Peer Pressure

South Beach Individual

After Saturday's launch I was adamant that I did not want play with TRIBE next year. I felt a little pressured to buy frontline as their backline costumes look kinda blah and under-decorated. Quite frankly the only backline I like is Santorini and I played in Amazon last year so that's out. Even when it comes to the frontline costumes the only one I couldsee myself in is South Beach, and I think part of that is because I missed Carnival the year that Charmeuse was an option. Also, I am not a fan of how crowded TRIBE felt last year and was willing to give BLISS' alleged intimate vibe a try.

Fast forward to today. The same friend who said she got our link lined up and BLISS was a surety goes,

"I'm not sure I want the intimate experience, I'm checking with
our TRIBE link to see if we can pre-register"

*blank stare*

I am the only non-TRIBE loyalist in my group of mas playing friends and it didn't click that this could be a deciding factor until today. I would much rather go with BLISS or YUMA but thats not going to work unless I have company. So for now I have to keep my fingers crossed that BLISS' costumes blow TRIBE's out of the water otherwise I just may end up with them again next year. Le sigh!

Dear TRIBE: I am NOT Impressed

I do believe that I may get some flack from TRIBE loyalists for this post, but I have to be honest with myself here. TRIBE disappointed me this year. I don't think that asking for some creativity or something 'out of the box' is too much. Last year TRIBE delivered everything I wanted and more and actually stayed true to their warrior theme. Silly me believed that this year would be similar.

My first issue is with staying true to the theme. Honestly those costumes are so run of the mill that they could be from any section in any band and for any theme. So the majority of the costumes look more or less like versions of each other in different colors, except for South Beach and Dubai which are the same colors in different designs -_- . Let me explain that statement. Its not that I am saying the costumes are exactly alike, but because they all have the same bikini, beads, feathers basis other than the colors there's little else to tell them apart. I also saw some repetition and similarities with 2011 presentations, See below for Exhibit A.

Gabrielle's Costume

This basically looks like YUMA's Scorpio version 2.0. Its like they took his leg and arm pieces...

and then the rest from this costume

tweaked it a lil and voila!

Now to all those who are saying TRIBE copied YUMA. Please recall that as I pointed out previously the designers who did Scorpio also did the very similar Spangled Cotinga, so if you want to go that way TRIBE copied YUMA who copied TRIBE :S

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South Beach looks a little Charmeuse meets Amazon/Amazonia.

South Beach pictured below

When I first saw this costume I was drawn to the wire bra, because its really well decorated. Then I realized it looks just like Amazonia's frontline bra. Strangely enough I cannot find a pic of anywhere on the web, hence the use of Amazon's frontline pic. The bottom is also essentially the same as Amazon's down to the triangle it forms on the back, however I was unable to get a back view to show you guys. May I take a guess that Lana Nobrega designed this costume?

Even Sandra Hordatt's Cyprus is bringing back memories. Take a look at YUMA's Leo frontline. See the uber naked back view. This post will be updated as soon as i can locate a back view of Cyprus, but again....very similar

This costume reminds me of TRIBE 2009 when it appeared that either a shipment of embellishments was lost or they were trying to cut costs with under decorated costumes. And of course the colors remind me of Osage.

Fiji is pretty but hypothetically speaking if I were to get this costume I would probably get my own backpack made, as for some reason this costume looks kinda naked. Maybe its that I'm not a fan of these mohawk headpieces, I prefer the more full ones that cover the entire head.

I wasn't interested in any of the other costumes other than Santorini and I couldn't find a pic of that on the web as yet.

Mention must be made of the lack of backline costumes. Firstly if the backline costumes are scaled down versions of what I saw last night then I am not looking forward to seeing them lol. there's barely anything to scale back! Secondly, how on earth do you have a band launch sans backline when the majority of you customers will be playing backline??? Don't get it at all.

Overall I do agree that that the costumes are pretty but they just don't get me excited like Way of the Warrior did. There's nothing there that looks 100% original and never before seen and I guess I had TRIBE up on a pedestal as it pertains to costume design. As I told a friend last night, next year just may meet me jumping up in an Angry Birds costume :P

Happy Blogversary to me!

One year ago, in the midst of preparation for Cropover and hype over TRIBE's teaser vid I decided to start a blog to express my views and opinions re: Carnival. IMO there was a lack of blogs/info on International Carnivals and I wanted to document my Cropover experience. I NEVER thought I would still be at it one year later, as I usually lose interest in things really quickly. I've found that I love blogging ...well maybe i just love hearing myself go on about stuff lol. I also like that I can give the layman's version/experience seeing as thus far my blog has remained anonymous :). So here's to hoping i keep this up!

Love this song!

SIDENOTE:
My friends dubbed me Carnival Baby years ago. One J'Ouvert morning in the Southland, around 11am, my crew was bun and ready to go home. I gave them my house keys and stayed with the band BY MYSELF and chipped/jumped/waved from Library Corner to Cocoyea which had been the band's starting point. I didn't get home til 3pm and this was after heading out at 5am. They couldn't believe I had been on the road all that time and still wasn't tired when i got home lol. That was when they learned that I don't play when it comes to mas, Go hard or Go home! Aiming to get back to that endurance level this year, no more draggin the flag come Tuesday evening lol.

Now THAT'S What We Talkin 'Bout!

Much betterrrrrr!

Woi Mas Teasers

Darren Cheewah is doing a great job with all these hints and teasers he keeps letting out. A new Facebook group has been created, titled 'X2012', with teaser pics of Woi Mas' 2012 presentation. I 'borrowed' a couple pics to give you guys a sample..I'm very intrigued, especially by the first costume depicted below, can you say frontline?!. It will be interesting to see how they make these designs come to life, assuming that they aren't going to literally put folks in black catsuits with colored ribbons dangling from them lol.

Modern Day Torture

Yes TRIBE, give us a teaser...thats 80% black and white and grey...and a tad blurred/out of focus at times lol. I feel like I'm practically salivating..chomping at the bit. I WANT MORE!

OMG tho did you guys see those HUGE white wings on that costume. I think that's one of Sandra Hordatt's sections. . Knowing her penchant for uber sexy costumes this year she could quite possibly present a front line costume with a C string or a tapasexo. For the 5th? time I am really looking foward to Saturday, I can't wait to see the rest of the designs!

SIDENOTE:
Are TRIBE models required to sign confidentiality agreements? So many of them are on my bbm, facebook etc and not one peep from them on the theme and designs..

Also I think i caught a glimpse of the alleged animal print costume...between that and the pink its going to be a close call for me!

O well, 3 days to Take Off!

What I want Pt 2

Customer Service and all that.

Customer service is right up there with costume design in terms of what I look at when choosing a mas band. I dont care how nice the costume is, it could be all blinged out with feathers comin out the wazoo but if a band is not organized I will pass on it.

Ideally I would like an easy registration process,as in just pick a costume, log on to the website on the day of registration and register for the section of your choice. A process thats probably going to become totally obsolete for people in my age group as more and more bands move towards committee registration and loyalty systems. In this area YUMA is most likely going to be the winner as BLISS and TRIBE's registration process is pretty much a 'who yuh know' scene if you don't have a TLC card. I am keeping in mind that YUMA said they do not want to increase the size of their band, meaning that if a lot of their loyalists..and they have A LOT of them as it is, register with them for next year it's going to really limit the no of new masqueraders that can get into the band.

Last year my costume cost exactly $638.00 US
Now when I spend that kind of money I expect a certain standard of customer service, which I got. I don't want to eat lunch late, or feel like I have to rush to the eating spot after crossing the stage to make sure I get food before it runs out. I also definitely want a guarantee that my band will be crossing the savannah stage on both days. Costume pickup should also be smooth, and if something goes wrong, cuz sh*t happens, I want to be able to rest assured that my band will find a good solution. Case in point last year when my headpiece went mysteriously m.i.a. at the mas camp. After confirming that it could not be found I was given a large headpiece at no additional charge and profuse apologies.

I want drink runners! And no I am not being a Miss Priss and demanding that people run back and forth in the hot sun all day supplying us. I want drink runners for that long wait to cross the savannah. Think about it, wouldn't that make sense? The drinks trucks always have to turn off at that point, so why not get people to walk thru the band with bottled water and shots down the hatch Scorch style. I know the bandleaders don't have much of a choice in terms of whether to have the drinks truck stay or turn off BUT they can look past that and fix the situation they do have. Last year my friend and I had to beg a piece of ice off somebody on the dj truck, no bueno. That combination of hot sun and alcohol is no joke ting!

Vibez
Now my friends and I can have fun anywhere, BUT a good overall hyped vibe is still needed on the road for carnival, especially when you're lazy and unfit like me, cuz I get tired fast! lol That said I was satisfied with TRIBE's vibe last year. I keep hearing about how great YUMA's vibe was but I have also heard about the food and stage crossing issues. I will give jack his jacket, I have never heard a band get so many positive reviews in terms of hype and vibes and 'omg i had so much fun'.

My other important issues are security and music/dj's
Needless to say I was a tad upset that Private Ryan played for BLISS and not TRIBE :( but we had some good dj's so that wasn't too much of an issue. Shout out to the 96.7 truck.

Security-wise PLEASE cut back on the stormers, I mean whats the point of having a rope if you're still letting random people jump in the band? After we crossed the stage on Tuesday I swear the band doubled in size! It was totally ridic and not to mention irritating as these stormers were very aggressive when it came to gettin a wine. I am also very paranoid about crime so something like that is a definite buzz kill not to mention NOT SAFE! I really hope that ALL the bands step up their security for next year.


So that's my 2 cents...well maybe more like a dollar lol