Carnival… For too long Pt-1

by Ezzie Roberts 03.AUG.07

I have been involved with Carnival in various spheres over many years. This is something that I love very much and from my observations over time I hereby give my version of carnival as I see it.

Carnival 2007 has just ended and I would like to commence by congratulating The Minister of Culture and the CDC for the hosting of a highly successful carnival.{{more}} Some of the areas through which this was evident are as follows: The release of endless hits by our artistes of various Calypsos, Raga Soca and Soca which created the mood for the season. Mas was of an exceptionally high standard with The Wizards Mas Band reemerging as a vibrant force and placing in the top three position in various categories of the mas competitions. Kudos must go to the youthful Wizard, Osborne Browne who made a very impressive debut as a Mas Designer. The introduction of “Mas on the Move” helped to reduce the length of the Dimache Gras show. Bumper crowds turned out to CDC events from the official launch of carnival on May 05th right through to the culmination of carnival on Mardi Gras. The vibrancy of this year’s Monday evening T-Shirt bands activity must also not go unnoticed.

I would like to recommend that for 2008 carnival, Heritage Square be transformed into a Cultural Village. Various booths and stalls should be set up where arts and crafts, local food, local music and videos, T-Shirts for Monday jam etc. etc. can be sold. The operation of DJ Bhisma’s Bar should be incorporated into the entire layout. Live one hour concerts can be scheduled at lunchtime daily. Many artistes will provide their services freely.

There are, however some areas which I wish to pay attention to regardless to how brief they might be.

THE POLICE:

For too long many persons in our society have only mentioned the police whenever it is perceived or believed that something has gone wrong in the police force with a few officers who might falter along the way. Many have failed to stand up and speak highly of the majority of hard working and dedicated officers. With their energy and strength stretched to the limit at carnival time, their presence gives us all a sense of comfort and security to attend events during this festive season. This along with the implementation of the no glass bottle policy has contributed to a decrease in incidences of wounding and other criminal activities during the carnival, they must be commended. The police should be respected at all times, thus the use of profanity by artistes or artistes using phrases to incite the crowd to use profanity should not be condoned.

FOREIGN BASED CONTRIBUTION:

We must encourage the combined efforts of Greg Oliver, Soca Jones, Garnes Byron, Gary Weekes and others as they made their contribution with their “Foreign Based T-Shirt Band” and operation of a trailer street bar. Although they encountered various problems along the way with their sound system, their T-Shirt band was dubbed a success. Despite the competitive nature of this business with me being an annual T-Shirt band Promoter, I will continue to give advice and support to these guys as we welcome their contribution. For too long they have been welcomed just as visitors and they have now entered into a new era.

FOREIGN BASED ARTISTES:

For too long foreign based artistes have been expressing dissatisfaction with the level of airplay which their songs has been getting on local radio stations. While this is so to a certain extent, part of the problem has to do with late releases. The trend has changed over the past three years where locally based artistes have been releasing songs very early and setting the pace for all others to follow. This year “Problem Child” was in early with his “Secret Agent” followed by “Galaritis” then his big hit “Party Animal”. They all received endless airplay. “Lively’s” “We Drinking” received moderate airplay but following his magnificent performance at the Soca Monarch Semi Finals the rotation of this song was increased on every radio which plays Soca Music as persons requested it constantly. “Philly Dilly’s” “Wine Up on It” also received plenty airplay. ‘Problem Child’ won the coveted Road March title convincingly with ‘Lively’ placing second, the position he also placed in Soca Monarch finals. Veterans: Becket, ‘Scorcher’ and Winston Soso also had magnificent performances during the season and were well received as guest artistes on Soca Monarch and at The Aquatic Club on Carnival Tuesday night. Overall, Foreign based artistes did create an impact in this year’s carnival, not forgetting Melissa Yorke who also returned from New York and eventually won the Miss S.V.G 2007.

To be continued.