Island People Reviews

Today I will be sharing with you the reviews sent in by readers of the blog of the various bands they played with for carnival, starting with Island People. On that note you should also visit Afro Chic for her review on playing with Island People as well;

I am an avid reader of your blog, and I admire your tireless efforts in blogging about our Carnival. It is indeed the ‘greatest show on earth’. However, as a masquerader who has played with bands such as Poison, Legacy, TRIBE and Island People, I feel it is imperative to write about my 2009 experience. Your blog represents the truth, and what I have to say is as such.

I will not go into detail about my horrid registration process with Island People. I think that topic has been rehashed by other bloggers. But this year was my third time playing mas with them; indeed registration was as chaotic as the costume payment and collection, and it mirrored what happened on the road.

I live abroad; therefore, Friday afternoon was the only time I had in order to pay my balance, and to collect the costume. Friends and I arrived at the stadium at approximately 2:30pm, and to our horror, the line had already made a bend around the gate. There were at least 150- 200 people in line ahead of us to pay, and the so-called line adjacent to ours to collect costumes was just as long; however, in that line, people were all crowded around the collection desk. It was a free for all – who get to the counter first was served. Pure madness.

We purposed to be patient, and tried to make a small lime out of it, being friendly and chatting with people in the line behind us. By about 4:00 pm, IP staffers were handing out bottles of water, which was much appreciated. There was free (hot) Stag available, as well as pineapple chow and juice on sale (why wasn’t it vice versa? hmmm…). My friends and I arrived to the payment counter eventually...(let's just say it was dark outside after payment was made), where there were only 6 flustered cashiers, and at that point the situation grew worse. There was a couple at the back of the line, an East Indian girl in the Natural Mystic section, and an Afro Trini young man. They somehow got the security guard to allow them to skip about 20 persons to get ahead, including 2 young ladies near me who were exhausted from holding their babies, so as they were resting on the table, the said couple bravely jumped in front of the young mothers, stating they were holding up the line. Mind you, these 2 mothers were from Barbados I think they said, so their welcome to Trinidad was definitely soured. There were many other foreigners who witnessed this event, much to my shame as a Trinidadian. These 2 skippers really let me down. Worse, the security guard then made his way to the front of the line in order to allow the ‘skipping couple’ to go ahead and pay; that is when the ruction start! There was a young lady who was quite upset at this move, a frequent IP masquerader I am told, and I’m uncertain what happened next but the security guard grabbed this lady by her wrist, yanked her out of the line in order for the skippers to pay, and threatened to have her arrested because she was the most vocal against the skippers. It was a shameful event as IP staffers could not control the fracas and began a shouting match with the lady who was vocal. Meanwhile, the skippers quietly paid their money and glided outside with grins on their faces and receipts in hand.

Needless to say, my friends and I still went ahead to pay off our balance and then collect our costumes. As I said earlier, there wasn’t really a line per se…we left the stadium at around 7:00 pm, exhausted from the bacchanal that just occurred. IP also gave me the incorrect size, and I was told by a staff member to return on Sunday for an exchange.

I arrived on Sunday at 10:30 am, (we were told to come at 11:00) and again there was a long line of about 100 people. IP had not opened the gate at this point, and when they finally did, they were only allowing about 10-15 people who could squeeze to the front inside. I’d had enough at this point and was ready to sell my costume right there! After paying $3295 hard earned dollars for the costume, not to mention my plane ticket and hotel, this was totally unacceptable. I decided to go home, rest, and in the end I altered my costume by hand.

To my dismay, on the road, there were stormers upon stormers, especially around the Queen’s Park Savannah. Security was non existent for much of the day. There was a group of girls who were no more than 12 years old who all trampled me in order to chip near truck #3. I am quite petite, and instead of putting up a fight, I just decided to go home. This was my absolute worst experience playing mass. The food (all the way at the back of the band) was horrible…dog rice and cold soya chunks…Lucozade was finished by 10:00 am. My day on Tuesday just kept getting worse and worse. People have had negative things to say about the demographics of Legacy and TRIBE, but my experience with them in the past was certainly much more enjoyable; that’s where there are people with CLASS!!!

On a positive note, I honestly loved the beadwork on my costume, despite the fact I had to alter it myself in the hotel after a mad dash to Samaroos. I will not play with Island People ever again, and for those who choose to, I respect that decision, but I think people should DEMAND that the organizers address certain issues to ensure masqueraders’ safety and comfort- within their control. There will always be hiccups on the road, but Saucy this was definitely not a representation of “island people”, nor the “greatest show on earth”. I am not thinking of getting a refund of any sort (PLEASE!! that ain’t happening). I’m just a very patriotic Trinidadian who lives abroad, and I am ashamed that anyone, especially a foreigner, could experience this in the future. I guess this is my caveat emptor.

I hope that IP can make a greater effort by taking steps such as having costume collection a week earlier, and a designated day for foreign masqueraders. Also, they could hire more persons/cashiers to assist with payment, rather than having so little to handle such a huge crowd, which would obviously stress their staff members out. Try a different security firm. This guard was totally out of line (no pun intended). Finally, I know stormers will storm every band, but this year was totally insane as many times I had to fight for a position to chip in my section against persons who clearly wanted to storm as they please. That is not fair to the person forking out $3295!!!! It’s just not right!!!

Ashamed at IP.

2k9 was the worst carnival for me. I have been a founding member of IP mas b4 it was even IP mas ( from Poison days).

After spending over 3hrs in line when I went to collect my fiance's costume, I was physically assaulted by a SWAT Security guard in the cashiers room in full view of everyone present. THIS IS NOW A POLICE MATTER!!

When you are in section 2 how the f**K they expect you to walk all the way to the back of the band to get food. I still have our food chits from both days.

I played with wings this yr and I had to fight for space on the road as there was many stormers.

When my fiance and I spend almost $8000.00 together on our costumes the least we expect is good f**king service from start to finish.

IP when you advertise something and people pay for that. It is your right to provide all that was advertised, once we pay you our money a Contact is formed!!

Hi Saucy,

I had my first experience with playing with IP. They did not make a very good impression on me, however I had a good time regardless. I played with the section Rays of Light, so I had drama getting my costume in the first place, but when I got it and tried it on, it was perfect in every way. I loved it. I was just a little scared of the experience on Monday and Tuesday because of the horror stories I've heard about them. My friends and I were a bit tardy regarding Mas registration so we didn't get into Tribe who we have played with since their inception, so we decided to give IP a chance.

They got off to an early start, left on time both days which I was happy for. Breakfast, drinks and lunch were delivered on time and as promised. I was satisfied with most of it however, trying to get food along with 100 other ppl from a moving truck is pressure, I hated that experience. I eventually gave up on Monday and went to the snack truck and took a plate (with pies, chicken legs, sandwiches etc.) instead of the food, good thing I had a heavy breakfast. Tuesday was much better even though the rain was a bit annoying, I had no other problems foodwise.

Everything seemed ok to me with the exception of the lack in security and the number of stormers. I also did not know when I crossed the stage as wierd as it may seem. Everyone was all over the place, there was no real sectioning at all. This annoyed me because that is what I really look forward to every year. Also, there was no distinction regarding front and backliners, everyone was together....all the time...even on stage. They prompted masqueraders one or two times but no one listened really. Also, there was no music truck with us on stage, so people practically walked across the stage, while the commentator begged for a music truck for us (sigh).

Overall, I had a good time due to my friends and family playing, however to me the band had no vibe. When I looked at the video done on Izatrini.com, it was clear that IP was just really quiet and docile compared to the other bands.

I can't say I will play with them next year, but we will see how that goes.

Oh, and I attached a picture of me in my costume :)

IP Masquerader.

ISLAND PEOPLE EXPERIENCE 2K9


Ok....So I had paid for my costume by the end of January so I actually got fast tracked but even that woudlnt have mattered on the day I collected my costume. I expected some form of a wait when I reached Monday morning at 4 but I was totally suprised when I reached and in less than 5 minutes I had my costume in hand and was walking out to my car.

I was too too happy!!!

HOWEVER, by Friday when I went with another friend to pick up her costume I was horrified to meet a SUPER long line snaking its way out of the cashier office in the freaking sun no less!!! I managed to walk past the line to try to get a sense of what the pick up counter was looking like and was just as appauled to see that the lines had brocken down and it seemed like a free for all!

I met another friend who had been there long before us and yet was still there and even when he got into the pick up line only got his costume about an hour later! Thankfully my friend who i came with got her costume much faster (because she is very forward and finds ways around things).

While there I did notice a trend of people not being totally happy about their costumes....they either found that the headpiece was smaller or had less feathers.....I was happy I had none of those problems as I had no feathers or head piece for my costume!

What I couldnt understand however was why people waited so long to collect their costumes? I heard that from Monday to Thursday there were very little people there but Friday was a complete mess.

However with our costumes we could then concentrate on the weekend’s parties and looking forward to mas on the road.

I didnt play jouvert so I got up somewhat early and headed out to meet the band....we just missed the opporunity to jump up at the first judging point on the avenue but it was all good. We grabbed drinks and joined right in. We enjoyed ourselves till we got to around globe cinema when we realised that alot of people who we dont think should have been in the band were right in the thick of things. It was the first of many signs that security was a little lax.

We enjoyed ourselves none the less as we chipped to downtown port of spain and it was then it became apparent to me who this band was loyal to me as ‘Wild Ants’ magically appeared on the sound system once we approached the stage even though people were clamouring for some ‘Bachannal’. One of my girlfriends did not care for the song at all and so she did the ‘bad man dance’ everytime it came on (re: standing up with arms folded).

We then quickly went up to charlotte street and we realised food was being served.....problem was that it was being served on the go.....and I mea really on the go. People literally were running after the food truck and we joked it had to have been ‘fast food’. I actually followed some people by standing on one of the rungs of the truck and holding on because it was getting tiring running after a truck just to get food.

We even had to walk and eat as we didnt want to get left behind.

Now, I am not much of a food person during carnival time....a few bites is all i need or care for as i hate to jump up and down with a super full stomach. However I would rather that what little I do consume be tasty and I could not really say that for the food....it was just.....’edible’!

So we then progressed to the ‘savannah stage’ very quickly and and the experience of ‘crossing’ was over all to quickly and before we knew it we were already approaching qrc....and then I realised that the trucks were moving a lil too fast for comfort. We came to a stop once we got to qrc though.....just long enough for us to catch our breath and lie down for about half an hour. We made the mistake to approach the bar which was being swamped with people and i think were being restocked as they had very little of what any of my friends wanted to drink. (No redbull????? What????)

We then made our way back to the stadium just after nightfall and stayed long enough for the trucks to park so that we would have clear path to leave and go home.

Tueday my friends and i woke up early for preparations and pictures but still managed to make it to the stadium later than we would have liked....which resulted in the band once again being gone. We didnt use the shuttle on the Monday but we felt it proudent to this time.....only problem was it was taking its cool time to get there. We walked a little distance and it finally came and we reached to the band just in time for the rain to start pouring on us. We hid for cover as none of us wanted to meet the band already drenched but were very surpised to see the band leaving us well behind not caring that people would have to be drenched to keep up that hour in the morning.

I realise they have a schedule to keep but DAAAYYYUMMM....slow your roll just a tad why dont you? We caught up to them jsut after the second judging point and oddly enough we had a long wait by blode for some unknown reason....and we slowed down again by the library when here was another small downpour.

The biggest blast of rain came however just before the downtown judging point which was a shame because by the time the sun came out and we were crossing people had either discarded there head pieces or they looked god awfull.....I immediately could tell who had either totally managed to hide from the rain or had used fletch powder on their feathers or something just as effective. We still enjoyed ourselves crossing the stage and this time i did see machel on the truck signaling them to run his track. My friends didnt care at this point and danced with ants in our pants all the same......the brainswashing was complete.

We then once again walked in the rain up fredrick street. Lost some friends who refused to walk in the rain but some others managed to get lunch from the lunch truck and some girlfriend of mine took pity on me as i clearly looked hungry and fed me some soggy food.

We were once again held up on park street and on charlotte street for some time. Whe we finally made it to the savannah I realised that the sections were not lined up properly so I took advantage to just run amock and have fun.

However once we passed the ‘savannah stage’ the real problems started....my friends couldnt get anything to eat...real stragglers enetered the band and the trucks in general started moving like if we were in a race for something. We deviated from the route i thought we would take and ended up going to the round about close to elerslie and turning down and then being stuck for sometime crossing by a park....

By that time my friends couldnt take it anymore and left the band to head down to roxy to secure some food of our own but not before we saw one of the band leader themselves trying to usher out stragglers out of the band to no avail. We got food from some venndors and while I wanted to once again rejoin the band my friends decided to wait for the trucks at the stadium to see if they would once again have ann after party. We soon realised this wasnt the case and so we tried to put our tired feet up for a little bit.

20 mins later we tried to leave the stadium only to find a horrible traffic jam and it took 45 mins to get to the highway. It was thoroughly frustrating but we were happy that we had a great time otherwise.

Our costumes didnt have feather and so they held up well even thorughout the rain (cant say the same about my face paint but i cant blame that on island people). The actually glossy material on the waist bands had some wear from all the bummbers that wined on me and my friends but nothing to make us look too shredded.


All in all our experience was a good one.....if our crew was more centered on food we would have been pissed as most of my crew couldnt find food...and there were no snacks seen being shared as it was last year! The liquor situation was good....although at one point i wondered if the bar people could be more accomodating. The security was good on both mornings but i think faltered on both days after the savannah stage but i am now wondering if this is because it is more than they could ever handle....


Island People should see me again next year god spare life!

Dear Island People,

I am writing to express disappointment in my Carnival 2009 experience with you. I will first list the few positive aspects:

1. The online registration process was easy, fast, and efficient.

2. I received professional customer service when I called to ask questions about my costume.

3. The cashier line moved steadily on Carnival Friday even though the line was long.

4. Paramount security was good at keeping masqueraders away from the wheels of the trucks on Monday and Tuesday.


Here are the negatives that put a damper on my Carnival experience:

1.Costume distribution was very disorganized on Carnival Friday. When my fiance and I stood in "line" for over 4 hours to recieve our costumes. I placed quotation marks around the word line because I am unsure if one existed.

2. My costume- Heavenly Sky- only had one feather on left side of the bra when it should have had feathers on both sides. The attendant at the counter insisted that the bra came with feathers on one side only. In other words, part of my costume was missing at collection.

3. My Heavenly Sky headpiece was poorly made. The beads were falling off at collection. A staff member fixed them at the Distribution Center but they fell right off as I was putting on the headpiece on Carnival Tuesday morning. I also attempted to use shoe laces to keep it on my head because the elastic just didnt cut it. The shoe laces were ineffective. I ended up holding the headpiece in my hand for most of the day.

4. When we arrived at the downtown judging point, while security held back my section (Heavenly Sky- Chapter 2) as Paradisus crossed the stage, Dream (Chapter 4 or 5) was allowed to cross ahead of us. When security realized what was happening, Heavenly Sky masqueraders were told to push through Dream to get to the judging area. Unacceptable.

5. The pelau on Monday was cold and tasteless.

6. The food on Tuesday was cold.

7. Non-masqueraders were allowed to order drinks from the bar.

8. Crossing the "stage" at the savannah was a disaster. Non-masqueraders were allowed to jump in the band. Security was no where to be found.

9. The band got separated after the savannah. Truck 1 and 2 continued on the parade route leaving the rest of the band behind. D Krewe passed through our band, confusing many masqueraders. When the remaining trucks finally started moving they sped off resulting in us running after them.

10. The music shut off suddenly and without explanation on the way to the stadium on Tuesday.

Overall, the service I recieved from Island People Mas was below the standards advertised. I will be playing mas with another band next year.