Bounty Killer - File

The Alliance crew is keeping close to fans with two weekly street dances: the new Alliance Happy Thursdays and the resurrected Bounty Sundays.

Led by veteran deejay Bounty Killer the Alliance consists of members such as Mavado, Flexxx, Einstein, Bling Dawg, Serani, Chase Cross, Busy Signal, among others. Alliance Happy Thursdays has been held every Thursday, at the No Limits Sports Bar on Hillview Avenue, since November last year. Bounty Sundays is held every Sunday at Limelight, in Half-Way Tree, and was launched last Sunday.

When The STAR spoke with Alliance PR representative, Julian Jones-Griffith, he said that both dances were started as a means of maintaining the Alliance fan base. He said, "me and Bounty had been thinking for a while to start a weekly event, because the Alliance fan base is so strong and we were looking around for a suitable venue. And because we travel a lot, weeks went by and we never locked it in. Then Kartel started his thing in The Building which just happened to be on Thursdays, too. So, we just left it alone because we didn't want to make it look like we were just starting a ting on Thursday because they were, we honestly had the idea for months."

launch

According to Jones-Griffith, however, Alliance fans were left with nothing to do on a Thursday night and after the launch of Flexxx's Fresh video at the same venue on a Thursday, Alliance Happy Thursdays was launched.

Bounty Sundays lived a short life-span back in 2008, in Majesty Gardens, when the police decided not to grant permits for the dance, as well as its rival, Beenie Tuesdays. According to an article in The STAR, reports surfaced that Beenie Tuesdays and Bounty Sundays caused disagreements between men from the top of the community, where Bounty Sundays are held, and the lower section which holds Beenie Tuesday.

At the time, Senior Superintendent Derrick 'Cowboy' Knight, head of the St. Andrew South Division, said, "We are not granting any permission for none of them...That is going to cause conflict and we have to step on conflict because conflict leads to crime."

Jones-Griffith spoke about the re-start of the dance saying, "Bounty Sundays started again because of demand; also, as you know, there is a huge disconnect between people who want to party and the police enforcing the cut-off time. So Bounty Sundays was always battling with that, and it gets frustrating, so we decided to take it to Limelight on Sundays. This is a licensed entertainment venue where the party will be able to continue without falling foul of that legal restriction."

According to Jones-Griffith, the event is not about only Alliance music, and tries to be cost-efficient when it comes to drinks and entry. It also provides a safe partying environment. As for fans, he says they can feel free to talk to their stars saying, "despite popular belief Bounty is a people person, and the Alliance members too."