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It was Saturday 11th February and the much anticipated SOLD OUT fete... "Doh Cry Ah Leavin" was finally upon us. For 10 years straight, this has been one of the biggest annual pre-carnival jams to take place in Toronto and this rounds Trini Jungle Juice was up in dat!! Now there was lots of hype prior to the event; one being that 1,100 early bird tickets were sold out in 4 hours at all ticket outlets; with the same situation following suit the week after for regular price tickets. Madness we say!! Then to add to the excitement, the surprise international soca superstar was none other than VP Recording Artist Edwin Yearwood.

So with all dat in mind, TJJ was on the move early o'clock... and we talking reeeaaal early... man we reach de fete 930pm! World Record!! Needless to say we were not the only early birds, Torontonians braved the frigid cold temperatures and flocked to Kool Haus, some to get into 2K6 mode and others just to simply enjoy ah fete. Being a regular face among the soca scene, we were on the inside in two two's with batteries charged and cameras ready to go.

Partygoers were pleased to see that doors opened as scheduled (10pm) and in no time, wap wap, party start. And in the famous words of Rupee, "Whoaaaaaa look at people!" Yes, no lie, the Kool Haus went from a ghost town to a massive crowd of people anxious to get their groove on. DJ's MarXman, Sir Phillips and Dr. Jay used their skills to frenzy the crowd mixing old with new throwing in an occasional moment to cool down by switching beats into some sweet kaiso. Dirty Dez also took to the mic to increase the already frenzied crowd and when we say frenzied, we mean frenzied! With hot new soca tunes like "Ting for D Road" by Mista Vybe, "Band of D Year" by Patrice Roberts & Machel and one of our personal favourites "Big Bottom Gal" by Russel Cadogan of Imij & Co., the crowd had reached to new heights. When we say jump and wave, we swear some people were about to get trample, fuss it was pure wildness.

Prior to the live performances, the crowd got some nice reggae vibes by one of Toronto's upcoming sound systems, Renegade Squad. Trikki held down the mic, with Dirty Dez jumping into the hype from time to time. Large up all of the Renegade Squad crew doing big tings! Although the reggae set was sweet, many fetegoers were slowly losing momentum as they waited for more soca.

In no time it was bout 1:30am and the live performances took to the stage, first up was Toronto's own Farm P. He quickly delivered his popular tune, "Tan Tan," and then sang "Crank Up" off the Alert Riddim produced by Kerwin Du Bois. In keeping the energy flowing, Farm P introduced another local artist, Slammer Cutter, who came on singing "No Scene," also off the Alert Riddim. Slammer gave the audience a lil' taste of his freestyling skills, chanting about the TnT Soca Warriors, before wrapping up his performance with his lastest release "Chinee Wuk." We must give props to both Farm P and Slammer Cutter for doing their ting, and also to Dr. Jay for showcasing Toronto's homegrown talent.

Up next, the original "Pump Me Up" man, Edwin Yearwood. What can we say, Edwin did what Edwin does best... sing sweet soca! With Dr. Jay selecting his tracks, he probably sang his entire repertoire of tunes for the fans. We talking about tunes like "Wet Me", "Sugar Cane," "Oil Pumping," "French Kiss", "Sak Pase," "Weekend" and "Road Jam"... trapping in our heads that infectious line "I Feel Like Wukkin Up!" Be sure to look out for our 2006 Interview with Edwin coming to TJJ TV soon.

Much thanks for Dr. Jay & the KOS family for allowing TJJ to pass through and experience our first of many DCAL fetes. Lawd we can only imagine the maddness the Return Fete taking place March 18th has in store for Toronto!! If you missed the line up... it's going to be MR. VYBE ("Ting 4 D Road", "Always On My Mind"), DESTRA ("Max It Up", "Jumpin", "Colours Again", "Aur Chale", "Fly", "Bonnie & Clyde", "Carnival") and KMC ("3 Miles", "The Season Is Mine", "This Is How We Do It", "Soul On Fire"). You know we have to say it, "Jus Smile Nuh!"