I am still dizzy from last weekend's blitz of parties. From Wasa in the east to Outta de Blue XII and ONE Fete in the west, I was kept busy. There have been mixed responses from people who attended Outta de Blue, held by The QRC Foundation, at the St Clair college on Saturday night, and I am bemused by this. Criticisms I've heard range from "the music too old" to "not enough variety in the food."
On the other hand, I was besieged by people saying it was one of the best editions of this annual fund-raiser they've attended. About the food, intermittent showers, had been falling since the previous day so, as expected, everything didn't go as smoothly as it would normally go with perfect, dry weather conditions. From my observations, some of the dishes arrived late at the venue, but they tasted so good the wait was well worth it.
I thought the music was the bomb, with every act really putting out. Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars gave proceedings a powerful opening, performing a mix of its past hits and this year's soca hits. All of the bands (Roy Cape All Stars, Dil-e-Nadan, and surprise act Traffik) were on top of their game, as were the solo guest artistes Benjai, Shadow, Ronnie Mc Intosh, Devon Matthews and Adesh Samaroo. World Wide steel orhestra tied the bow on a delightfully packaged evening of music, food and good company .
The critics just like to talk, talk, talk. Pardon the pun, but if there was ONE party that was worth its $900 admission tab it was last Sunday's ONE Fete at the Queen's Park Oval. In terms of cuisine, if you can imagine it, you could have found it at this party; from Arabic and Chinese to Jamaican and Mexican. There was also every imaginable cocktail available, as well as fringe attractions like a massage parlour and unlimited champagne bar.
As expected the music was off the hook, with Machel Montano HD really letting it hang out, complimented by Kes the Band, and other artistes, inclusive of Kerwin Dubois, Nadia Batson, Denise Belfon, Shal, Supa Jigga TC, Screws, Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Zan and Skinny Fabulous. When it comes to organising one of these mega fetes, exclusive events sure has the right recipe for delivering everything the paying customer desires.
Women be aware
I am using my space today to issue a warning to women attending Carnival fetes, including all-inclusive parties. I listened to a horror story about a young woman attending an all-inclusive party a couple weekends ago who was saved from being raped by an alert police woman. The story goes that the young woman was taken to the party with her boyfriend, a photographer who, seeking some vantage shots, left her alone for a few minutes to return.
As she stood in the crowded party awaiting her boyfriend, three young men struck up a conversation with her. The next thing was that she was being escorted, drugged and staggering out of the party, by the trio of sickos. Thank God, as they were about to exit the gate, despite her drugged state of mind, she grabbed the belt of a uniformed police woman at the exit.
The guys, all well fashionably dressed, assured the police woman that they were her friends, she had too much to drink, although it was just one hour after the party started, and they were taking her home. As the girl tightened her death grip on the belt, and began screaming "No! No!," the police woman asked the trio the girl's name. They couldn't answer and quickly abandoned both girl and police officer, disappearing into the crowd. So, today, I am issuing a stern and serious warning to you women out there, exercise extreme caution when attending fetes, and definitely do not enter any form of chit chat or verbal exchanges with men you do not know.
BLOODNOTES
I am ending today's column on a sad note and with mixed feelings over last week Thursday night's death of Conqueror. The veteran calypsonian, while crossing Wrightson Road, outside Kalypso Revue, was struck by a vehicle, a tragedy which has happened at least twice before through the years. I am sad because Conqueror was one of the friends I've had in the arts for many years and angry because, according to Kalypso Revue official Carlos James (Skatie), it took the ambulance an inordinate length of time to arrive on the accident scene, despite the Fire Services headquarters being almost next door to the calypso tent.
Skatie told me that Conqueror lay on the road way in obvious pain but conscious and speaking, assuring his fellow calypsonians that his legs were not broken. The ambulance eventually arrived after Skatie called twice but by four hours later Conqueror was dead. The Revue, which opened in the north at SWWTU Hall last night, is poorer this season as audiences will not be hearing Conqueror's offering for C2K11-The Piano. Two of Conqie's compositions that will continue to stand the test of time and will be loved by calypso purists are Webster's Dictionary and Money they love.