My one woman account of Sesame. Doh kill mey eh all yuh, is just my experience.
Labor Day,Labor Day that is all I chanted in my head as I awoke the morning of September 1st. I have no idea why I am so excited, but hell I am simply excited. The thought of rum and music makes me giddy. I felt like I have been waiting for this day for two months. Sesameeeeeeeeeeee, ah
coming, well we coming. By we, I mean me, my right hand, “we†mother and “we†tantie. One set of “bess†dress masqueraders coming down the road, doh mind I sucking in my belly like hell, costume nice and to me, I looking good.
After walking for what felt like 10 miles actually it was only 10 blocks, I finally arrived on the parkway. In order to get to my band, I chipped through both the Bajan and Panamian truck. Getting a quick glance at both bands, I can say the revelers (since they don’t have on costumes) were having a great time. Many Bajan artists were on their truck and DJ Coochie( yes mey dear that is his name) had the Panamians jumping and waving. Since there are a limited number of costume bands on the parkway, it was not hard to run into my band.
To my amazement Sesame provided many amenities on the parkway that mimicked many of Trinidad’s more popular bands. There was a VIP “cool out zoneâ€, people walking throughout the band with water and juice and my section provided lunch (pelau and salad) and grown-up drinks. Along with a really nice costume, food and drinks; I should be happy, right? WRONG. Although Sesame provided many of the key ingredients to ensure a successful mas band there was one missing ingredient MUSIC. I was with Back 2 Basic truck and I have to say to my surprise his musical selection SUCKED. Now I am not bashing him in any way because last year for Sesame he was on like boil corn but I am giving my honest opinion. Biggie Irie came on for wait seemed like two seconds but that to was “blah.†To me, music along with other key aspects makes for an enjoyable carnival experience and since it was missing, the vibe was gone.
Although I would praise Sesame for trying to provide amenities to masqueraders, it took away from the aesthetics of the band. The cool-out zone was a wonderful idea but the double decker bus was unnecessary. Since it was directly behind the first music truck, masqueraders were either bunched up in the space between the two trucks or pushed to the side of either. It made the parading aspect somewhat frustrating and unbearable, but more importantly made the band look disorganized and disshelved to spectators. Now I was in the last section and crossing the stage was somewhat of a blur to me. There was one moment when someone was shouting “get in your section†and that was my cue that we were crossing the stage but we were unable to hear anything after that. The sections seemed to proceed forward to a lack of music and announcement and next thing you know…BOOM we cross the stage. Parade done, all yuh go home. This ending seemed abrupt and unprofessional both on Sesame and WIADCA’s part. Now I am not sure there is professionalism in jumping up and parading but WIADCA have got to come up with a better ending system. I would suggest that they let the bands take a chip down the road a bit and slowly allow people to wind down (no pon intended) rather than what seems like cutting masqueraders off by the knees.
Now that all yuh hear what I have to say… tell mey how all yuh think the parkway was. Ah gone!
-Written by Lillian Finger
-Photography by Joel Stewart
I agree totally I was out there this year and it just wasn’t the same…..Maybe next year….ON TO MIAMI!
I hear you! I jumped up with Hawks…it was a bit different for us because after judging we got to chip down Flatbush towards the mas camp which is on flatbush and empire. But Sesame sounds interesting…very ambitious to try and provide TnT amenities in NYC!
For the first time in years I did not play mas and watched with my family. I agree that something was definetly different this year on the parkway, it almost seemed something was missing.
Hopefully next year everyone is ready to take carnival and mas back to the parkway.
Well I mean carnival has its highs and lows…Just have to keep supporting and hope for the best…. I might have to jump up with Sesame next year if they are doing it TnT style! Thanks for the info.
Fetejunkie: They are doing a wonderful job with the ammenities.
Shea: Ppl are always ready for carnival.
HQ:How was your experience with Hawks?
GMF: Me and you in Miami.
Sesame Flyers will always be one of the better mas bands for New York. To tell ya the truth, I was kinda disappointed with cocoa panol. Only cause when I saw them all bunched together like that it didn’t’ look good. Aside from the flags people had in their hands, it looked like a sea of brown. There were no colors, just brown, didn’t look too nice to me at all. The costumes were beautiful though, but bunched together, not so well.