Husband and wife masmakers Ronnie and Caroline McIntosh were determined to score a hat-trick and capture the coveted Medium Band of the Year title.
They put on quite an impressive show on Carnival Tuesday at the Queen's Park Savannah. The band won the prestigious titles in 2008 and again in 2009, with their portrayals, De Gulf and Bakkanal, respectively. Titled Tributes, the band's C2K10 presentation paid homage to such legendary mas pioneers, among them George Bailey, Stephen Lee Heung, Wayne Berkeley, Edmund and Lil Hart and Peter Minshall. According to the band's Web site, "Tribute will honour the men whose dedication to the mas form has made Carnival what it is today, the 'greats,' who stepped into our history and took Carnival from the days of mas on the truck to the streets."
With a kaleidoscope of colour, the various sections of the medium all-inclusive band exploded onto the savannah just before 4 pm. Some of the sections included Africa, Humming Bird, We Kinda People, FireBird and Wonders of the Buccoo Reef. What also made the band unique was the fact that 90 per cent of its masqueraders were women, a factor which, no doubt, gave the male mas lovers great encouragement to play. "Only lovely ladies in this band," said one reveller yesterday."I playing again with Ronnie and Caro for sure!"
His sentiments were echoed by a few of his friends, who all enjoyed the eye candy. Spectators, who lined the venue to witness the colourful street parade, did not seem affected by the sweltering heat, as they jumped, waved and palanced to soca's sweet sounds. The song of choice for many mas bands was the popular track, Palance, sung by radio personalities Jason Williams (JW) and Blaze. Not to be outdone, even foreigners got in on the action, showing that they, too, can palance and have fun in the sun. "I love Trinidad! So many beautiful women! I coming back again for Carnival next year," declared Robert, a Canadian.
