J’ouvert in July – The Aftermath

I am not a big J'ouvert lover. 

For the record, I have only played J'ouvert once and that was back when I was 15 or 16 and I found it to be too dark, too cold and too dirty, and I realised J'ouvert was not for me.

So I was not planning to go to Cocoa Devils' J'ouvert in July until I got two free tickets late on Friday evening.

Now doh get tie up and think because is July and they say party is a stoosh ting. No. This is full on J’ouvert, where yuh getting rub dong in cocoa (not me). So after shopping for some appropriate J'ouvert clothes on Saturday afternoon (don't judge me), I was ready.

We left St. James at about half 2 and made our way down to Pier 2 with very little traffic, and we got inside the venue at about 3:00am.

The music truck was blasting, people were being rubbed down with cocoa (not me) and the drinks were flowing at the bar. While waiting at the bar for my Johnnie and coconut water (sans the Johnnie) , I saw some alcohol soaked saltprunes and had a few. These are always a win in my book.

My one critique at this point was that at half 3 in the morning I came to the party with my belly in my hand, and there was no food to be found.

Around 4am the dj announced that it was officially J’ouvert and the truck was ready to pull off and hit the streets. The music truck pulled off with the fully stocked drinks truck right behind and all the cocoa-down people chipping behind.

It was at this point I noticed the all important corn soup man had arrived and I grabbed a cup and then went back to catch up to the band.

The band headed down Ariapita Avenue chipped to the Foreshore and then made a left to King George the V Park. The music truck did this a couple of times and then settled back down in the main area where Hypa Hoppa constantly talked and talked and talked. And then he talked some more. His mix of music was not great…this is J’ouvert in July…meen wanna hear Mambo No.5 or Living La Vida Loca. Anyhoo…

As the sun came over the hills, anyone walking into Pier2 at that point would have thought that later that day, we were all going to go home, put on our costumes and head out to meet our band to play mas on Carnival Monday. It was dat kinda vibe.

Level winery.

Level fun.

Level vibes.

Later on when the water truck came out and soaked people down to their Blackberrys (I saw a poor guy watching his Blackberry and trying to shake the water out)…it just seemed like the perfect end to the morning. At this point most people were having some doubles, jumping up in the water (not me), taking dat last wine or trying to sober up (not me). 

Note to anyone thinking of doing J’ouvert in July experience next year:

1. Yuh not going to a club, yuh going to play J’ouvert. Leave home de high heels shoes, wedge heels and high heeled boots. Forget the sandals and slippers. Wear yuh best ole sekaers…better yet a pair of rainboots.

2. Yuh not going to a club, yuh going tp play J’ouvert. Leave home de nice clothes and dressy tops unless yuh want dem to get dutty. Wear yuh favorite wife beater instead.

Overall, I give Cocoa Devils’ J’ouvert in July a 7 chip out of 10.

Take in some video of the jamishness here: