A Buoyant Set of Soca From Arrow

Soca, the relentlessly happy Caribbean music that blends soul and calypso (hence its name), could hardly have a more suitable exponent than Arrow. Grinning broadly, waving his hands above his head and bounding about the stage at the Music Machine on Friday, the singer--born Alphonsus Cassell on the island of Montserrat--led an enthusiastic crowd through an hour’s worth of buoyant, invigorating sounds.

Arrow’s occasional shameless self-absorption--he dedicated one song to the major-label talent scouts in the audience--didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits, from the numerous women who leaped up to dance on stage to the flashy, acid-style guitarist in his backing band.

But it wasn’t until his signature song “Hot Hot Hot,” which he called the “national anthem of soca,” that the place really erupted. The band did the song’s title justice, and Arrow responded with a vocal interpretation almost as limber as his physical one. When the show was finally over after a somewhat perfunctory encore, the audience was left sweaty and begging for more--the perfect time to send them packing past a vendor selling Arrow’s latest album, “Soca Zombie.”