Legacy Review #1

Surprisingly I got two reviews of Legacy yesterday; this first review can also be read at JJ's Myspace Page and check the links at the end of the review for photos:

I suppose after Big Mike and Ian McKenzie split up Legends, Mr. Big obviously beat Ian to the race in coining his band with the eerily similar and familiar name. Obviously, this helped court loyal Legends masqueraders to Legacy. Fortunately or unfortunately, the beautiful carnival Divas or (F.H.O as you call them) were not convinced or fooled as they all flocked to Genesis, a smaller, intimate band with much personality and grandness despite their smaller size. Much to my chagrin, I found fabulous Divas few and far between in Legacy and discovered them 36 hours into the mas experience by the tail end of Tuesday night walking back to our car. There they were all dolled up, fabulous, shimmering and still Fabu looking being flanked by beautiful strong men in Genesis Troy (see pic) ;





It was by happenstance and undeliberateness that I ended up in Legacy anyway. I suppose I could blame it on being too slow, too lazy and too complacent to get in early and use my inside connections or broadband online speed to get in a section of the other premium and much sought after bands. When choice wasn't really an option any longer, me and my girl Natasha, searched various band sites for what we thought we'd look good in and there the all-Indian showcase offered in Legacy piqued our interest and hence our Carnival 2K7 romp was set. We just had to tell our husbands and friends to register and surely they could with no problem our section was a 1/4 full and by carnival day, we learned was one of the smallest sections.

I must say despite the fact my husband and I overpaid a total of $750 for both our costumes (premium Tribe and IP prices indeed), the costumes did in fact look much as presented in online pictures. Surprisingly, the shoddy substandard materials held up, though I lost a few beads and buttons climbing in and out my car Tuesday morning. Overall, the mas looked quite beautiful on the road, en masse and all together. I suppose it helped that there very very few stormers in the band and everyone stuck to their sections, perhaps having been scared from previous Legends experiences of being scorned into submission about staying with your section. I guess, in hindsight, I miss those stormers as my husband explained the obvious reality that no one wanted to really storm our old stodgy band populated with maturer and more conservative revelers. I imagine my first guess this would have been the case should have come when I went to pick up my costume at the store-front mas camp at the corner of Carlos and Rober Streets in Woodbrook.

Despite that most of us customers had to wait in extremely 2+hour long lines, with nary a complimentary drink in sight, the patrons picking up their costumes on the Friday afternoon I was there were relatively mature, respectful, pleasant and unpretentious folks. No High Maintenance, demanding, posh and stosh diva in sight. They did not fuss too much about the mix of pleasant and unpleasant workers some who were frustrated and short-tempered people who should obviously switch professions to one where they don't have to interact with other human beings. Neither did many customers raise too much a stink over the fact that Big Mike and Juliet de la Bastinde seemed to have only trusted one woman to note BY HAND in a registration book the wristband identifications for all 5,000 + band members! I mean, I don't have an inside knowledge on what might have gone on in previous years, but if trust was such a big issue, they really should have enlisted their mothers, fathers and cousins to work the last few days leading up to Carnival Monday. Even though I was second in line on that particular Friday afternoon I was there, the registration process still took over 2 hours long.

Given the fact that it is 2007, it would make sense for them to invest in a sophisticated database system. When you'd go to pay the balance, theyd pull out a hand-written card with your particulars that followed you through the pick up process. Huh It is utterly RIDICULOUS that they would have the extremely efficient process of online registration, only to have to force some poor minimum wage workers to transcribe by hand what we abroad had digitally filled out and sent over to them in an organized and searchable electronic format. How INEFFICIENT IS THAT?

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on the unfortunate fire that left many of the costume materials destroyed days before carnival. I was heartbroken to hear of the devastation, but my not enough that I wouldn't want to be told that my frontline costume would exist no longer. Not only was I not foretold that I would be due a refund for the bustle and extra large headpiece I ordered, but my registrant assistant took my full money and then charged me $40 TT extra for the wee wee truck even though it was advertised to be included in the all inclusive section. I had to come back days later to get my refund only after my girlfriend told me she got a refund and did NOT pay anything for the wee wee truck. That left a bad taste in my mouth that they'd want the money so bad that they were willing to skim off the top that way.

This brings me to final point, that under the pressure of recent bands to offer all-inclusive section, it seems now the term all inclusive can mean a mediocre but edible meal, a wee wee truck and a drink truck stocked with half-premium drinks, with our without a sufficient allocation of ice and chasers. Notwithstanding all of this, I would have at least had to have gotten my to goody bag without my husband having to return after we had left and nearly threaten our sour-faced costumer handler for it. My word, it's not if there was a free digicell phone in there. Didn't their sponsors offer give them for free the sample products and coupons to promote and market their products? It's not like they assembled them in some descent satchel, back pack or fanny pack as I've had in other bands, they were merely scattered at the bottom of plastic bag!

The jump up was decent, but not nearly as raucous, get on wassy, and down right NASTY as I am used to in other bands brimming with flames, friends, old classmates, Divas, B-boys, celebrities, primadonnas, stormers and all the rest of the madness that make for a Fabulous Monday and Tuesday. For that, I will not be returning to Legacy and will get my tail in order next time around. I do hope my remarks may help them work out the kinks for those fine complacent people who are loyal to Legends er um I mean Legacy.

JJ. Ghatt

hi ave a few legacy photos on my myspace page and more easily seen here