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Great Music + Nice People = CIC All-Inclusive Fete

With three events to cover this Saturday, it was an early exit for part of the TJJ Team covering Presentation College & The Rotary Club of Chaguanas 2008 All Inclusive. It was a lil' hard to pull away, with their fete now picking up a little after 8pm. But, duty calls! We managed to race up the highway from Chaguanas to Port-of-Spain, find a lucky parking spot not too far from the college (all surrounding streets were completely filled with vehicles of the patrons that arrived early), and get on the inside just in time to catch Machel Montano (less his HD band) on stage.

Unfortunately we had already missed Roy Cape All Stars performance, with lead singers Blaxx, Olatunji and the sexy Trini Jacobs. Word on the street is that Roy Cape, might be the best sounding band so far as the 2k8 Carnival season continues to unfold. "Breathless" is currently topping most local charts, and is definitely a strong contender for Road March'08. Hopefully we'll catch Roy Cape in another fete soon.

From what we saw, Machel Montano's performance without a doubt infused the most energy into the CIC All Inclusive crowd on the evening. Both young and old (but definitely young at heart), jumped and waved to the Taipan of Soca every command. Montano delivered hit after hit, and was thrilled by the energy of the crowd. "I didn't know CIC had it going on like this", he remarked before the sea of balloon sticks dropped into the crowd. After which he continued the jammin', singing songs like "Carnival", "Craziness", "Higher Than High", "Jumbie" and his latest release"Blazin D Trail". It was definitely a good move by the Past Students Union to add Mr. Montano to their already big entertainment line up. Please be sure to book him (and band if possible) for 2009.

In between bands, we got an opportunity to stroll the venue and investigate the all-inclusive elements. Food and drinks were definitely in abundance, and evenly spread through out the venue with different stalls in each classroom around the school's compound. So the wait time for whatever you were looking for, was almost next to nothing. The school's 'big yard', where the majority of the patrons gathered to see the live entertainment, was nicely decorated with lights on the palm trees (photo). And if you wanted to get a quick beer while feting, you could have grabbed a cold Carib or Stag on tap (photo) without having to venture far.

The DJs kept the vibes pumpin' for roughly 30 minutes before Shurwayne Winchester with band Traffik took main stage. With Eddie Charles and Sean Caruth back in the front-line, it was some serious déja vu of Caribbean Traffik Jam back in the days. The energetic Winchester was waving his rag in the usual high speed fashion, as he struck his usual poses. They sung new 2008 releases such as "Carnival Please Stay" and "Whole Day", but that infectious iron riddim in 2005 Road March "Dead Or Alive" never fails to get any crowd moving.

Not too long after 11pm, Kes the Band featuring Nadia Batson kicked off their performance. Yes, CIC did not hold back with their live entertainment this rounds! Kees (who ended up bareback during the performance) had the ladies screaming "Right Dey", and Nadia's sweet vocals kept the crowd right where she wanted them as she sang her popular 2008 tune "My Posse". But it was the band's trip down memory lane that injected another boost of energy into the fete. Kees always does a fantastic job with singing past hits of artists such as Rudder and Black Stallin. 7 words.... "Tonight the Black Man feeling to Party"! Before they wrapped things up, guest artist Mista Vybe, made is way on stage to sing his 2k8 collaboration "Wave It Away" with the band. And of course, he gave feters a taste of his 2006 smash hit "Ting 4 D Road" as he jumped high in the sky with Kees and the band's 2 guitarists.

Just as the fat lady was about to sing, Angostura Woodbrook Playboyz got their steelpan and riddim section revved up, and partygoers found themselves chippin' around the 'big yard' before making their way home. This was our 1st time covering St. Mary's All Inclusive fete, and will definitely not be our last. After all, the Trini Jungle Juice team has many CIC Ole Boys! We'll see you guys next year!!

p.s. The person walking out the fete with a garbage bag of empty plastic bottles (photo) is actually not a vagrant looking for a 25¢ bottle refund.... she's actually an artist looking to get creative!! lol.

Chooks aka Daddy Juice