High energy, Pardy in the Savannah

The energy was high on stage at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on Carnival Tuesday morning, and was kept at its peak by two songs – Pardy by Machel Montano and Carry it by Bunji Garlin.

But there was no doubt, at least as the three large bands, one medium band, one mini band and two small bands crossed the stage, that Pardy was on top for the Road March competition.

However, it was nice to hear other songs, namely Bet It by Montano and Retro by Voice, played by small bands Belmont Exotic Stylish Sailors and Tribal Connection Cultural Promotions, as they treated the audience to more traditional mas.

The First Citizens Original Jab Jab made a surprise appearance to delight the crowd rather than be judged. Dressed in the horizontal stripes and masks of the traditional jab jab costumes, the masqueraders cracked their whips loudly in the air and on the ground. They also showcased some whip fighting, lashing each other on the torso while protecting their eyes with an arm.

The high energy was particularly on display with Yuma, whose masqueraders burst on stage to confetti flying everywhere. The MCs of the music trucks hyped up each section as they waited to get on stage, and each section rushed on and danced like there was no tomorrow to both Pardy and Carry It.

Unfortunately, or not, depending on one’s predilection, many masqueraders paid more attention to the DJ, facing the music truck rather than the stage, giving the audience a pretty consistent view of many jiggling backsides and less of the colourful feathers and bikinis decorating their fronts.

The masqueraders of Spirit Mas and their presentation Spirit Island also brought the energy to the stage, with the bonus of a short dance before the main body of the band rushed the stage. Dancing to Pardy, the women wore differently coloured outfits with a large face above each of their heads, while the male dancer did flips and other acrobatics.

Playing in Spirit Mas was American Grammy Award-winning artist Ciara, who visited TT and played mas for the first time on Carnival Tuesday.

Speaking to members of the media as she exited the stage she said she was encouraged to visit and play mas by her co-owner of Ten To One rum, Trinidad-born Marc Farrell. She said it was amazing to be in Trinidad and the people were beautiful.

She said, “This was beyond. This was incredible. I didn’t want the stage to end.”

She added that she liked the songs Pardy, Cocoa Tea by Kes the Band and Yung Bredda’s Greatest Bend Over, wanted to learn about the foods here, and that she intended to visit again.

Andreanne and Sean Roberts, a couple from New York, said both their parents were from Trinidad but they were born in the US, and they have been coming to Trinidad to play mas for the past 20 years.

They played with Lost Tribe this year.

Andreanne said they usually skipped playing mas on the road because it was too hot, so they met the band at the savannah to cross the stage and moved with the band from there. Sean said playing mas was “always amazing” and they loved Trinidad. He added that he retired a year ago and planned to return to TT every other month.

Anthony Marchell from Gasparillo said every year he spent eight months in Trinidad and four months in the US, but he ensured he was here for Carnival. He also went to the savannah every year to watch mas as he enjoys it very much.

Asked if there was any aspect in particular he enjoyed he told Newsday, “They (bands) are not really creative. I only watching nakedness. There’s nothing else to enjoy. When Peter Minshall used to make mas, that was creativity!”