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TJJ with Country Club gate keys...

A secret not know by many is that TJJ's Trinidad office is nestled in the hills of Maraval. This valley ultimately acts as a funnel to channel all the music into the hills. It is from the Trinidad office that we were on the listen out for the feature of the night. If you do not know you better ask somebody!! Okay, when we check the time it is creeping past midnight and if J'Ouvert is somewhere between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM am then we done know it is about time to get stage side - but what should we wear? When you think of Trinidad Country Club you think about men dressed in shirts & ties not so??!! Hehehehe ... this is Carnival Sunday and the party is called MANIA so leave your flip flops at home, put on some sneakers and don't expect any ties!!

When we arrived on the scene some where about 12:30 AM we already know the dance ram. Cars had filled up the KFC Maraval parking and overflowed all the way going up the Saddle Road. Ram dance, we used to that!!! With keys in hand we gone past the first gate and beyond the blow up stick men that have now become part of the Carnival landscape and on ward to VIP stage side. There was only one thought that you can possibly conceive on entering the dance ... "LOOK AT PEOPLE"!!! DJ High Fidelity implored with the crowd to please not lean on the fence. We doh see how that was possible as there were tons of people, all smashed up against each other like sardines except they were building into an anxious frenzy for the coming of Machel Montano and the Xtatik band.

You can only imagine how people getting hyped, not only because it is what would be the last performance by this band for the 2006 Carnival season in Trinidad, but they also waiting for the peter piper of Soca to lead them to J'Ouvert 2006. When TJJ surveyed the crowd we realized that many had come in to the MANIA from out of town, so they were already well positioned location wise and fired up with energy for the road. The people would not have to wait much longer.

GET ... GET ... GET ... GET ... GET ... GET ... GET DELIRIOUS and by the time Machel announced to MASH IT UP, well forget about it, the place gone clear! And if you thought that 2005 hits, like "Madder Dan Dat," were out of control - forget about it. It was only more and more scandalous behavior. We feel like the pictures will have to tell you more about this.

In closing we just wanted to point out one more thing. It was about Machel's closing thank you statement. After thanking all the sponsors and the many pioneers that have contributed in the last decade like Johnny Song and Chinese Laundry to the Carnival scene, he said, "Lastly I would like to thank GOD because when you thank GOD you thank everyone - each and everyone who has played a part in your life's journey." See you in J'Ouvert folks.