Ronnie and Caro - The Aftermath...

So sometime between costume collection on Carnival Friday and going for additional boy shorts on Carnival Saturday night, I decided to upgrade my costume from backline to frontline.

It cost was some extra dollars, but I decided to treat myself after working so hard on designing and decorating carnival footwear for people.

Collected my BEAUTIFUL backpack on Carnival Sunday night/early Monday morning around 12:30ish a.m. no problem at all.

We had to meet the band on Alexandra Street on Monday for 11:00am. They had a late start and only started moving just after 12 and I was surprised to see the number of people in the band. I was expecting the band to be small but they had a great turnout.

The only problem I had on the road on Monday was that we got stuck behind PCS Starlift which was HUGE and this kept us back all day.

My peeps and I left the band on Park Street and walked up to the Savannah to wait. But when we saw the number of bands in front of us, we decided to go home and save our energy for Tuesday. Good thing too, because when we got home just after 7:00 pm, we saw the band NOW crossing the Savannah stage!

A big meggie for the announcers whose names I did not catch, but kept referring to the presentation as "Ronnie and Caro - The Mas Band". I guess they didn't see the huge ass "De Gulf" written on the banner.

My boots on Monday started off FAB! and ended up drab, with the left side looking as if it had mange or something, and I was actually seeing the colour of one of the prototypes I had done before. (Note to self: Don't rush and use primer spray paint next time).

TUESDAY

Tuesday morning had me up at about 3:30am. We had to meet the band for 7:00am behind Sacred Heart.

Staying at Carnival Central in St. James has its benefits, we do have the drawback of only one bathroom for the many masqueraders who stay there. Plus I also had my makeup 'appointment' at 4:00am with my aunt.

While waiting for said appointment, I took the time to fix my headpiece (which was too tight for my big head), as well as finishing up my Tuesday boots by adding some braid and mucho rhinestones. (I had no time to decorate my own boots with all the work I had to do).

Got my makeup done and everyone was out of the house and on the bus by 7:00 or thereabouts.

The bus dropped us off and went on to drop the parents, who were playing in ImageNation, downtown.

PROMPTLY at 7:05am while munching on breakfast, Ronnie told his staff we were moving out and whoever was not there would find us. We headed to our first judging point which was downtown where we had to wait behind Legacy. While waiting I made a small detour to Frederick Street to purchase some socks (I left mine home in my haste) to wear with my boots as the toes on my right foot were sore form the day before.

I probably poked enough people with my backpack heading to the stage downtown. For all those who may have been injured while basking in my frontline glory...hard luck. If yuh see a woman decked out looking FAB! with she backpack, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! Doh tell meh "Miss yuh poke meh in meh eye/nose/ears/face" cause meen business.

I was surprised by how small our section was though, I thought it was actually one of the nicer sections in the band. There were only 3 frontline ladies and the section was the smallest in the band.

The flow was much better on Tuesday, we even went Piccadilly, which did slow us down a bit I think but then we moved swiftly up to the Savannah, where I got the opportunity to see TRIBE's costumes as they were right behind us.

I spent most of my time looking at people's feet to see if I saw any of my creations on the road and actually did end up seeing a couple of them! I saw the Saucy one looking FAB! of course and took a picture of the two of us.

Once we crossed the Savannah stage we headed to our rest stop which was opposite QRC and it was there that things went bleh for me.

The rest stop that was supposed to only be 45 minutes ended up being an hour and a half, as we had to wait for TRIBE and their million and one trucks to pass us. (Not blaming TRIBE here eh. so doh bring no hate).

Instead of moving off one time, the trucks took a while to move off and then headed up to Wildflower Park and then down Alexandra Street. This long wait made us pick up stragglers and lose masqueraders, because by the time the band came to 'order' there were definitely fewer masqueraders. Also missing after the lunch break was the band's security.

One thing that pisses me off as a masquerader is when a band realises they lagging or they trying to gain ground and will have the trucks speed up and have us, the masqueraders jogging behind the blasted truck like is a damn 5K. Meen pay fuh dat!

And truck horn only blowing yuh out of the way so they could accelerate. I doh think any truck should be going faster than 5km per hour on the road Carnival Monday and Tuesday, both for safety purposes and just general winery. ANYHOO...rant over.

All that said, overall I had a GREAT time on the road with Ronnie and Caro, from the vodka soaked salt prunes...to the lollies...to the FAB! backpack (hadda big up meh girl Arlene here who make backpack for me last minute!) and I would most definitely play with them again in 2009.

And we came FIRST in medium bands!!! Congrats to Ronnie and Caro and the crew! We have a celebratory lime tonight.

I must add here that after playing frontline, I would be hard pressed to ever play backline again.

Benefits of playing frontline:

You get to go on the stage before your section and play yuhself.

The band/section designers who fix your backpack for you so it fits comfortably on your back.

The entourage who holds everything for you including your camera and you can just instruct them to take pics! LOL. (Much thanks to the hubby MUAH!)

The paparazzi who take lots and lots and lots of pics! So make sure yuh looking tops!