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We were excited when we heard that a new mas band was on the scene in London, so jumped at the chance to go to the Bachanal Mas Band Launch (yes, intentional spelling of Bacchanal). We wanted something fresh and different and so it was.

Admittedly, we arrived late and missed the start of the display, but got there just in time if you know what we mean. The venue was a bar called The Puzzle in Central London - just outside Petticoat Lane - we nearly had to move one of the stalls to park, yes! It looked recently refurbished to a modern standard, and was split into two main rooms, but still a very open layout. A pretty nice space for a party actually.

When we got in, the costumes were being paraded - we just missed most of the narration, but saw them all together with all the models following instructions to Faye-Ann's "Get On", moving between the rooms so that everyone could see properly. Funny thing was the crowd followed them from one side to the next too as they didn't want to take their eyes off of the costumes. After that session, the models kindly posed for pictures so we can show you the costumes in their full glory.

Registrations took place that night, and although the registration area didn't seem too busy, it was because party-go'ers wanted to fete first. As we understand, many sections sold out quite quickly, with only 4 of 22 frontline and 1 individual costume still available at the time of checking. Fools Paradise (black and silver) which we liked was one of the first to sell out. When we chatted with Richard Gallimore from Bachanal Mas, he said, "They went like hot cakes!" And not surprising, as in our humble opinion, the designs were good. From talking to folks, we understand that the main designer, Paul O'Donoghue is quite acclaimed and is one of the people said to be responsible for raising the standard of Carnival costumes here in the UK, having previously been designing for one of the bigger Notting Hill mas bands, including the big individual costumes (like King and Queen, we think).

So the party itself was cool, and as we were saying earlier, it was different to what we usually cover in the UK - lots of new & different people and DJs to the norm. Whereas most of the regular parties we attend are full of Trini's who came up from Trinidad, this party was more diverse and perhaps more of this crowd would have actually been born up here. What was especially good about this vibe was the music wasn't just Trini driven, and like where we might have heard one popular song six times, there was far more variety. DJs Digga D (big up) and the others like Triple M, Bashment Kid and Remie D stepped up and laid down the tunes that had the whole dance area (in front the DJs of course) jumping and dancing. We just had to take a step back and admire the way that everyone in the centre was getting on. It reminded us of scenes from those high school movies ... yuh know when they at the school dance and everyone just starts dancing together in a perfectly choreographed way. From the ever-popular Machel's "Jumbie" to 2008 Road March Winner Faye-Ann's "Get On", all man jack knew the correct dance moves and it looked fantastic!

Bachanal Mas will be launching their fun section (t-shirt mas) on the 30th May 2008 then the Sunday (J'ouvert) band on the 27th June 2008, so look out for more of what they promise is "The Ultimate Carnival Experience" Hmmm, now where have we heard that before??!! Check www.myspace.com/bachanalmas for more details.