The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

AN ECLECTIC group of music lovers turned out to BLU Restaurant last Saturday to uncover the mystery surrounding the Secret Concert.

The No Hit Wonders (NHW) promotion team revealed the event venue on Friday, just hours before patrons were treated to performances from the Truth, Avante Guarden and Fourever1.

As expected, the concert also served as the Bahamas debut for the Atlanta-based alternative rock band Cloudeater.

In an interview with Tribune Entertainment, Jayne Doh, lead singer of Avante Guarden said the group was pleased with the crowd's reception. The opening act, "Norma Jean" was a crowd pleaser, as well as "Can't Stop Now".

"I think the response to our performance was great. We are very excited when a Bahamian audience can get into the music. We are always very happy when they don't just look at us with a very blank stare. The trend has been, when they start to listen to it, they get into it and we were glad to see that this audience wasn't any different. I wasn't expecting anything in particular, I just needed to sing my original stuff and I needed to do that in a bad way; it's very therapeutic to me," said Jayne Doh.

She said the overall Secret Concert was good and if the NHW keeps it up, the next concert could double the crowd at BLU "easily".

"Especially after word hits the street about how nice this was," she said.

Arthol 'DJ Ampero' Gibson, NHW operations manager said with the turnout of the Secret Concert, he along with other members of the group were surprised with the number of people that came out and stayed for the full event. He said it was most shocking to see the large number of people in the VIP lounge.

Speaking about the performances at the concert, he said: "The Truth Band is a local favorite and the majority of people that came to the Secret Concert were either fans of the Truth or they knew of them from the Battle of the Bands and their showcase at Hammerheads and Bahama Joes. And Avante Guarden, they had a fan base for a few years now from their acts around town."

After speaking with Cloudeater, Mr Gibson said the international band was pleased about the level of reception they got from the crowd. He said they were happy to see that people enjoyed their songs and bought their CDs as well. The band has plans on coming back soon, Mr Gibson said.

Just weeks before the concert, Rapp Quelle, NHW vice president said the group hoped to revitalise the "dead" entertainment scene with the event.

Since the event he said: "I think we put a chink in the armor because to resuscitate or even put Bahamian nightlife where it should be, it's going to take a lot more than just one concert. It is going to take a steady movement that is bigger than just No Hit Wonders. We play as equal parts; the promoters, the bands, they play their parts. And then the followers and the patrons play their parts."

He said while both sides complain, they do very little to actually improve it. It is usually small groups that are making the improvement, Rapp Quelle said.

"It is really papers like you guys, the Tribune, that are still steadily reporting and covering when others don't, so I feel like we have put a little chink in the armor as to what has been going on. And I think we did good, based on the response to what people say because we don't judge ourselves, we let people judge it. Look out for more promotions from No Hit Wonders and campaigns, that doesn't necessarily have to do with an event," said Rapp Quelle.