D'Angel performed to a receptive crowd at the party, Up Close and Personal with D'Angel and Friends, held at Asylum Night Club, New Kingston, last Saturday. - winston sill

And so! .The golden 'angel' of dancehall was on top form last weekend at The Asylum New Kingston. MC Candace Buchanan invited the reluctant patrons closer to the stage promising solid performances by D' Angel and friends as well as give-aways.

The first friend to perform was Aisha, who gave a very energetic performance to an unmoving crowd. It was not until she started to sing Joe Grind in a 'country style' tone that she felt the full benefits of performing to a live audience.

The women especially were hailing her in a way that could only attest to their experience of the sentiments expressed in the lyrics.

Hers was followed by a somewhat lengthy set by LUST who by the way, looked absolutely amazing, and sounded just as good individually as they do as a group. Because they performed so well, it was easy to overlook the fact that most of the songs they performed were covers. Soon though the patience of the audience wore out, the screams stopped and the men ended their set on a low note.

Golden being with hair

D'Angel entered the catwalk shaped stage after I-Octane's crowd-pleasing performance with her supermodel stride, and the crowd loved it. She looked like a golden angel with hair and makeup to match, and her little denim jumper worked very well with her gold cowboy boots. The reception she received from the mainly female audience was proof that she had survived the verbal backlash on the musical career last year. Her performance was devoid of the 'boos' and it appeared throughout her riveting performance that she has beaten the stage demon.

Praises to delly ranks

She gave sincere praises to Delly Ranks who she says she owes her career to. "He was the one who encouraged me, exercise my talent as an artiste, and he was the one who encouraged me to be steadfast in this industry," she said as she invited him to join her and stage.

Nothing pleased the crowd more than when entertainment's 'best dressed female artiste of the year' performed her half of One Man a c****ination she previously did with Beenie Man, "dis a D'Angel an mi alone a chat," that's when the uproar started, the stand alone version provided evidence to anyone in doubt that she had survived the obstacles in her life.

"My fans and my friends are my gifts from God, and Marco Dean, he is my angel," she said as a prelude to her song Everything is all Right.

D'Angel on stage would not be the same until she went into full model mode. She taught eager female patrons the basics of bringing off the 'Blaze' walk, for which her Blaze video runway set was instantly recreated in gold, and she invited overzealous patrons from the crowd to demonstrate their skills on stage, everyone was keen to try and outdo the other, much to the crowd's delight.

One thing was clear to the audience on Saturday night during D'Angel's performance. She has matured as an artiste, and finally people are accepting that. She gave thanks to her friends who performed with her, and existed the stage the way she entered, with her famous words. And so!.