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PLYMOUTH JAZZ FESTIVAL 2008 WEEKEND COVERAGE

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Beach House Jazz'08 (Tobago)
Beach House Jazz'08

Apr 28th
, 2008

Steelpan on Pigeon Point BeachAfter having such a great time at last year's Plymouth Jazz Festival, returning in 2008 was a no brainer!

Tickets and accommodations (special thanks to good fren Jomo) were taken care of immediately following the 2008 TnT Carnival season because if it's one things Trini's doh play around with, is organizing ah lime!! Ah mean, lots of people had actually made their bookings from before December. Yes, we're sure they were fooled by the rumors going around that both Michael and Janet Jackson were in this year's Jazz line-up.

We arrived in Tobago on Thursday evening on the T&T Express catamaran and then it was non-stop action. On Friday, Diana Ross Jazz fans enjoying Kes the Band's performanceruled the night and Kes the Band give one hell of a performance to close the show. Now the vibes at Jazz this year just wasn't the same as last year. We're not sure if it's because the 2007 line-up was simply better than this year's or if it was the new layout of the venue - which was definitely more sectioned off. It was hard to go back & forth between VIP and General Admission, so a lot of people decided to just stay put once they settled in.

Then in VIP, they were very adamant with patrons remaining seating during the performances (more so for the international acts). This was a total vibe killer for both patrons and artists. Imagine having to remain seated while watching Shakira shake what her mama gave her??!! Putting the general admission section some 800 feet away from the stage definitely changed the vibe as well. It might be a good idea to place VIP areas on both sides of the stage (still covering a decent area of the stage front), and have general admission come down the center like last year.

Colombian bombshell ShakiraSaturday night was all about Shakira, Shakira!! The Colombian bombshell's trademark gyrations and belly dancing skills should definitely be on your 'Top 50' things to see in life! smile Of course, Steel Pulse and En Vogue didn't disappoint their fans one bit.

Sunday was a huge disappointment for us. We're not saying this because of the acts, but when we arrived on site, we were instructed by Jazz officials that Whitney Houston's management demanded that no photographs were to be taken. And to make matters worst, we were later informed that photos of Rod Stewart could only be taken from the light/sound scaffolding some 500ft away from the stage for the two-song limit. Cheups ... talk about nonsense!! We might as well have bought VIP tickets - this way we could have at least enjoyed the performances. We must say however, that Rod Stewart did put on a great show!

Local food shops at Store Bay, TobagoIn between the official Jazz events, it was sun, beach and liming. And you know we had to enjoy some of the Tobagoian's sweet hand. Miss Jean - the curry shrimp and dumpling was besssss. A dip at Pigeon Point Beach was also a must on the agenda before heading back to Trini. You gotta take a sea bath when in Tobago ... wash away any jinx or obeah any bad-minded people might have put on ya! *lol* It's like taking a 'Bush Bath'!! smile

The All Inclusive Jazz Cruise (Saturday) and Beach House Jazz fete (Monday) definitely made the weekend complete for us. Yes man, there's plenty of good stuff to do beside Jazz. And if you see how many Trini's does touch down on the island jus for the lime!! And Jazz lovers, if you're in search of some real jazz, there's a two-day "Jazz On The Beach" event with local and Caribbean jazz acts at Mt Irvine beach.

Again, we must thank our sponsor, Caribbean Airlines (www.caribbean-airlines.com) for making our 2008 Tobago Jazz experience possible.

Next stop ... St. Lucia Jazz Festival !!

Chooks aka Daddy Juice with friends at Beach House

Signing out from our beautiful sister isle,
Chooks

 
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