Starlift – de best of Vincy Mas 2017

Alas! Lickle Two-K-Owe, SVG’s No 1 Vagrant, got ah clean hair-cut, ah good scrubbing, ah shave, powder, perfume, co-loan, and Flow T-shirt, socks and sneakers, den appeared bright and early Tuesday morning foh judging and won King ah de Vagrants foh Mardi Gras!

Ah was telling Lie-Za dat de very first designs foh de reclamation site included ah Performing Arts Centre, ah foot-path on the sea-front, wid ah line of trees. So dey’s still hope foh Lickle Two-K-Owe.

Vincy Mas 2017 came and pass and de Carnival Pathologists will do de necessary post mortem, mek recommend-dey-shun, but come 2018, it would be déjà vu. Wid de exception of de Junior Kaiso Competition, ah watched it all fom ah distance… at home in front de TV and de Radio. Ah gather dat de attendances continue to diminish and maybe everything could now be moved to and judged at Lickle Two-K-Owe.

Sion Hill Euphonium was first to perform at Panorama, man dey sounded like de clear winners until, Starlift, who immediately followed, came out wid ah ‘bone in dey throat!’ It was not only de best I have heard Starlift, but it was de Best Performance foh de Festival dis year! What do yuh give ah Band dat has kept their part of de bargain, keeping ‘Vincy Mas’ alive foh de last ‘Fifty Years’ widout interruption. In SVG we give dem ‘de Billy Button Awe-ward.’ Errol ‘Starlift’ Sutherland’s personal financial contribution to his ‘Navel String’ throughout those ‘Fifty Years’ would be close to ah million dollars… Dat’s not Labour of Love, dat is Love of Pan!

Ah heard some very clean, crisp brass music from the Police Band during de Calypso Shows. Inspector Hall is doing ah good job aiming and getting nothing but perfection from his Band. Ah uses to feel like most Kaiso Pundits, dat SVG was second to T’n’T in Kaiso. I now have to go back to de drawing board. Dis year Fire Empress won de Monarchy here in SVG. Four months ago she won a battle wid de Organisers in T’n’T and got into de Finals in Trinidad. She came in 15th out ah 15, actually dat’s last! But here at home on Sunday night, she sang de two same songs dat she delivered in T’n’T, and guess what? She came first. Mind yuh, ah great performance. She can now return to Trinidad and show off her Crown and sing her song foh dem T’nT Grudges. “Hope is Alive”, dey must come to Vincy Land and learn how to grudge Kaiso. Having said dat, my Kiaso Monarch dis year is “De Man CP!” He was not only de Guest Artiste foh de Dimanche Gras Show, but de Best Kaisonian on stage Sunday Night. CP is indeed ah great Kaisonian, Number one in Christmas Parang and has won quite ah few Vincy Mas Kaiso Crowns in his day.

But my Ole Mas Individual of and foh de Year is none other dan Minister Cess. He appeared covered wid numerous Tea bags, placard hanging round his neck dat marked: “Doc Fry-day look Yuh Ah-Count-Ah-Bill-Ah-Tea.” Lie-Za say Cess better don’t give Doc Fry-dey all de “Ah-count-ah-Bill-ah-Tea”, hold back some foh when de Director of Audit come to Ass-Cess de records of de Charter Flights foh de opening of de Argyle Airport.

Kingstown looked like de ole Carnival City again wid all de returning Vincies from de Die-us-poorer. Come again and remember, wid de new Airport dey can now take back as much cold Red Ju-c as dey want. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy