‘Celebration’ steals the show downtown

THE downtown Carnival venue at South Quay saw a variety of mas presentations yesterday, from fancy Indians to half naked revellers. But stealing the show was “Celebration” presented by PCS Starlift.

The parade began promptly at 1 pm with the “Cree Tribe” by Yakima Warriors and by 4 pm eleven bands had crossed the stage, including big bands Barbarossa, Legends and PCS Starlift. The latter was by far the most organised in actual costumes including dresses as it hoped to retain the title of Band of the Day (Monday) for the 11th consecutive time. There were 24 sections depicting a variety of celebrations in a range of vibrant colours  — “Independence,” “A Wedding Celebration,” and “Chinese New Year” with some masqueraders even trying to speak Chinese. The band took 45 minutes to cross the stage before both NCC and downtown judges.

Barbarossa’s “Mythropolis” was the first big band to parade followed closely by Legends’ “Freedom” with the King and Queen of Carnival 2004. Leaders of the band, Big Mike and Ian Mc Kenzie were out front in their now customary briefs. In between were numerous Indians, both authentic and fancy. An especially beautiful band was “Festival of the Sun” presented by Tribal Connections’ Cultural Productions in the small bands category. They wore brilliant and blinding reds, oranges, yellows and greens. Another small band creating quite a stir was Rosalind Gabriel’s “Tings Trini.” Her children’s band “Nah Leaving” also made a guest appearance and thrilled onlookers with their choreography. There were also the traditional Book Man and Robber and even a break from the normal blaring soca music, when A Jackman and Associates’ “Thunderbirds” came on stage accompanied by Adesh Samaroo’s tassa band.

The bands paraded to a mixture of overcast and sunny conditions, with a light drizzle cooling things at one point. As for the Road March race, Shurwayne Winchester’s “Look the Band Coming” was the preferred choice of DJs with Winchester himself performing the song with brass band Traffik which accompanied Barbarossa. Following closely was Machel Montano’s “Craziness.” Another favourite, Destra’s “Bonnie & Clyde,” was only heard a couple of times. Security was extremely tight with dozens of uniformed police officers. Even Commissioner of Police Everald Snaggs passed by on horseback to applause from spectators. When Newsday left the stage, still waiting to parade were winning steelband Exodus and Poison’s “Retromania” with its 36 sections.