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It's Wednesday night in sweet TNT and AWOL, EWS and S.O.S done in the bag, and we only here a little over 24 hours. How's that for getting bang for yuh buck. Is REAL pace, no time to waste. If yuh catch ah two hours in the car before you reach inside to bathe and hit the road again yuh lucky, that is Trinidad Carnival in a nutshell, if yuh running the Fetealotathon®, certainly not for the faint of heart :-) We ain't go lie, we in the car park outside Bacchanal Wednesday and we trying to catch a 40 winks to shake off a couple of them Johnny's from SOS, but it very difficult when all yuh seeing is smallies like RAIN pouring in. The real kicker is that NO MUSIC ain't even start tuh play yet! Can you imagine? It's about 10:30pm and you can hear a pin drop in Chaguaramas. If yuh see people just making their way to the party cool cool like somebody blowing a pipe and callin' them. A man working security for the party trying to sell people a prime parking spot close to the party under a tree where he strategically placed a brick so no one could park unless he moved it. Everybody trying to make a buck tonight yes, not just the scalpers. Not a note play until about 10:45pm and by then, dance done ram. We watching a sea of people just confidently lined up and entering a party with no music. That is faith, the Holy Trinity ain't have nuttin' on the kind of faith people displaying here tonight :-) What making people not even break a stride to head into this fete with no music? The answer is simple, it's Bacchanal Wednesday!!

In case yuh been living in the mountains of Afghanistan for the past decade, we go paint the picture of this fete for yuh. This one started in the car park "up in the hills" many years ago. Again in case yuh from Mars, "up in the hills" is code for Club Coconuts the since abandoned Mecca of lime if yuh grew up in Trini in the nineties.Bacchanal Wednesday soon outgrew that venue, and eventually ended up in Chaguaramas. Uncle Sam used to have a base in Trinidad, so they're a few hangers and large fields out there, that is where Bacchanal Wednesday is. Imagine a big paved area surrounded by huge black water tanks that form the perimeter of the fete. Yuh would have tuh be a serious spider man to storm dem tanks. Anyhow, the TJJ team was well received at the media entrance, and Lydia and crew even posed for a few snaps.

As we walk in, we see dance group Eclectic rehearsing their routine for the popular "Roboman", which they performed this season with KES the Band. All man jack dress up in ah Star Wars gettup and they glowing too, wowi wow, that is real dedication yes. By now the crowd is massive and KES the Band took the stage and immediately sent the eager crown into a frenzy with big tunes like "Right Dey", "Our Prayer" and "My Land". Blaxx made a quick guest appearance to dismantle the Bacchanal Wednesday crowd with his 2008 hit "Breathless". Destra & Atlantik with our new homegirl, Tizzy outta Antigua took the stage afterwards. It's now confirmed that Destra's 2004 hit "Bonnie & Clyde" will always get any crowd to move!

$15TT for a beer ... $X for hard liquor and every single bar ram ram ram. The balancing act ensues, between buying enough chits so yuh doh have to go back in the chit line again, and not buying too many chits. Other than waking up next to a sasquatch the morning after a fete, there is nothing more terrifying than seeing a pile of drink chits on the dresser next to yuh wallet, lawwwwdie.

About three o'clock in the morning Machel Montano HD takes the stage. For many, it's the first time yuh getting to see HD for the season so anticipation is high. The Wednesday before Carnival is traditionally a marker for who making it to the big show and who takin' ah miss for the year. Usually you get a good sense of who in the country, it's the first big fete that all crew and crew hitting so most try not to miss it. This year, it also turned out to be the revelation of the creepers. HD uncharacteristically misjudged the timing of the release of a couple would be big tunes year, they usually on point with that. This year however, the short season throw people off their "A" game. "Congo Man" ain't play in this fete till about 2 in the morning and Hoppie and tuh ask the DJ to play it! "Rollin", easily one of the BIGGEST tunes for C2K8 was now stretching its legs in the fete. I feel if "Rollin" was released earlier.... well let's not speculate :-)

Bacchanal Wednesday remains a Fetealotathon® staple for the TJJ crew. Special thanks to the Zen posse for having us. TJJ milk this one to the end as usual, and take this one til the sun come up. Yes folks, if you left after HD, Shurwayne Winchester & Traffik did perform. We headin' up to Gustin for a lime by some partners, what sleep yuh telling meh bout? Is only 5 days left yuh know!

Wados The Appraiser AKA Sigma Juice for the TJJ Fam.
-- TJJ Carnival 2008 Frontline

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Related Galleries
Bacchanal Wednesday 2007
Bacchanal Wednesday 2006
TnT Carnival 2008 Coverage