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Soca Divas in Concert - Jean Pierre Complex - Port of Spain

It was a night when true soca royalty showed its class and claimed its throne on Wednesday when Spektakula Promotions hosted Soca Divas in Concert at the Jean Pierre Complex, Port of Spain.

Former Road March winners Sanelle Dempster, Faye-Ann Lyons and Machel Montano, having copped the title in 1999, 2003 and 1997 respectively, all showed their class during solo performances that set them apart on a night of quality performances that thrilled the packed venue.

Dempster was impressive as she delivered a high-energy performance of D' River, the hit that won her the prestigious accolade.

She brought the capacity crowd, packed into the eastern stand and seated on plastic chairs placed on the tennis court directly in front of the stage which faced them, to life during a performance that seemed to turn back the hands of the clock.

Lyons delivered a stage show that was consistent with her recent outings.

The crowd exploded into a sea of jumping bodies, frantically waving rags when Montano took the stage with his Xtatik band for the performance that ended the night's entertainment.

Try as they might, Montano's winning, Dempster's energy and Lyons's consistency was just no match for the combination of 1977 Road March winner Calypso Rose and the current holder of the title, Shurwayne Winchester.

The two brought the house down during what was their first official public performance of their hit-making collaboration of Tempo, a remake of the song that incidentally put Rose in the history books as the first woman to hold the Road March title.

Perhaps it was the sheer nostalgia of the whole thing or maybe the irrepressible combined energies the two generated on stage but Rose and Winchester were classical.

Bajan Soca Queen Alison Hinds, a title she earned after turning out hits in the 90s, was back to her old tricks during a pro-woman performance that got the female dominated crowd worked up.

Atlantik lead singer Destra Garcia also stood out on the night. Garcia found it a bit difficult to get the crowd really going at first but when she chose to leave the stage and run through the crowd during her performance of "Max It Up", the audience went wild.