Dame
DNO if you want to hold the readers’ interest you need to tone down the superlatives.
I thought you went a bit overboard. I lost interest in the story about halfway through. I read too much like a promo.