Lost in Time Festival closes on a high

Chronixx, Jesse Royal, Naomi Cowan, D’Yani, Royal Blu, and David Slur were the advertised acts for Day 2 of the highly successful Lost in Time Festival on Sunday at Hope Gardens, and they gave patrons what they craved and more. Chief organiser Protoje was effusive in publicly thanking the thousands who came out over the two days for the festival, which wasn’t held last year and which had its first two-day staging in 2026.

Among the positives was the fact that every effort was made to have Lost in Time run on time. For example, Naomi Cowan was scheduled to perform at 4:05 p.m., and by 4:34 p.m. she was winding down with the sweet Paradise Plum, which remains one of the strongest songs in her growing catalogue. Patrons had a chance to move from the LIT stage over to the small stage, called the Foundation stage, where Royal Blu’s set had a 4:50 p.m. start time.

The Rastaman with the long locks was a ball of energy and gave a big stage performance on the Foundation stage. He called on his friends Runkus and Ras-I, who made great impressions, and things reached another level when Protoje joined him for a cameo. In between performances, it was up to the selectors to keep the festival-goers entertained with selections that matched the profile of the event, which also had a spread of food outlets - from the cuisine of Chef Lumley to patties from Mother’s.

With the hand of the clock on the downside of five, Jah 9, who has not been seen on a local stage in too long, commanded the LIT stage with a performance that was a solid 10. Dressed in a full-length robe, she exuded an aura that made you stop, look, and listen. Jah9 came with love, lots of it, and she even took time to big up all the “real good man”. She spoke relationships; she was soulful and poetic, and she even disrobed at 5:44 p.m. to reveal her svelte body in a gown that caressed and elbow-length lace gloves reminiscent of the golden era of Hollywood. And she wore it well. Her set then included the Minnie Riperton ‘70s hit Loving You, and when she hit the high note, the Rasta girl was pure diva. Of course, she also did Hurricane, the song that came out just before Hurricane Melissa, but that’s another story. The key takeaway is that “hurricane love has the strength of a storm”.

Speaking the love language, too, was Jesse Royal, whose set included a loving, unscripted moment with his younger daughter and her friend, who sang one line of his song. He told fans that he was “the father of two beautiful daughters” and noted that “songs like these are for girls like those”. Referencing his near-death experience last year, the Grammy-nominated singer stressed the importance of family. He brought on stage Yohan Marley and also invited Iba Mahr to join him.

In his performance earlier in the evening, D’Yani showed why his rise in the music business has been swift and consistent. His fans embraced him enthusiastically, and, yes, he did take off his robe to show the muscles that the girls can’t seem to get enough of.

At 8:31 p.m., Chronixx, who was last seen doing a full set in the summer of 2019, ended the drought when fans boisterously welcomed him to main stage at Lost in Time 2026. So happy were they that they remained calm during a 15-minute sound disruption, singing the songs for him. When the sound finally returned, he thanked fans and did songs from his latest album, Exile, as well as catalogue hits such as De la Vega and Skankin’ Sweet.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com