Soca Vs Reggae will be a royal affair

What do you get when you take soca’s royal couple and put them up against a dancehall star?

The answer is easy. 

The 7th annual Soca Vs Reggae is back this year and promises to be better than ever.

This year is being touted as the VIP Edition and features Fay-Ann Lyons and Bunji Garlin on Team Soca and Demarco on Team Reggae.

Soca Vs Reggae will be held at Tiger Bay on August 2 this year and promises to be the premier event of the Cup Match holiday.

The score is tied with three wins for Team Soca and three wins for Team Reggae. Organiser Vejay Steede explained the concept. “It’s called the VIP Edition because we want to put an emphasis on developing a first class VIP experience, together with all-inclusive beverages, catered cuisine, VIP parking, a vantage point and so forth.

“This year, we have been very fortunate to land the ‘royal couple of soca’, Bunji Garlin and Fay-Ann Lyons.

“We were very lucky, we picked him the year he had the biggest song of his career, Differentology (We Ready). We had him lined up before the song came out. He’s actually married to Fay-Ann and they both have huge hits.

“He’s been the Soca Monarch and she’s been Soca Monarch as well.

“It’s their first time in Bermuda. They are the biggest soca artists to come to Bermuda in a very long time. Machel Montano came here 20 years ago.”

Shifting gears to Team Reggae, Steede said: “We’re very excited also to have Demarco who’s actually one of the hottest reggae artists right now.

“A lot of people know some of his recent hits Love My Life and Duppy Know Ah Who Fi Frighten.

“He brings a lot of energy. He has a few other new songs that are becoming popular now. We think that it will be a great match up.”

Steede said the format will be tweaked this year to allow the artists to have a longer performance.

This year’s DJs on Team Soca are Rusty G and DJ Chubb. Team Reggae DJs are King Jyrus and Prezidential Elite.

Steede said the VIP area will be elevated and offer the best spot for watching the festivities.

Envy of the party

 “You’re going to be close enough to the actions. You’re going to be the envy of the party.

“The whole point of the VIP experience this time around is that if you don’t get the VIP, you’re going to wish you got the VIP.

“If you do get the VIP, you’re going to say it’s money more than well spent.”

Steede encourages partygoers to come out early as gates open at 8pm. The show will start promptly at 9pm.

Asked why Soca Vs Reggae is a must attend event, Steede said: “As we always say, this event is synonymous with the entire Cup Match weekend.

“This pulls it all together. This time around, we have definitely pulled out the stops in securing three huge artists that are very current and relevant.

“They can do old and new music. They are current but they can go back.

“For the price of what we’re offering, its tremendous value for the money.

“The energy is going to be high.”

Speaking on this year being the tiebreaker, Steede said: “Soca are the clear favourites but I believe it’s won on the night.

“What levels the playing field is always the fact that you have a limited amount of time.

“No matter how many hits you have, it’s what you do within your allotted time.”

Sponsors include Bermuda Department of Tourism, Digicel, Three Olives and WKD.