by Natasha Henry
I’ve been a carnival-goer for only the last seven years or so, mainly on the east coast of the United States—New York, Baltimore, DC, Virginia and Miami. Of all the years I’ve attended carnivals, the closest I’ve gotten to actually participating, besides attending the parties, was playing mud in DC Carnival back in 2010. Ok, so I really just tagged along with friends who were playing mud because I wanted to stay in “pretty mas” mode.
Fast forward to Miami Carnival 2012. Now, I’ve attended this carnival every year for the last 3, but as a mere bystander. Several weeks before my departure, one of my Trinidadian friends said to me, “Girl, you going down to Miami and not going all the way?” And with that rebuke, it didn’t take long for her to convince me to give it a try. Since she had more experience playing mas in Trinidad, she helped me select the appropriate costume. After spending many hours talking and perusing the different bands’ websites, we decided to play with Generation X.
The Whirlpool section was one of the few sections left for purchase. They were running out of sizes and we were running out of time. My friend Natalie recommended that we go with the beautiful, turquoise-colored costume for me, her and another friend who was joining us for the weekend. According to Natalie, the whirlpool costume looked like it was good quality and the headpiece gave us the ability to wear our hair the way we wanted. So the choice was made and the plan was to pick up the costumes on Friday evening before carnival Sunday then head out for a nice dinner. It didn’t quite work out as planned.
My experience playing with Generation X band for the first time was good but not great. We chose this band because of its good reputation from Trinidad. However, there were a few things they could have done better so that their participants could have a more enjoyable experience. The location for costume pickup was not easy to find. When we finally located the warehouse Friday evening after 9 p.m., there was a long line. The wait seemed longer than the line would indicate though. There were about 30 people ahead of us waiting and it took us approximately two and a half hours to get our costumes, check sizes, all pieces included, etc. That was totally unacceptable and a waste of my precious vacation time. FAIL.
But tired as we were from the night before, this was carnival and there were parties to attend. At 4:00 a.m., yes, that’s right, 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning we were up and ready to head to D’Original Vale Breakfast Party. It was food inclusive with top shelf liquors available for purchase. And it was fantastic!
The venue, Jungle Island, provided a tropical backdrop against the music and lovely people. DJs Duchess, Private Ryan, D Bandit, House Arrest and Hypa Hoppa really kept the vibes going with a great musical experience. It was nice to see a female DJ rocking the place. The best part of the fete to me was seeing the sun rise on the flamingos that also appeared to be dancing along with us during their feeding time.
Hysteria, sponsored by Generation X, took place on Saturday night and could have been held at a better venue. The party was at what I believe was a farm, called Rancho Gaspar. It was also very difficult to find due to a bad address on the flier. The vibe was an older crowd vibe which was fine, but was that cow manure I smelled? Fail x2.
The food was absolutely scrumptious, the drinks were flowing and the music was good. However, when I pay more than $70 to attend an all-inclusive fete, I would expect to be able to get dressed up and not have to worry about getting my stiletto heel stuck in mud. Fortunately a pair of flip-flops solved that problem.
Scorch & Spice was also held on Saturday night and though I didn’t attend, I heard from friends that it gave true meaning to the word BACCHANAL! A cooler fete to end all other cooler fetes. Music, drinks, people, location, everything was on point for Scorch & Spice. Only thing missing was…me.
On Carnival Sunday, we were up at 6 a.m. with me going “Lawd what am I doing to myself?” Well, it turned out that we really could have slept in a little longer. When we arrived at Sun Life Stadium and located our band and section, we soon realized that there were many, many hours to wait before we were actually ready to go. We waited in the sun and then the rain. And then the sun and rain again! I even waited out the rain with other revelers under an 18-wheeled truck. Mind you, carnival was limited to the stadium this year, but the wait was still agonizing.
We arrived after 10 a.m. but didn’t get on “the road” until well after 2 p.m. Frustrating, to say the least. The drinks were easy to get—at first—but very difficult as time went on and the band crowd swelled. The food was the most starch I’ve ever eaten in one sitting—a takeout box with fried rice, lo mein noodles, a small amount of warm salad and a dried up chicken wing. But, we kept our energy up as best as we could.
Foot blisters and all, we didn’t cross the stage until after night fall (though I’ve heard this is not at all unusual for Miami carnival). By that time, Natalie had gotten a whiff of my disappointment and was asking if I would jump again. I told her that since I’d heard and read that Gen X is a darn good band AND since they left a heartfelt apology to their customers on their Facebook page, that, yes, I would chuck this year and definitely do it again!
We didn’t stick around for the concert at the end of the day but we did hear that it was one of the best parts of Carnival. Machel performed and of course, brought his A-game. He was accompanied by Patrice Roberts and Farmer Nappy.
Congratulations by the way, to Generation X for winning ‘Band of the Year’ and ‘Best Music on the Road’ for a reason. See you next year!
xxx
About the author: Natasha Henry is a communications writer living in Maryland. She is a second-generation Caribbean-American of Jamaican parentage.