Bliss Review # 2

Saucy , i see you were the only one to put a review of Bliss, so here's my 2c on it, from a male perspective!

Friends of mine in Tribe were a bit disappointed in my choice this year, but it's gonna be Bliss again next year. DEFINITELY! They stood by their word and provided the Tribe experience in a much more intimate setting!

(I'm going to abuse exclamation marks here, but just can't help it)

Service

Excellent service all-round. Costume collection was a breeze on Sunday (less than 20 mins...I mean, come on!) Friday on the other hand was a zoo, but that's to be expected. At least the venue was awesome! Email response was same day (wow!) and was even followed up with phone calls (double wow!) to alert about any possible delays with costume collection and registration. Smiles all around and generally approachable persons in all sections of officials from registration to las lap.

Costumes

This was the first time that i felt that we got some quality and thought into the guys costumes. Pelé was simple, but effective. Everything moved well and stayed well into Tuesday. It was also strange to see that most guys actually wore, and many continued to wear their headpieces throughout the day...says something positive about design right?  For the girls though, looks like there were some batches of defective glue as rhinestones just fell from a side! Pelé and Iroquois(Tribe) were clearly related, but they both looked REALLY good out on the road.

Drinks

Bar wait time was negligible with the exception of turning onto the last stage. Other than that, staff was friendly and eager to get you a drink! Drinks were strong by default, but not so much that you went into shock. We appreciated that :)

Food

Food was awesome! We hit the lunch area at 12 on the dot both days, variety was excellent and the food was fresh and hot!

The food venue could benefit from some more tents (as Saucy mentioned) and the big tree from our regular Tribe stop was definitely missed. The guys were feeling the heat on Tuesday, but the girls were dyin' in that sun! P.S. That panadol station was a godsend. Woke up with fever on Tuesday morning and the vanity station (/panadol tent) made the rest of the day happen!

Music

Truck 2 held it down! Having said that, René in Truck 1 had the best quality sound for sure. That truck was like a fete on itself as you could hear it clearly from a mile away, though I agree with Saucy on the mix at times. Some nice back in times, but 2 was the clear winner on the mix and the hype. Sachy proved to be a good hype man. We were having such a great time up front we barely even heard Private Ryan & Truck 3 until the after party.  Speaking of after party, Tribe, you are the bomb. Now THAT was an after party!!!

Route

I had to run from the car to meet the band already in the Savannah when we really didn't think that we were late but hey, at least we weren't waiting for hours in the hot sun in the middle of the day. They made a few cuts, but we flowwwwwed all day long! It was a bit sad to miss the rest of the Savannah as we had some friends waiting on the rest of that route, but if it meant keeping the mood up, boy it sure worked. That WASA truck wet down on Mucurapo Road made the day complete! :)

Security

We had our own personal security..lol. ell, not really, but it sure felt like that. Really great service, and security kept any undesirables at bay. Most importantly, they faded into the background when the fun was on.

People

I too was really worried about the possibility of a totally "stush" crowd. It was clear that few people made it in time to cross the stage on Monday morning. It felt a bit scarce. Stuck with our crew early Monday, but by lunchtime, it was business as usual ;) Beautiful faces, and just a good ole bram. From a purely male perspective, there was no shortage of beautiful, fun-loving women at all...lol

Any conservatives that were left over from Monday just let loose by Tuesday though, let me tell you! Tuesday sealed off any fears as we the Tribe vibe was in full swing; jamishness was in full effect.

That Jamaican posse was large and lovin' it!

Wish-list for 2012

1) Don't increase the size of the band. At least, don't cross 3000... Please!

2) Please get some performances. I can still clearly remember the surprise performances of  Tribe from the very first year that i played mas with them after switching from Island People. Even last year, when quality music was scarce, we got JW &  Blaze on the road.

That's the one thing missing; the cake's missing that icing. Get some performances back to Tribe and Bliss please!

3) Get some more tents into the lunch area. LARGE, like the huge red bull tents. Oh, and maybe a description of what's in each food tent. That way there isn't a sea of harassment to find out "wha yuh get dey boy?"

4) Remember what your clientele is for Bliss. You need at least one rest truck for the band. I also didn't see any "wee wee" trucks, but i could have just missed it as i was in the middle most of the days.

5) The male headpieces for Pelé and Amazonia actually stayed on and flowed...maybe there's something to be learnt here.Please remember that guys pay for a costume too. Nice to see some useful detail on us this year instead of what usually feels like cardboard on the chest...

6) Keep up the good work!

~agundaba~