Kandré McDonald, Freelance Writer

Left: Aidonia (right) sparks 'bullets' (above) when he takes the stage.

The eruption at Ruption 2k6, staged at the Students' Union, UWI, Mona last Friday was light.

When THE STAR team entered the venue at minutes after midnight there were several persons standing around with their arms folded across their chests. A section of the dance floor in the vicinity of the stage area was scanty and there were only a few patrons dancing.

One could tell that this was the situation on the inside upon approaching the venue. There were lots of parking spaces available and getting inside the venue was relatively easy.

The vibe on the inside escalated somewhat, thanks to the selecting prowess of the Coppershot selectors and the likes of two young selectors from Kaotic. Coppershot kicked the vibe off with Kevin Lyttle featuring Spragga Benz's Turn Me On. They then eased this up a notch with Allison Hinds featuring Machel Montano on the Roll It Gyal remix. The announcement that followed sent waves through the audience that was growing by a hair's breadth. The Coppershot selector announced that he was mixing for the girls and the songs that followed caught the female patrons' attention. This included songs like Mash It Up, and several other soca songs.

A 'bad man' segment followed and songs like Babycham's Man and Man, and Cobra's Press Trigger ruled this segment along with several selections from Sizzla Kolongi. The dance segment that followed resulted in the climax of the party. The dance area in front of the stage was now occupied as several songs from Elephant Man and Voicemail ruled this section of the programme.

By this time patrons were mumbling about the possibility of a 2 a.m. shut down by the police, but this did not happen and the partying went on. Kaotic took over from Coppershot. They started out drearily but soon found a rhythm and had the patrons on their side throughout most of their time behind the turntables.

Soon it was time for THE STAR's artiste of the Month, Aidonia, to take centre stage and he did so with a bang as patrons who were stationary at the back of the venue were now moving rapidly to the front of the stage. He belched out several of the patrons' favourites including Lolly. Aidonia then ignited the crowd with a new song, however it was not the song that really 'caught the crowd on fire', but the actions that accompanied the song.

Aidonia requested the company of a female onstage who was present with a male companion. The girl went on-stage without any fuss at all and was gyrating backwards on Aidonia. Initially her male companion looked glum but soon had his hands in the air squealing at the lyrics which the artiste was spitting. His girl returned to him after the showcase and assumed her position in front of him as if nothing had happened.

Aidonia then called on a young artiste who proved to be lame and the crowd rewarded him several handclaps and some boos. After seeing what was about to transpire Aidonia took the microphone from him did Buckam and then exited the stage.

It was now minutes after 3 a.m. and several patrons began to head towards the exit. The party was not the worst staged at the Students' Union, but it was still far from being the best.

Left: This girl erupts off the ground into her partner's arms.   Right: This couple was getting into the 'thick of things'.