I have to admit that once we reached Bliss at their starting point on New Street yesterday, and saw the banner flanked by what seemed like endless staff in BLISS T shirts and very little masqueraders we were wondering if the intimate experience was even more intimate that we could imagine. Coming from TRIBE seeing a band with so few masqueraders to the front was a bit jarring at first, however we later started seeing more masqueraders infiltrate as we moved quickly towards the Savannah entrance. I am guessing that the traffic to get to New Street plus the fact that many people were having a late start from J’ouvert may have contributed to the feeling that we were practically leading the band ourselves!
Let me tell you, the sight of the Savannah stage looming ahead was the best view on Carnival Monday! We were the first band at the Savannah, so early the barriers were still in place. After a short wait we were primed and ready to go! Bliss Masqueraders christened the Savannah stage for all to come after and we t took full advantage stamping and ramfling it! Note to all masqueraders, before the drinks trucks turn off on Keate Street grab a few bottles of water and fill up your cup with your drink of choice.
After Bliss crossed stage it was en route to the lunch stop, taking a route through St Clair. More people had joined the band at this time but we still had adequate space to actually move without feeling like we were going to bump into another masquerader. This was the BEST experience about Bliss all day! Room to just play your mas!
There were the familiar things about Bliss that remained the hallmark of TRIBE ,the drinks trucks were exactly the same, so too were the drinks on offer, the security detail and of course we stopped for lunch with all the niceties of tents , blankets, clean washrooms and a refreshing area with towelettes, deodorant and the like. In addition we had several lunch options, I am sure I counted about 5 different tents serving a variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian meals.
Having a smaller band meant the rest stop was not crowded, even though looking around you could not exactly say that Bliss was a small band. There were still over 1500 masqueraders out on Monday. The difference is the majority all arrived at the rest stop at the same time which meant we did not have to wait for the other thousands to stream in for hours. I would say the band spent approximately 90 minutes at the rest stop for lunch and then we hit the road at 3:00PM on the dot! While TRIBE was now crossing stage we were jamming down St James.
The music was great after lunch, excellent choices by the DJ. To tell you how perfect the size of Bliss is, I spent the majority of my time at the back of the band on Monday and did not even know it! I had good music, drinks flowing ,friends to hang out with, space to go dung low and best of all NO STROMERS to jostle with… what more do you need for a perfect Carnival Monday ? By the end of the day as we made our way up Mucurapo Road from a distance if you squinted a bit you could always imagine it was TRIBE, but same Vibe.. .different TRIBE! Bring on Carnival Tuesday!
