Photos by Andre C.Y. Choo Quan
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It have a Soca chune does go... "Ah feeling uneasy in meh..." ah real classic in my books. Well it wasn't until ah hit de Palazzo aka Sin City that ah realize what that song was all about... boy... geez an ages... pressure.

Due to de usual piddling TJJ fall thru rounding midnight. This is now round two of feting for de Victoria Day Weekend.... so Sunday night an is like dey was giving away free winter jacket in de building cause it cold cold cold outside and smallies moving from car to front door as de crow flies... wit speed and direction, an in some lovely belly breakers and pum pum shorts. I ent think Canadians realize is not summer up there yet!

With de usual love, Dr. Jay laid out the red carpet for de TJJ crew. We didn't have to move far from de door to start de glamour gyal picture taking. After WE check WE coats, we pour into de early juggling area, where drinks start to pour and ah witness first hand why mankind up here living in de cold... talk bout woman. If we wasn't having enough fun on de perimeter... we take a pass thru to de main area... "PACKED!" Alternative route thru de VIP... more drinks, hi's, hello's, click, click, flash and now we reach de stage to see what all this bacchanal is all about.... is de grand master King David Michael Rudder. Real nice vibes. Nothing does warm up a crowd like de original "Trini to de Bone".

So by now ah now start to get a feel for de venue... and ah was liking it. Ah small and very intimate state allowing close access to the crowd. The dance floor laid out in 3 main areas... for long time cinema-goers... it have a lower area that pretty much right up on de stage... we ga call dat de 'Pit'. Now de 'Pit' have a center piece that was used as a dancing podium by many, and this seemed to form a circular track around it, leave those details for later. Then it have a area that I will refer to as 'Box'; for those who didn't want to be in de pit, 3 steps up you could lime all around de 'Pit'. Finally, de balcony area... similar to a grand stand area... ah cool scene with terraced VIP seating.

Still early (2ish), Kerwin Du Bois put down some tracks new and old... and his general stage presence was enjoyed. Kerwin delivered a couple messages to the audience; one being how the popular Myspace.com Music section has a genre for Reggae, but not Soca! The genre for Soca is actually called "Tropical"...... and ah I to agree with Du Bois when he said, "This does get me MAD MAD MAD" as he belted into his 2005 hit "Madology". 2007 songs "Party Rocker" and "De Rose & De Stem" (ft Denise Belfon) were well received by the Soca fans.

The KOS DJ's kept a nice vibe whole night, along side MC and host E Man, which made the live performance transitions very transparent. De big hype was all for de new Bermudan sensation Collie Buddz... with a few big hits ("Come Around", "Mamacita", "Tomorrows Another Day") mashing up dancehall everywhere, it was rewarding to hear more of his versatility and see how he commands the audience. Collie Buddz buss de place, which was a feat in itself as he was in de midst of some die hard Soca fans... he even sang a new Soca chune. But, after asking all ganja man to flash their lighters (or light up their cell phones), it was the now famous words "Finally the herb come around" that got the biggest forward.

Party wrap up with a COMPLETE and what seem to be a 2 hour ram jam - mashup an buy back - dun de place performance by Kes The Band together with Nadia Batson (who appears to be a part of the band now). I had no idea that this kinda damage could have been done by what carries de appearance of a nice and descent band. Back to de 'Pit', well that circular track in de middle of de dance floor appeared to be well renowned for a "toro toro charge" like movement around and around, that often involved water spurting and the transportation of members shoulder high... it was a new one for me... dey take move to de left/right upfront and down south! somewhere else... but Kes was down in de pit making de rounds with de pit crew. The band dropped tons of chunes with a well rounded mix of their own work ("My Land", "The Way", "Stay With Me", "One Island"), Soca covers ("Footsteps", "Bonnie & Clyde", "Fly") and Reggae ("Driver") covers. Young ladies obviously love Kes The Band as ah make out plenty sexy lips, lip synching chunes. And forget about it when Kees and Nadia were doing chune for chune and Nadia buss out Sister Charmaine's "Man So Nice" ... wow.

It wasn't until after 5 AM with some coaxing from de security and clean up crew that we manage to find our way to de parking lot. Is a long weekend after all. Being in de T Dot and is a big Dr. Jay dance, ya know one thing for sure..... Leon on de outside with de bless up ital. We must settle down to some of de classic shadow benny chicken, corn soup and Jerk.... hopefully with de TJJ after 5 AM discount ;-) Leon thanks for the luv... de food was on point as always! Miguel (WUK) thanks for da hook ups. Toronto, thanks for de memories.

Passing de Canadian border,
Dr. Ram Dass

p.s. Ziggy Ranking... we miss ya long time!

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