Nailah Blackman’s Sokah Origins cements her excellence as a performer as she put on a fantastic show that felt like both concert and fete but with all the vibes. This year’s theme B.A.D (born a diamond) felt appropriate given the slew of dazzling performances throughout the evening, culminating in an exercise in brilliance by the soca princess.

The show kicked off an hour and a half later than the advertised 5 pm, but soca artiste Oh.Xone showed off a new song “Attitude Problems” while urging the crowd to check out his new music. The crowd was hyped up by the antics of Major Penny before the list of better-known soca artistes graced the stage.

Some of the highlights include Pumpa from the US Virgin Islands. He stood out with his beard dyed fluorescent green and electric presentation making use of the entire stage as he got the crowd raving.

The crowd’s response, especially the ladies, was thunderous as Lyrikal monopolized the stage. He sang “Dotish” which uses the Tilden Hall rhythm. Lyrikal put on a clinic in crowd engagement, inviting an audience member to the stage who gave the freest, duttiest wine of her life to the amusement and surprise of the crowd.

Voice started his set with his Carnival 2025 release “Retro ,” and urged the audience from the South to represent. He transitioned into “Penthouse” and “Out and Bad” before jumping into both the VIP and General sections during “Too Own Way,” sending the crowds wild as they tried to buss a wine on the soca star.

Nailah united with her family on stage with “Endless Vibration,” a vivacious duet with her aunt Marge Blackman, before joining Isaac Blackman later for a rendition of “Om Shanti Om” who ended the set with timeless classic “To The Ceiling” which sent the crowd into a spree.

Nailah was the shining diamond of the event, giving multiple performances and having multiple changes in attire which included a gorgeous but risque deep blue dress. Nailah showed her mastery as a physical performer, keeping pace and leading the charge of her backup dancers while managing clean vocals. She remarked that the ladies weren’t getting on “bad enough” before inviting a few audience members on stage to mash up the place. And mash-up they did, as they sent the crowd into a frenzy with some professional throw-waist.

Toward the end, Soca icon Sherwin Winchester was invited on, but the set had to be cut short as the event had gone over the allotted time due to the late start. Nailah concluded the show with an acapella rendition of “Come Home,” her sincere and mesmerizing vocals cutting through the crowd as the venue began to shut things down.

While not a “wine and fling it up” kind of event, the audience, especially the VIP section, grooved throughout the night, dancing, chipping, wining and ‘palancing’ to match the vibe of the music and performers. If it was your first fete for the season, it was money well spent.