I played with Ronnie and Caro; it was their first year playing as a large band. They were previously a medium band.
From the beginning the band was disorganized. Picking up my costume should have been easy but when I arrived at the mas camp my costume wasn't there. They claimed to have called all frontliners to notify them of the delay but I guess they missed my number and the other 10 people or so who showed up while I was there.
I missed Monday mas because I got home from Jouvet at 3pm...lol. But my sister and friend went; they said it was also a disorganized mess. People were not lined up nicely for lunch and they were pushing through the crowd etc.
Tuesday: There was no shuttle service to the band. The band was supposed to leave at 6:30am. We got there late (8am) and masqueraders were still just standing around independence square. By the time we got there we got what was left of breakfast (bake and cheese or ham), the bake and salt fish was finished.
We only had two drinks trucks and one weewee truck. At one point the line to the weewee truck was so long my friend and I walked through Port of Spain and found a bar, bought drinks so we could use their bathroom. When we previously used the weewee truck they had people there to hold your headpiece and give you soap and towels.
When we were going through Port of Spain the music and vibes were nice. Security sort of let people in and out of the band. I was supposed to have a liaison to get my drinks for me since I was frontline but she was useless. Only got me water once. I got my own drinks for the day.
Around 12 noon we lined up by the savannah to cross the stage and we didn't cross the stage until 6-6:30pm that evening. While we were waiting to cross the stage. We had no food, drinks or weewee truck.....a complete disaster. What added to this was no body in the band directed us to the drinks/food. The band leaders kept telling us to line up and get in our sections. Being stuck in line to cross the stage was the worst. Had I known it would have taken that long I would have left and went back. Instead I listened to the band leaders and kept waiting.
After we crossed the stage we went to the savannah for lunch...which was actually dinner. We had tents set up for every section and you went to that tent to get food. There was only one choice. Chicken, lo mein and rice. There were no blankets, I was so tired and fed up I just sat on the grass. Then after 1/2 hour....they started announcing that we would be moving in 10 minutes!!! At that point, me and the group I was with gave up. We just ate and left.
And the question everyone asks "why did I play with Ronnie and Caro?" My friends daughter played with them last year when they were still a medium band and they were pretty good. I guess being a medium band and a large band is very different. I will never play mas with Ronnie and Caro ever again.
KJ
