Carnival 2009 - review

My review of everything Carnival 2009-related that I can recall.

Fetes

1. Amnesia - as per my review it was great. Not fantabulous as in previous years but memorable. IP has to go back to the drawing-board with regards to the food distribution, but other than that it has always been a great fete. Rating 4 out of 5.
   
2. WITCO ONE fete - what can I say about ONE fete that hasn't already been said. This was a FANTABULOUS, glorious fete! Can you tell that I had a blast? I love this fete. tickets were a lil difficult to obtain (thank you, thank you Q and S) but other than that this is a fete that I think will remain a fixture on my fete list...at least unless the price puts it completely out of my budget! Rating 4.5 out of 5 (it loses the half point 'casue the bathroom area could have been better maintained!)
   
3. MovieTowne's Fiesta Plaza show - this was surprisingly good. We went the night Ventures performed. They are a band that seems to be suited to this type of thing. They did covers of lots and lots of current and past soca and calypsoes. Hits from Kitchener, Sparrow, etc, etc. They also did lots of non-Carnival related songs...all in all a pretty decent performance. and it was free to boot :-)
   
4. Army - this is a fete that needs to be experienced to understood. Yuh either in General, or in V.VIP rubbing shoulders with the Defence Force top brass and other dignitaries OR yuh in the limbo of whatever they chose to call the in-between section (this year it was VIP). Marked difference in behaviour in the various areas...in general, people were removed bodily if even a lil scuffle broke out. People in VIP had to pay for drinks and food on top of the cost of the ticket...in V.VIP no tickets were purchased AND no money had to be spent for nothing! I think I went to this fete with like $20 in mih pocket. The performances are also usually decent at this fete...marked exception being KMC (dude u need to learn to perform!!!). My in depth review. Rating 3.5 out of 5
   
5. AC 7 - not a fete people. This is a concert...a looooooooong concert! Lots of performances, lots and lots of lags in between. If yuh not willing to be on yuh feet for the duration head to the stands. Rating 3.5 out of 5
   
6. TriniPosse - the cooler fete to end all cooler fetes. If yuh used to go Pier 1 cooler fete on Carnival Friday nite before it became a teenie-bopper thing (yes ah showing mih age dammit!!!) and like yuhself..this is d fete for you. Tickets ranged in price from $240 d early-bird price, to $500 from d usual scalpers. Walk with yuh own drinks, as much or as little as yuh want, yuh crew (at least 2 fellas if yuh cooler gonna b packed), eats, cups, a plastic bag (to keep ur area clean at least) and yuh set. Just make sure d coller gets there before 10:30 else it not getting it. Rating 4 out of 5. It loses points this year 'cause of part of HD's performance... HD come better dan dat nah, yuh cyah b berating d police (no matter yuh personal opinion) for doing their job.
   

Mas Experience - TRIBE

1. Costume Collection - easy. Get to Cascadia around 1:30pm in a slight drizzle. From the various moves between waiting room 1, holding area 2, balance payment area to costume collection area I was amazed at the efficiency. We were done by 2:15pm...and this included a return by me to collect d forgotten collar! Impressive!
2. Monday Experience - always great. No costume to bother yuh head about, just pure inhibited fun. We were on d road from about 12:30pm (TRIBE was crossing d Savannah 'stage') till about 7:30pm when TRIBE got back to Stanmore Ave. We parked on Sweet Briar Rd, which made it really easy to get into and out of Port-of-Spain...hopefully I can do this again next year.
3. Tuesday Experience - Woke up around 5-ish. Bathed, dressed, put on sun-block, then had my mom do my make-up. She did a good job 'cause even at the end of the day my makeup was still there! Thanks mom muahhh :-) Anyways we got into Port-of-Spain around 8-ish, walked to Sweet Briar Rd again to meet up with a friend, then met the shuttle @ Stanmore. We were taken to where the band was on Charlotte St and the rains came!! Cold rain, before ah even jump a lil bit is not fun at all. Got d first of many Johnny and coconut water and we roamed. And roamed., and roamed. The only time I can safely say I was with my section was when we were crossing the 'stages'. Chipped, danced, took pics with various people (will send u your pics Sauce), and had a time heading to d savannah. The we crossed that non-stage...felt great. Met up with even more people, very glad that I put wrist-straps on my skirt 'cause there were minor mishaps with some with those skirts. Then it was on to the rest-stop. That rest stop is now TOO small for the band. there was major spill-over into streets around the square. And the rain...Jumbie mentioned it in her review and I tend to agree, TRIBE should think of using one of those massive tents the expos use and have those big a$$ fans all-over pumping in cool breeze. Believe me, masqueraders will be soooo grateful you'll have their loyalty for that lil effort alone! We didn't even bother with seeking shelter during the downpour andmy headpiece looked awful aftter the rain (it's recovered nicely now though). When the rain finally subsided and the band started moving on around 2-ish, we decided to look for other bands...other than Harts and Elements, where d hell was everybody else? IP I learned was on Park/Charlotte Sts, and had been there for sometime. Kaotic where were u? Spice? Pulse 8? Dream Team? We rejoined the band when they turned west onto Tragarete Rd just before d oval and continued the party down Pole Carew, east along Ariapita, north along Edward until TRIBE's trucks turned back onto Stanmore. Stayed with the trucks till mom etc found us, then headed home. Got home around 9-ish..and could not sleep. Thank God I was home Ash Wednesday.

SummaryI had a great time for Carnival 2009. Did not attend as many fetes as I usually do (4!!! I usually hit like 10 or something!) but still had a blast at those that I did attend. Army was d only slightly social one, and that cuase we were in V.VIP. I've learned that there will be limited feting with certain people, 'cause I do not like to be made to feel like a 3rd wheel especially if I did not want to be there in the first place. I can have a blast with only one or two people with me, and partying with an entire crew at Carnival time can be limited to cooler fetes (too much drama trying to synchronise more than 5 people for one fete..geez!)

So will I be on the road next year? That remains to be seen... if it happens it will almost defintely not be with IP (ah not going back there...twice bitten, a million times shy). TRIBE? hmmmnnn...if the band remains at this size then nope! Spice.../ Kaotic.../someone else. Who knows? We'll see what happens.

Looking forward to Carnival 2010.