Alkaline’s ‘New Rules Vendetta Festival’ To Make Miami Debut March 27

Dancehall superstar Alkaline is moving his New Rules Vendetta Festival to Miami’s Miramar Regional Park Amphitheater, five years after its inaugural staging at the National Stadium in his native Kingston, in what was a sold-out show.

A week ago, the After All artist shared an event poster which showed that he, along with Wayne Wonder and Kranium — whom he tagged in the post — and other artists would be headlining the March 27 event, to the delight of followers on his Instagram pages.

The Miami Staging of New Rules is set for Sunday, March 27, between the hours of 4:00 pm and 10:00 pm.  However, a number of followers pointed out that they had no US visas and complained that the show should have been staged in Jamaica.

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The first staging of the event in Kingston, which saw performances from Mavado, Shaggy, Tarrus Riley, I-Octane and Jahmiel, had pulled thousands of exuberant fans, who later caused a stampede, at the cusp of the Champion Boy’s performance.

Pandemonium had erupted at the National Stadium car park after the patrons broke down barriers and bombarded the stage area, at what was the first time in three years that Alkaline was performing in Jamaica.

Overzealous Vendetta Fans had uprooted the fence which demarcated the VIP and general sections, and despite calls to desist from stage managers, galloped towards the stage, resulting in onstage action being delayed for nearly 10 minutes, according to The Star.

In February 2020, following a two-year absence, Alkaline had announced that the second staging of New Rules had been scheduled for the grounds of the National Stadium in Kingston, on Saturday, April 25.

Back then, his manager/sister, Kareena Beckford, had told the Jamaica Observer that Alkaline was looking forward to performing for his fans and that the line-up was “going to be epic”, with performances from Mavado, Jahmiel, Intence, I Waata and Jahvillani.

She had also promised that unlike the last staging, when patrons caused disruptions in their bid to get close to the artistes, the event would have been different, as there would be “proper security” to assure the safety of all patrons, as members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and private security firms would govern the proceedings.

However, the show was not to be, as the COVID-19 virus became a pandemic, mere weeks after the announcement.   Alkaline’s New Era Production, in a statement then announced that they had decided to postpone the event.

“We are presently consulting our advisers on the best date to host the event, based on the predictions by medical experts on when this unforeseen virus will be contained,” the statement had read.

The 2017 show made headlines following the melee as even Alkaline’s security detail at the time, had to form a human shield around him in order to get him on stage to perform.

However, as soon as Alkaline, whose given name is Earlan Bartley, touched the stage his fans had crowd erupted in wild cheers and shoved closer, resulting in, a while later an inundation of patrons.

According to The Star report, despite all that was transpiring around him, Alkaline kept “his composure, displayed a new level of professionalism, and managed to deliver a full set”.

However, writing in The Gleaner, veteran entertainment journalist Mel Cooke, had described the event, two weeks later, as “good to have”, but that “its execution left a lot to be desired.

Among the misadventures, he pointed out were what he described as “the bundling at the gate even at 10:00pm” and the fact that there were not enough barriers to create long, orderly lines for the volume of people” that the “searches of patrons were not thorough enough”.