Pulse 8 Review

Carnival Tuesday with Pulse 8

by

Voluptuous Masquerader

Costume – although my section was not initially my first choice, I think Pulse 8’s production team did an excellent job with my costume. Since my bra is a hard to fit size, I had a custom made tankini with a bra built right into it. I must say I was quite pleased with the fit and comfort of my tankini, which in past years has proven to be a problem for me. And if the girls are not comfortable on the road, it can kill a carnival experience for a top heavy woman. I was very comfortable on the road and my girls stayed in place and did not knock me out as jumped up. With the exception of one diamante falling off my bra, I found the costume to be well constructed and stayed intact all day.

( My bra )

Food and Drinks – Due to a stomach bug which found me quite shaky and unable to hold down any food on Monday, I did not partake of the food on the road on Tuesday. My husband, not one to let food go to waste, was on the scene to take up my slack. There were sandwiches, fruits, and doubles available for breakfast on Tuesday. Throughout the course of the day, I saw an array of foods being served on trays by young men and women. From what appeared to be Chinese chicken wings, curried chicken breast chunks, geera meat (was not sure if it was pork or chicken), and all manner of preserves from red peppered mango to salt prunes, and tamarind balls, there seemed to be quite an assortment, which were eagerly devoured by the people in my crew. Lunch was served kind of late in the day after we crossed the stage in the savannah, but no one appeared to be starving since the snacks has been plentiful. The band took a rest in Siegert Square, which was nice and clean. There were tents, tables, and chairs set upm in addition to the regular park benches. Although there were not enough to accomodate the entire band, I thought this was a nice touch. There was also a “sober station” for those who needed to take a pause from the alcohol frenzy. The sober station provided, water, soft drinks, fruit juices, and maltas. There was also a make up refreshing station complete with lightening and mirrors. The food was served from tents and there was a choice of BBQ, Creole, Chinese, and Vegetarian. My husband took both of our chits to get in line, while my friend and I found a nice shady spot. Hubby returned promptly, so there was no long wait in lines. He had decided on BBQ, and deemed the Chicken, rice, lentil, salad, and macaroni pie washed down with a Malta to be quite tasty and satisfying.

(Band resting in Seigert Square)

From a tea totallers perspective, I can attest that the bar was very good. It was never overly crowned, except for when they announced the drink trucks would leave us at the savannah so we could cross the stage. At this time, everyone made a mad rush to the trucks to get their last bottle of water, drink of rum, etc before crossing the stage. Outside of this occasion, the drinks truck was very accessible with no pushing and shoving to wet your whistle. Being that I was operating on a sick stomach, I only partook of water and ginger ale on the road. Also, throughout the day as the cutters and snacks were being served, there were also what appeared to be “shots” being offered on trays as well. I saw what looked like jello shots, to what I know where tequila shots, because my friends were happily sucking those down every time a tray passed their way. LOL. In addition to the drinks trucks, there was a cart which was being pushed by men between the first and second music trucks. From what I could observe, this was for the really hard drinkers. I saw a lot of coconut water being mixed with what looked like the hard stuff like Black Label.

( Drinks Truck - )

Music - There were 3 DJ Trucks which I think was a great number for a band of Pulse 8’s size. There was an estimated 1500-1800 Masqueraders in the band on Carnival Tuesday. The first Truck was DJ Switch, The second truck was Richard Simply Smooth, and I think there were several different DJ’s, whose names I cannot remember, bringing up the rear on the third truck. Each DJ had a slightly different style, and since this was a “roam whey ya want” band, a person could take their pick of what they wanted to hear. They had Oscar B on one of trucks to hype the crowd. I think he is a local DJ from Tobago. He kept the crowd hyped and entertained, especially his fascination with Chinese men. We had a “wine a Chinee Man” session where he encouraged women to jump out of the band onto the side walks and grab a chinee man to wine on. That was super fun. That poor lil Chinese man I backed back on could not have looked more shell shocked if Michelle Obama had come to take a wine on him. LOL. Right as we were crossing the stage, Oscar B spotted a young Chinese man in the crowd on the side who was pelting waist in a major way. They bought this young man up on the truck, nicknamed him “Chinee Machel” and let him put on a wining show of his very own, which not only got the masqueraders in a great mood full of laughs, but encouraged us to get on even badder that we already were.

(Dj Truck - )

Customer Service - Due to a little glitch with me arriving into Trinidad so late, at the beginning of the route, I was without s head piece, which I was told would be delivered to me first thing Tuesday morning. Now I have heard that Meg Cheekes, the owner of Pulse 8, is the raging control freak. Well let me say this… Big up to the raging control freaks, because her reportedly anal ways certainly paid off for the masqueraders who played in this band. My first contact with Ms. Cheekes came as I saw her walking through the band with the head piece from my section in her hand as if she was looking for someone. I walked up to her and asked was that head piece for me. Once I identified her, she apologized and told me she was hand delivering this head piece herself. That was a very nice touch. Throughout the course of the day, I saw this woman everywhere… from directing traffic with the vehicle management team, to yanking on a rope with the rope pullers, to serving on the drinks trucks, and buffin up security guys who were not as alert as she felt they needed to be. But this direct involvement by the boss lady apparently paid off, because from food distribution to security, everything ran quite smoothly.

( Meg Cheekes - )

Security – In a nutshell…. Excellent! I felt very safe. Security was very nice and polite to the masqueraders, but very no nonsense when it came to doing their jobs. There was on incident where a man who not a masquerader and was quite inebriated refused to leave the band. I think security must have had a two count rule. Twice, they asked him very politely to step outside of the rope. He proceeded to give trouble and a lot of smart talk. Without second thought, security quite nicely and quietly “tossed” him over the rope without disturbing the jammishness that was taking place amongst the masqueraders.

( Bouncers and Rope Pullers)

Additional Services - There was a well stocked ambulance to the back of the band in case anyone fell ill, and they also provided basic first aide for bumps and bruised that people got while on the road. One of the guys from my party got a scrape on his finger, and they cleaned it up and put a band aide on it and sent him on his way. There was also the “weak-knee” truck, which was an air conditioned limo bus that traveled with the band. That was a nice touch

Overall – I had a great time in Pulse 8. Even though I was kind of green around the gills on Monday and just barely plugged along, Tuesday was a stellar day for me in every sense of the word. The age range of the masqueraders was very diverse, and so were the winin styles. My eyes experienced everything from the down and dirty crotch in your face wine, to the more stoosh types giving very polite social wines, and everything in between. There was something for everyone in this band, and from the teenager to the grandma. If one is looking for good customer service, safety, and above all else a dam good time, then Pulse 8 should be a viable option when you do your carnival shopping for 2010. Pulse 8 gets 2 thumbs up!!

( General Pics of Masqueraders on the Road)