Spice 2011 Review

In 2010, I played with Tribe, but to be absolutely honest, I chose Spice because some of my friends couldn’t get into Tribe and we all wanted to play together. We had the option of going with Yuma, but being that it was a brand new band I wasn’t exactly sure how organized or prepared they may have been. I know it’s silly of me to depend on the band to make my carnival experience, but I’m a bit anal when it comes to knowing that I’m in good hands and jumping with a group that knows what they’re doing. With that said, you should know that I was extremely skeptical when my friends and I booked with Spice especially after all the horrendous reviews they received last year and more importantly after having the Tribe experience in 2010--I was afraid I would be doing much comparison on the road. When booking, I took a huge gulp and assumed that Spice learned their lesson and would be better this year.

Here are my thoughts:

Registration: A+

My group and I chose to go with the section Vines of Syrah. There were 5 of us (all from overseas) and it wasn’t hard for any of us to purchase online. We paid the deposit down and later on in the year paid off the rest in full by calling Spice directly to make a payment. The girl I spoke to was very helpful. She took my account and credit card information down to which I received an email that same day with my new invoice that showed a zero balance.

We also got a huge deduction off of our Hilton hotel stay when we mentioned that we were playing in Spice. That was a huge plus for us as everyone knows Carnival can get pretty expensive. Any little discounts can be a great help, so thank you for that!

Costume Distribution: A-

We didn’t pick up our costume on the day our section was being distributed simply because we hadn’t yet arrived into Trinidad. We arrived at the Hilton on Saturday and even though it wasn’t our pick up date, Spice members were more than helpful with getting us our costume. The wait for costume pick up was a little long (we waited for an hour) but a busy day like Saturday they still managed to get through with everyone as quickly as possible. My only irk about the day of costume pick up was that there was a huge line at the costume adjustment center with only 2 or 3 girls working slowly—that took me another hour just to get my costume fixed. Some of the jewels were falling off, nothing major but I should have known better to bring my own glue gun and crazy glue.

Costume: B+

We all played backline and though we loved absolutely everything about our costume, we thought the headpiece didn’t compliment the rest of the costume as it should have. While other sections in the band complained that their head piece was too heavy, I felt like ours was a bit too small OR could have had a little more ‘pizzazz’ to it.

Carnival Monday: A

Spice’s meet up time was scheduled for 9:00 AM but we met with them around 11 because from our past experience we knew that although the bands expect you to meet up a lot earlier; you never cross the stage until a few hours after. Especially after this year with the new Stage, we were almost sure there was going to be a bottleneck wait. We couldn’t have met up with the band at a more perfect time, because only about half an hour later and we were crossing the stage. The rest of the day went flawless. My friends and I had too much fun on the road. The drinks were pouring, the music was on point and people were looking fine!

Carnival Tuesday: B-

The meet up time was 6:00 AM. Wayyyy too early boy. We didn’t show up until 8:30 because again, we knew that nothing ever leaves on time. Crossing that stage and roaming free for all to see is the best experience ever! But the meet up time isn’t the reason for the B- grade. Here’s why:

Later that afternoon, the DJ’s made the announcements for us to get in our sections for the judging point. They did a good job repeating a couple of times that we needed to find our section. So we get into our section, but where’ the DJ truck now?? At this point I was a bit inebriated so my timing is off, it could have been an hour or two but all I know is that I was one of the last 3 sections in the band (I believe it was Bordeaux, Vines and Tuscany at the back) and absolutely no music for a long period of time! WTH? We crossed the judging point and didn’t even know we crossed it because there wasn’t any music. We marched on the synergy stage to yup..no music again. Can you tell me how this happened? After we were free to move around from our section we went behind the DJ Lenox truck, but to not have music while crossing the judging point or to not even tell us we’re crossing should be a HUGE carnival Taboo. Please fix this next year Spice. One thing I should mention-- met a few Spice members on the road who were really REALLY nice to ask us if we were having a good time and if there was anything they could have done to make the experience better (Think it was Sandra, she was wearing the pink costume). I was highly impressed with that and if no other bands are doing that, then please take note other bands.

Food and Drinks: A

I was happy with both the food selection and the drinks on the road. The lines at lunch weren’t long at all and the food was really tasty. On Monday I went with Italian which was delish and on Tuesday went with the international cuisine which consisted of chicken and rice.The drinks truck hooked up my cup with lots of liquor and no issues of running out…well, I should say they didn’t run out of what I was drinking—Hennessy.

Suggestions:

1. I would like to see Spice host an after party on Carnival Monday and/or Tuesday.

2. It was nice crossing next to Tribe at the end of the evening. As one of the DJ’s said that night, this was the first time in History bypassing another band. I well wine up with some Tribe masqueraders while chipping and it felt like a unity as opposed to a competition. I would like to see that again next year.

Rooms for improvement:

WeeWee Truck: D

There were no attendants on the truck to ensure that the toilets were kept clean. There was literally one man there just making sure that you were getting on and off the truck in a safe manner, but there were barely any tissues to wipe your hand and no amenities/refreshments for the ladies. It was really dark in the stalls where I couldn’t see anything, and there was urine all around the toilet seat and on the floor. Spice, this can’t happen—it stunk really badly--hundreds of drunk people on de road, they will aim and miss. All I ask is for a little cleanup help or at least a light in the stalls to see what we doing.

Adjustment center: B-

I gotta give credit to how patient these fix-it girls were when dealing with vexation from falling jewels or too big costumes. After waiting for close to an hour to get help, I have to admit they did a good job with fixing whatever issues I had. I’d just like to suggest more helpers on busy days such as Saturday and Sundays since nobody want spend their afternoon waiting on line to fix their costumes. J

Music trucks at judging point: F

This was something I already touched base on, but it has to be said again. You just can’t leave the last 3 sections hanging like that without music, especially when crossing the judging point. It hurts to give a bad grade but I’m confident that Spice will overcome this hiccup next year.

Security: C

I felt as if the security could have done a better job. There were times where I saw on lookers in our crowd, with no spice wristband but yet the security did nothing about it, or just didn’t even notice. Spice security, you guys need to be on top just a little more! I felt they didn’t even know how to handle the ropes? My head almost got taken off until my friend moved me out of the way quickly. At one point, the DJ even made an announcement directed to the security that they needed to do their jobs. If the DJ have to tell you that, then you know something wrong.

In conclusion

I had an amazing time with Spice and I'd definitely play with them again. I didn’t feel as if we were overcrowded or jamming up on the person next to us. We all had our own space on the road and it felt great. I had an incredibly amazing time with Tribe last year, but after playing with Spice this year, I learned that I’m not one for extremely large amounts of people on the road as I loved the space and pace of this band. There are still certain things that need improvement (as I’ve mentioned above) but they are very necessary improvements to make the band better. Overall, I will give Spice an A- and wish them the best for 2012 and beyond!