Hi Saucy!

This was my first year visiting Trinidad and playing mas. I can say that my experience with Evolution (Fetish section) was a VERY pleasant one, as I was very nervous going to a different place and not really knowing what to expect, especially since I paid so much of my hard earned money. The leaders of the band were quite organized as far as costume pickup was concerned and everyone was extremely nice to us. One thing I can't stand is POOR customer service and thankfully we weren't met with any of this on the entire trip. It didn't take us very long at all to pick up our costumes--About 45 minutes for all 5 of us.

I can't express how pleased I was that I wasn't greeted with attitudes and the like
during my ENTIRE 7 day stay experience in Trinidad. Shynelle and Quentin of Evolution did a wonderful job of keeping in contact with us mainland masqueraders, reassuring us that every detail would be taken care of...and it was. We initially wanted to play with Island People but I think it was a blessing that the band was sold out by the time we made our deposits, because I have not been hearing good things about IP masqueraders' experiences.

My costume was SO beautiful, albeit a little big, but nothing that safety pins and a little nipping and tucking couldn’t fix. Too big is always a fit. I was so excited I wanted to wear my headpiece to bed—but my friends forbade me hahaha. Security for the most part did what they were supposed to be doing. The bathroom truck was very convenient (although individuals not in the band were sometimes allowed on) and for the most part the people serving drinks did what they were supposed to do (except for one lady who was very rude and took the time to sit and smoke a cigarette and roll her eyes at us while the masqueraders were requesting drinks).

Lunch on Carnival Monday didn't arrive until about 7pm...which was a bit disconcerting. On Carnival Tuesday, the trucks couldn't decide where they wanted to go, towards the end of the route. I also felt a little unsafe when the stormers decided to come in between the ropes towards the end of Carnival Tuesday...But by then we were exhausted anyway so we were just ready to go home lol. One can't expect perfection and overall...everything worked out well. I would definitely play with Evolution again.

All in all, my first mas experience was a wonderful one and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday with such wonderful friends, great treatment, and the welcoming spirit of Trinidad :) BTW the moleskin saved my LIFE lol. I will definitely be back next year and the years to come. I can't believe I waited this long!!!

Sincerely,
VI Boricua

From 16 to 15................Missing Evolution Section

Can anyone shed light on why THIS section "Eden's Lust" by Jamilla Jeffrey is now missing from Evolution's website?

Flaunt Your Taste....

Last evening I had the pleasure of being invited to Henessy's Flaunt Your Taste, held at the Seacrets Lounge, aboard the Ocean Pearl, Pier II Chaguaramas. Flaunt Your Taste is a party series which will be held on the last Saturday of each month , starting September 27th, at Seacrets. Part of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the St Mary's Orphanage in Tacarigua.

In addition to the "movers and shakers" flaunting their style, were Evolution costumes on display:

I have to say I am liking "Crystal Seduction", upclose the frontline version looked nice AND that featherd collar looks QUITE familiar... like the monokini, feathered collar seems to be the costume accessory of Carnival 2009; remember Evolution was the first to launch!

We had to pause from the complimentary Henessey cocktails to learn more about the event and concept of Flaunt Your Taste:



Spice were represented......



Erotic Bondage also looked better upclose, though I did lke this one initially at the launch:



My thoughts on Fleur de Tease, however, still remain.... no further comments:









Evolution's website is now fully up and running with prices, so check them out!!

Carnival Band Launches Without Calypso Music

The following article appeared in yesterday's Trinidad Guardian; it does not show up online, hence the reason I had to scan it for your reading pleasure!

Click on photo
for large view

Evolution's Website is up...

Check out the section names with professional pics:

click on pic below to be taken to website

Evolution fails to tempt with Temptations.....

Evolution kicked off the Trinidad Carnival 2009 band launch season last night with their presentation “Temptations” at Club Zen. After that showing of costumes Evolution need not have rushed to earn distinction of launching first as the costumes need much more work to compete with the caliber of other costumes I have seen for 2009 thus far!

I am still in shock as to what the designers behind Evolution were thinking putting together these 16 sections; with the exception of a few costumes that are fairly decent, the rest are a blur of tinseled, garishly decorated, stingily beaded, horribly matched colours!! The white costume inexplicably has a tuft of feathers sticking out the butt not to mention one section saw life LAST YEAR at Caribana as “Lion Tamers”; they replicated the exact same costume! This is a huge, huge disappointment following Evolution’s 2008 debut which saw some very attractive costume offerings; the hopes of masqueraders expecting even more spectacular costumes for 2009 have been trampled upon by the new crop of designers.

Regrettably I do not have the names of the sections as curiously there were no booklets being distributed up until the time I left. The costumes I like are the very first section on stage led by Shenelle (the emerald green one) and also the third section on stage (the blue with black.). From there the costumes got progressively worse in design until I saw that last section and words failed me.

Tell me, are you Tempted???

please click on any of the photos for a larger view:

Carnival Nationz Lion Tamers,
Caribana 2007

Maybe Curtis needs to take a page from Caribana, again, and go back to the drawing board, making some changes like what was done with "Treasure Island"; however please do not confuse Trinidad's Carnival with Caribana (where these costumes would fit in nicely actually) Evolution is playing with the big guns now, this is no time for small time mas!