Post Carnival Recap - Part 2 (Holy Shit Sunday)

(yes I realize this is more than a month overdue......my bad) 

Sunday May 26th I decided I was going to sleep in because shit, I'm not a facking cyborg, I'd been partying since Thursday, fuck.

I mean think about it, I'd seen Bunji at Anti-Stush on Thursday, went to GBM Showcase Friday night, spent most of Saturday at the parade and Carnival Village then went straight to Kooler Fete. Somewhere along the line, I had developed a pressing and very compelling need to sleep. 

As a result I was a no-show at Sunday Morning Breakfast Fete and Unity Festival but hey, shit happens. On the plus side, I'd gained enough rest to prepare me for an epic final night of partying. On the schedule was Peachfest with Machel and Mr. Vegas, Wear White and one or two breakfast parties to choose from. 


Peachfest - Machel Montano, Farmer Nappy, Mr. Vegas, Burning Flames, Talpree, Edwin Yearwood, Pumpa, Lavaman..........all for $45?! Stop playing.

The fete was good, Machel is one hell of a performer, Mr. Vegas did his thing too. As a matter of fact, the quality of this one singular event brought into stark relief, the blatant failings of just about every other party I'd been to up to that point. Yes the lines were long, yes half the advertised artistes didn't perform and for all that is good and holy in this world, why do they keep cutting Machel's performances short? It would help if concerts of this calibre are held outside the geographical boundaries of the City of Atlanta and it's infuriating laws that prevent partying past breakfast. (3:00 a.m. actually)

But aside from the usual complaints, Peachfest was an otherwise very well organized and extremely well produced concert (*cough by Caribbean standards of *cough course). Apart from the main bar, there were mini-bars spread throughout the venue negating the need to backtrack too far for libations. The sound set-up was top notch so either the building's acoustics were spot on or the sound engineer was a magician; no complaints to be had about faulty microphones or odd sounding speakers. 

pictured.........a complete, total lack of giving a fuck. 

But all good things must come to an end, by 4 a.m. security busied themselves kicking our collective asses out the building. Thank goodness Wear White was still jumping and folks still had a good hour and thirty minutes to jam until even the white party had to shut down. But it's at this point, I tent to admire the resilience of my Caribbean people and their determination to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment from a circumstance.

Determined to not let a party end without a fight, some enterprising young ladies pulled up in the car park outside Golden Glide (where Wear White was held), turned up some soca, somebody whipped out a conch shell, an iron somehow found it's way and before long, Wear White - The Parking Lot Edition, was in full effect. I mean people were out there jamming HARD. I've come to learn that we Caribbean people have no behaviour when alcohol and soca is involved.

Believe it or not, even after the after after party, the crew still managed to make it to a 3rd fete that night morning.

Atlanta 2013 from a strictly partying perspective, was one of the best years I've experienced so far. For the first time in memory, Atlanta played host to most of the biggest names in soca helping to firmly establish the city as a viable carnival destination.

Atlanta 2013 from a festival perspective, left much to be desired. The band leaders association needs to get its act together and figure out what isn't working. The issues with the parade route, the worrying conditions at the Carnival Village, the crappy official Carnival events that nobody went to, the lost 501(c)3 non-profit status, the unpaid prize monies.....get it together guys.

Though Atlanta has improved, it has a long way to go before it can truly be compared to the likes of Miami or New York but I'm proud to say we seem to be moving in the right direction.

DTJ out.....peace.