The Music Has Me Tipsy (still)

This year's Cropover was full of great music and song, and it's just too soon to let them go. When Carnival/cropover/whatever is in your blood, its like a virus. Catch it early and feed it. Leave it too late and you'll always feel there was unfinished business, songs you didn't hear enough. Songs you only heard once.

I made that fatal mistake this year, got into it too late. The top hit of the season, 'Hot Sun & Riddim', by TC, I only heard at the Big Show about 10 days before Kadooment. That's too late. I didn't even hear the whole song, because we got there late and the show was already winding up, TC was already into it. But I could tell it was something special. One listen and it was in my head that night, along with Nathalee's 'This Is How We Do It'.

I should know better. It's happened to me before, usually Grenada carnival, waiting until the last moment to get to Grenada, for the last moment to hear the tunes, and then afterwards, that nagging dissatisfaction. Lack of closure is what it is, musically speaking.

So here is my attempt at musical catharsis, by reliving some of the memorable moments for Cropover music - in this case, the Sweet Soca Competition which took place at Farley Hill, on the same day as the party Monarch. The Sweet Soca is a mid tempo competition, so the faster tunes don't feature. I took my camera along to get people pictures, strictly speaking you weren't allowed to shoot the artistes, but no-one was paying attention. I stood up next to this guy whose camera and lenses probably cost more than my car, but I got some action.

The songs are linked in order of their placing in the competition. To do this right, you have to be listening to the songs while viewing the pics!

TC rings out 'Hot Sun & Riddim' as the rhythm section behind also get caught up in the spirit. She gives it her all and she has a powerful voice. This was the official band song for Am-Bush and it wins the competition.

On de road, all we need is hot sun and riddim, riddim....her presentation is action packed, she's surrounded by colourful dancers and colourful cloth.


She ends on a high note, the dancers freeze, the crowd is happy.

Placing second in the competition was Nathalee - This is What We Do - the lyrics of which just perfectly describe what we do.

She's accompanied by about six dancers in Mother Sally outfits, but it's the lyrics which really make this song a real hit, along with her great style....my posse doing dixie, the music got me tipsy, oh I don know about you, but dis is what we do...

Mikey gets third place with 'I In Dat'. He's a real showman, he never stops smiling, bringing you into his performance.

Whole day we liming, whole night we wining, I in dat, I in dat....his dancers move up and down the stage with him, swaying as it were to the beat. Excellent choreography, some of the lyrics might not be politically correct but his performance pulls you right in.


At the end, he unexpectedly leaps off the stage into a pool, he's in dat, too. I only just catch him, blurred, but the action is there, it's a great finish.

Fourth placed is Mr. Dale who is a serious songwriter as well. When interviewed after the show, he says he's happy, three of his songs are at the top. Perhaps he's more down-to-earth on stage, but he's a great performer. ..Look for me, look for me at brewster road fete, berger boys fete, wadada fete...and the chorus and base sound on every repeat of "fete"...

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of Blood (always a flawless performer) who placed fifth with 'Back It Up'(I think he was on first, before I got to the stage), so here's Khiomal of Krosfyah fame, doing Caution.

His presentation was highly choreographed, and the tableaux somewhat reminiscent of the 'wild west', but highly entertaining.

So much music so little time. There are easily several dozen top quality songs coming out of Cropover, many of which we will never hear again, and that is sad.

More Cropover pictures are on my flickr page:http://www.flickr.com/photos/37422365@N05/sets/72157621857234803/

Foreday Morning

Foreday Morning is Barbados' closest thing to a traditional J'ouvert. Held on the Saturday before Monday's Kadooment, it starts early, about 1.30am, and goes on till daylight. There are a couple mud/paint bands, and we joined one which provided us with a chocolate base.

By the time a couple hours had passed we had acquired a few more colours from roving paint providers... They're very fancy with their bands in Bim, so lots of rope and no intruding! Still, plenty paint to go around...

Afterwards, we went for breakfast to a morning fete with Khevyn and Lani. We looked like crap, but everyone else looked worse, because they had just gotten out of bed....
(thanks to Jungle Juice and Anton for the pictures)

Am-Bushing Kadooment day

The banner for Am-Bush, creation of Variations Theater (Varia), conceptualised late one sleepless night. The band started three strong but ended up with a grand total of 21. The idea was to protest variously against the ills of society, the environment, the bikini & beads cropover mentality. Kadooment Day is the 1st Monday in August, the Barbados equivalent of carnival Tuesday (pretty mas), and is the culmination of the Cropover festival.

The costumes were to be natural, bush was encouraged. The band was formally registered and we crossed the stage third and went on the road with a rythym section from the Israel Lovell Foundation.

The band crosses the stage, we're early so the stands are pretty empty. Lots of cameras around though, so the band gets plenty of attention from the media, certainly more than any of the mainstream bands.

A short clip of the rythm section as we head down the road....

Every time we passed a sound system, we would stop and get them to play "Hot Sun & Riddim" by TC, winner of the Party Monarch and the Sweet Soca Competition, and the Official Band song...this invariably took some persuading by Varia, as DJs naturally frown on being told what to play, so we'd have to wait for them to get round to it - all in the spirit of the mas....

Varia gets a cool shower from a roadside mister, never mind the day was still overcast and cloudy...

My costume consisted of vines around my lower half, coconut straw on my top and a headpiece of african snails topped by elephant grass. It was supposed to portray the snails eating their way across Barbados leaving a land of wild vine and dry bush behind, on their way to destroying the last vestige of green (on my head). All conceptualised on sunday afternoon and constructed mostly on Monday morning, just before the 8am start of the Kadooment...

This is what we mean, pretty, but still bikini & beads (mexican beads, apparently).