The king of soca returned to Bermuda for a performance that attracted well over a thousand spectators. The Byron Lee Summer Fest took place on Saturday night at Tiger Bay with hundreds of soca lovers dancing the night away to the beautiful music.

I rode past Tiger Bay on my way to dinner around 8 p.m. and saw the venue was all set up with soca pumping from the speakers.

About an hour and a half later, cars filled the parking lot and the music was even louder. By the time I actually entered the venue at 12 p.m., it was filled with people from left to right waving rags and wining their waist.

Homegrown opened the show with their regular reggae set. The Dragonaires with singers Oscar B, Jomo Primo and sisters Suzie and Cindy performed everything from old rock and roll, reggae and of course, soca.

In the first set, they performed classics like 'Tiny Winy' and 'Suga Bum Bum'. With their high energy, Oscar and Jomo had the crowd moving from left to right, waving their rags up and down and following their every command.

Jomo pulled three girls on stage to see who could 'tick tock' the best. The first girl attempted but was booed by the crowd. The second girl turned around to have her rear end facing the audience and showed them how to wine.

The final girl and winner gyrated her body to the beat of the song causing an outcry from the audience and a special wine from Jomo.

During the intermission, the DJs played a variety of dancehall from about four years ago. I heard quite a few songs from the Diwali riddim.

The Dragonaires opened the second set with soca legend Byron Lee stepping on stage with his guitar playing the hit 'Footsteps'. The crowd jumped up and down in excitement to this popular tune. Mr. Lee was only on stage for a few moments but his appearance was greatly appreciated by the fans.

The group transitioned into old rock and roll which didn't seem to favour well with the crowd except for a couple next to me who were swing dancing. A man behind kept yelling "I came here for soca, play some soca" until the music changed.

The next genre the group chose was reggae performing a few Collie Buddz songs including 'Come Around', 'Mamacita' and 'Defend Your Own'. Jomo sang lead to 'Maxine' while Oscar performed 'Driver'.

Toward the end of the show, Jomo jumped up in the air doing splits repeatedly until he landed on the ground in a split with the lights shutting off, ending the show in a dramatic fare.

This was my first Byron Lee show and it wasn't what I had expected. Because the show is normally at the end of August, I used to miss it due to returning back to school. I was excited to finally be able to see him perform but wasn't impressed.

It was disappointing to me when a song that I relate solely to Byron Lee, 'Dollar Wine' wasn't performed. But overall, it was a relatively good evening despite the show ending at 2.30 a.m.

Hopefully, when the Dragonaires return in 2009, the show will be all I could ever imagine.