Mahalia’s Corner is back with a whole new season of September shows and fans are here for it.
Held on Sunday night at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre for the first time since its tenth anniversary edition in 2019, the energy in the room was palpable before and during the first show. It felt like home – comforting, warm, the thing you didn’t know your soul needed to be whole again.
Themed Date Night, the décor, the sound (not too loud, not too soft), the performances and the curated music selections from back in the day to more recent top 40 hits combined to create the right ambience for partners, friends, and those who simply like a good show.
2 Mile Hill’s lead vocalist Mahalia Cummins, an engaging, funny, and gracious hostess, has this way of connecting with people so they feel more like guests than patrons. She takes the audience into her confidence like when she said she forgot the words to the first song Lovely Day and you could see her trying to remember before starting over. This is one of the factors which make this show different.
Accompanied by band mates Kris Clarke, Russell Padmore, Chadd Ifill and their new keyboardist Machaio Carter, Mahalia also sang their 2018 song Conversation, Ella Mai’s Bood’
Casheda Dottin in the first half of the show. The Baje to the World Season 1 winner was a delightful treat as she sang a selection of tunes that included Floetry’s Say Yes, and Just for Today with Simon Pipe (she’s featured on the 2024 song with him) anNirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.
However, the highlight was the amazing performance of her original song Into You from her EP Yearning. She was so good.
In the second half of the show, 2025 People’s Monarch Shaquille GFG, the other guest artiste, showed the audience that he is more than his sweet soca tunes.
In his first ever performance at the show, he sang Butter (2025) with an R&B flavour, a slower version of his popular 2019 song Darlin’, and his 2017 “break-out song” Collateral. He was joined by Rhea Layne for their duet of My Person (2025) and by Casheda for a duet of American singer Mario’s Let me Love You, a rendition which people loved.
Shaquille ended his very engaging and entertaining performance with his soca from this year Asphalt which he described as “a very good song for me”.
The soca which led to him winning the People’s Monarch, is still riding a wave of popularity, and based on the audience’s response, it probably will be a favourite for a while. He thanked the band for having him and said he had “a blast”.
As with previous editions, Open Mic was a feature. This one saw Iana Adu, Meagan, duo Larix and Sirrah and Isreal stepping centre stage to showcase their singing abilities. They were well received.
The show, which ended around 10:50 p.m. was a mood with the right vibes that could set the tone for the week ahead.
If it is an indicator of the others that will come, then it will be great season at Mahalia’s Corner. (GBM)
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