page 1 of 8

De things people does do... good ole Dr. Ram Dass get a call about a road trip to de T Dot early Sat morning. Little did I know it was long weekend holiday an all kinda thing. Not like ah woulda say no anyways... so braps... after close to 11 hours driving all de way from Washington DC we reach. This mankind never see fete in Toronto... an is so meh eye open big. As de clock arms collide on 12 we collide with real bumsie on de inside and camera start to flash. TJJ is regulars up here and de hospitality shown by Island Style Promotions reflected. The venue called Kool Haus, big like Jean Pierre Complex and very close to capacity with drinks pouring and everybody having a good time as Soca Monarchs jammed tunes.

So de flyer had him listed as a "Special Guest" but he was more like de opening act. Not a bad performance at all from Sir Anslem Douglas who seemed to be a little too back in times for de first generation Canadians. I figure he woulda sing "Who Let the Dogs Out" to let de youths know who he was, but he rather chose the route of testing for old school knowledge with a repertoire of "Ragga Pum Pum" and "Mash Up De Party" of which no one seemed to pass or want to.

Crazy was next, and after his come back for Trinidad Carnival 2007 season, everybody was ready for de original "Cold Sweat" man. Renowned for his puns in de soca arena... young or old can enjoy a tune about a man who buy a "One Foot Cock" only to find out that "de cock cyah stand up ah tall." Even without his supporting band de Lunatics... Crazy still mashup de place.

A last minute addition to the Soca Storm cast, Blazer Dan also pass thru (unexpectedly to some) but to much of the pleasure of the crowd. Blazer is a real big foundation artist whose big chunes shaped the direction that ragga and groovy Soca music took while finding it's identity apart from Soca. Ya can't help but love de "Wrong Timing". While performing his 2007 hit "Be Mine Tonight", he called a young lady dress in blue by the name of Mercedes on stage to accompany him, which got everyone ah bit confused when Mercedes simply posed off for the entire song. But waaaaaait.... where de "hold on tight... bounce it fast, then bounce it slow... wine it high, then wine it low.... hands on de ground in a wheel barrow???" A brave fan from the audience then attempted to give the Toronto crowd a lil' sumting sumting.... still no wheel barrow!! It was a nice performance by Blazer, but we have to say it again... performing "Tantie Eulyn" off Christmas season (Nov-Dec.... we'll even let a late Oct slide), wa iz da one?

Now with all de hot wuk dat going on these days in parties, I was personally looking forward to see Mr. Vegas teach de local smallies de real yard dance... but neither that nor Mr. Slaughter and Soca in meh veins was going to happen. Their absence was also joined by Patrice Roberts... which would have usually been a bad thing, and things seemed to be heading in that direction when the Guyanese reigning Soca Monarch champion Marlon 'Malo' Webster failed at sharing his energy with the crowd performing his hit "Give Me It" amongst others.

The turn around came soon however... Shurwayne Winchester was Shurwayne Winchester and de people loved every minute of it... opening de gate in de usual frenzy. So dey say, "ya cyah play mass if ya fraid powder"... and it seems like "ya cyah go fete if ya fraid water". Ah little advice to de stage managers around de world... if you decide to give de crowd water fuh excitement, do so carefully... throwing bottles, plastic or otherwise isn't safe.... but it sure is safer than dumping 2 cases of water! I swear a UN helicopter drop a crate ah pan chicken de way people start to fight fuh water. West Indian people love ah free ting... ya take dem out de West Indies, but ya cyah tek de West Indies outta dem!

After 'Carnival Injection' was postponed twice back in March, Toronto was finally getting to see TnT Soca Diva Destra Garcia with her band Atlantik. Destra proved her title as de Soca Queen by carrying on afterwards... all de way to the end which turned out to be minutes after 4 in de AM. Judgment! Destra not only delivered her repertoire of hits, but treated the crowd to a duet with Shurwayne singing 2004 release "Beta Beti (Come Beta)". The band also entertained feters when several ladies were invited on stage with a choice to select any band member to demonstrate their wining skills to "I Dare You". Now this excluded Destra, who happened to be one of the ladies' preference - but Destra quickly declined, letting everyone know her sexual preference, "I love t**ee!!" .... rhymes with roti... hehe. You had to be there to enjoy this part of the show... real jokes!

I have to make mention to the host S.K.F and DJs for keeping the dance lively between acts... this was very good and de mix of Dancehall was very welcomed. I especially enjoyed de hard core styles from female DJ Boomerang. Respect!

One more thing, when it come to party vendors... T Dot have it on lock... corn soup, ox tail, jerk, stew....... anything ya want yes.... lovely. Four corn soup and TJJ buss de tape just before 5am.

First time (and def wouldn't be the last) fetin in de T Dot..... and Dr. Ram Dass had ah time!

p.s. If ya looking for ya Nike slipper.... check de Lost and Found!