Woodford Square screams for Machel

At noon, the scheduled start of the show, the square was filled with hundreds of people but not a sound was coming from the stage. The crowd started chanting "We Want Machel," "We Want Machel."

When Newsday enquired about the delay, the paper was told that the show would start at 12.15 pm because of activity in Parliament. On further investigation it was learnt that the show’s organisers, bmobile, had received a call from Montano at about 11.45 pm stating that he did not have a voice and would not be able to make the show. With thousands now gathered at the square, shouts of "Digicel! Digicel! got the organisers very anxious forcing them to send a message to the star via his band’s drummer, Kernal Roberts. By this time, extra police officers were seen taking up positions in the square.

Upon the arrival of Montano’s manager, mother Liz Montano, bmobile officials quickly surrounded her and explained the embarrassing situation at hand.

Eventually, at 12.50 pm, the massive crowd erupted with cheers for Montano as he took the stage and quickly got into his 2006 hit "Delirious." His performance matched the words of the song and the crowd lapped it up, with some women even tugging at his pants.

Montano continued with "Madder Than Dat," this time gyrating at "200 mph." That sent the female spectators wild. He followed with "No War" and "We Not Giving Up," done especially for the young people in the nation. As he slowed down the melody, he got the whole square to sing along with him. His repertoir also included "Big Truck," "Carnival" and "You". Making guest appearances at the show were artistes with whom he collaborated for 2006, including Benjai, Bajan songbird Allison Hinds, and two-time Junior Soca Monarch Patrice Roberts, who joined Machel for their Road March contender "Band Of The Year." Towards the end of the concert, Montano apologised to PoS Mayor Murchison Brown, who was in attendance, to bmobile and to his fans for being late.

He told them he had an accident earlier in the day. The crowd stayed to listen to Montano until the end of the concert at 1.40 pm.