They came, they played, and by God did they conquer.

"This is the best thing that's happened to the over 30s in 20 or 30 years," a misty-eyed Susan said. "Just look at the faces, look at them. This is what tourism needs."

Indeed, Saturday night's concert by The Merrymen at the Fairmont Southampton beach terrace was one of unbridled joy and universal happiness. For the younger guests it was possibly a new experience, but for the majority it was one of those rare 'trips to heaven' – an incomparable reincarnation of the days when they danced the night away to the sounds of the Bajan group hailed as "the greatest calypso band of all time".

Indeed, Susan was right. Arms waving, hips swaying, sweat pouring from backs and brows, it was their faces which told the story.

Happily singing along to the words and smiling – oh, how they were smiling – the dancers rocked the sand-splattered dance floor non-stop as they drank like parched cattle from the deep, deep well of such timeless classics as 'Big Bamboo', 'Maryann', 'Matilda', 'By the Rivers of Babylon', and 'Country Road'. Then there were the calypso medleys and original songs, including 'Ting, Ting, Ting','She Want Pans', and the spicy 'Surfin' the Net', as only The Merrymen can render them.

And always, always the huge crowd begged for more.

Well, who wouldn't? Opportunities like this don't come along much any more for what is euphemistically described as "the older crowd". (Is 30+ really "older"?) Even those whose dancing days are over came out to sit, transfixed, as close to the stage as they could, gently moving shoulders, arms and hands to the irresistible rhythms.

For if there is one thing these master musicians know how to do, it is to work a crowd. Like swells on the sea, they took the people up and they brought them down with tempo changes designed to alternately energise and calm.

Bearing in mind that, like many in their captivated audience, The Merrymen are no spring chickens, their own energy and obvious enjoyment in entertaining is writ large on their smiling faces, in their busy hands, blended voices, and ever-moving feet and swaying hips.

Smartly dressed in white trousers and shoes, and red and white or turquoise and white shirts, they portrayed 'island entertainment' at its very best. Just as the Bermuda setting was one of clear skies, starlight, palm trees, sand and sea, so too were these qualities conjured up in song after song, many of them original material written by the very talented guitarist-lead vocalist Emile Straker.

Like a cross-country train, The Merrymen's musical journey rolled seamlessly through a repertoire which also included a little country and local calypso.

If 'Beautiful Bermuda', so graciously performed by Mr. Straker, tore at the heart-strings, it was Stan (Lord Necktie) Seymour who dramatically flipped back the years with a surprise appearance singing his catchy 'The Diddly-bops and the Gooseneck Handlebars'.

To see hundreds of people, arms crooked in the air as if riding those distinctive mopeds all over again – yes, and even 'giving them the gas' – while singing along with Bermuda's much-loved Calypso King, was both an unforgettable moment, and a sad, sad reminder of the parlous state of local entertainment today.

How, one wondered, is Bermuda's talent allowed to lie fallow when there is so much of it around, and so many people ready to soak it up, visitors included?

Incidentally, it was promoter Eddy DeMello who first recorded The Merrymen singing 'Diddlybops' on his Edmar label. Subsequently, it became a big hit when the Barbadians recorded it on their own labe, Merry Disc.

Today, the calypso is officially documented as part of Bermuda's culture by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

There is an old showbiz adage which says, "Always leave them wanting more", and so it was with The Merrymen.

Despite yells of "more, more, more" from the sweat-soaked crowd, after more than two brilliant hours of non-stop playing, the five-strong Bajan group called it a night – but not before Tony Brannon, who worked with Mr. DeMello in staging the night at the culmination of Beach Tennis Week, posed the question: "Do you want The Merrymen to come back again?"

No prizes for guessing the vociferous response.

Opening for The Merrymen were Bermuda's own Kennel Boys (Michael Spencer-Arscott, Tony Brannon, David Fitzsimmons and Jeff Marshall), joined briefly by Bajan singer-guitarist Jimmy Duncan of the former Merry Boys and now recording/mixing engineer for The Merrymen albums, whose lively and enjoyable performance, including classics by the Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley and Eric Clapton, set just the right mood for what turned out to be an absolutely fabulous night.