Promoter promises safe Sting ... despite election tension

Despite the 'war atmosphere' with the announcement of four clashes at Sting, promoter Isaiah Laing of Supreme Promotions guarantees patrons another safe staging of the event.

Known as the 'greatest one night reggae show on Earth,' Sting will be seeing four clashes this year at its 'Rumours of War' edition.

Scheduled for Jamworld, Portmore, on December 26, Sting will be seeing lyrical war with Hurricane vs Specialist, Deva Bratt vs Iyara, Tony Matterhorn vs Twin of Twins and KipRich vs Merciless. With such an ambitious line-up of clashes and in the middle of the election period, with election day scheduled for December 29, Laing is reassuring patrons that everything will be peaceful for them.

He told THE WEEKEND STAR, "I just had a meeting with the police today and there will be over 200 security personnel employed in the venue. Also, there are measures on the ground, which we can't talk about, that have been implemented, which we always do." As usual, the event has refrained from selling bottled drinks so there won't be any 'missiles' flying on to the stage.
No election tension

According to Laing, the election will not be causing him and his event any added heartache either. He said, "there's no election tension, you're not even hearing of a lot of election violence."
This year's show is going back to Sting standards with a heavy focus on clashes. In a previous interview with , Heavy D of Supreme Promotions said, "This year, Sting is going to be like a 45 shoot-out, 45 minutes into every hour we want a clash, from 11:45 p.m. to 5:45 a.m."

Laing says the anticipation is building in the streets, "di show ago tun up, everything is going smooth. The artistes are working with us well this year and everyone is saying it sounds like we're gonna get the 30,000 crowd. The line-up is hot and we have Mavado coming on at 1:45 a.m., and Popcaan in one of his first major solo performances."

The line-up also includes 'the generals' with Bounty Killer, Aidonia, Spice, Gyptian and Elephant Man. In the 'Bad Rastas' segment, there will be I-Octane, Zamunda, Khago, I-Wayne, Etana, Teflon and Chuck Fenda. Representing the '5 Young Generals' is Jah Vinci, among others, and 'Generation Next' will feature Tommy Lee, Flexxx, T'Nez, Raine Seville, Lisa Hyper, Ikaya and more.

The Sting brand has expanded this year to include a number of other events around the date and leading up to it. Sting Face-Off Wednesdayz will happen every Wednesday night at Club Riddim where young artistes will battle lyrically to perform on Sting. Prior to Sting will be Candy Cane held on Christmas Day at Club Riddim.

Rumfire is on as one of the event's major sponsors with a song made in honour of the event called Fire In Your Glass. As for any surprises, Laing added, "there's one last chance for a surprise, lets hope luck is with us