SXM* Carnival
Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Sun 2 Mar 2014 17:16
The following day, having carefully checked the date, we went ashore for the Calypso Concert. Have a think what you might expect from that title before reading on. Now we are getting used to Caribbean timings in that they don't generally start early, which tends to conflict with our running out of energy by about 9.30, and so, after finding out where the venue was from a lady at the taxi rank, we walked the short distance to it. Perhaps we should have been prepared by her strange look when we told her where we were going on what was to unfold. In the end it was easy to find guided by the loud music we could hear and the massed ranks of the Security Guards patrolling the nearly empty car park outside. The venue for our Calypso Concert was formed from a line of containers along one side which opened into the middle and contained a variety of stalls selling drinks and popcorn, with "home made" stalls (all dressed up in carnival mode with brightly coloured material bows, feathers, masks and glitter!) on the opposite side, again selling drinks, but also a great variety of barbecues. The two short sides consisted of security fencing with some building block toilets, sorry "rest rooms", and another container which served as the ticket office. The centre area was concreted with wooden posts supporting bright floodlights and a central stage featured at one end with DJ Respect doing his stuff when we arrived.
We should have been more prepared when we arrived and saw that tickets for the following nights Miss Elegant Plus Size competition were $15 in advance and $20 on the night, when we were charged $2 each for our nights "entertainment". Wrists duly stamped with a pretty tree in red we walked through the security barrier to be confronted by a completely empty "stadium" save for those working on the stalls and a considerable number of local police who seemed to be checking out the catering arrangements with a high degree of enthusiasm and a rather uncomfortable familiarity with most of those present. Having completed a quick circuit of the stadium to check out the possibilities for our libation we decided on the stall that appeared to have put the most effort into its external decoration. It did not appear to be serving food, but we had already eaten, and the price for a Carib (the local beer) and a fruit punch was only $3 which is very good, so we were pleased that we we not being overcharged at such a prestigious venue, and the young (very) lady that served us was eager to please.
The time was just after 8 o'clock in the evening and we endured the "music" of DJ Respect, who seemed to have the knack of being really irritating (especially with his over use of a fog horn) until 9 o'clock, when the MC mercifully announced that the live entertainment would be "starting in a few minutes". These were obviously Caribbean minutes, as nothing had changed by 9.30, by which time we were beginning despair that we would ever hear any Calypso. The audience had swelled considerably by then though, mainly police reinforcements as the food was obviously good, but also a number of families with children, non of whom were over 14 or 15, but some of the very young girls were very good dancers and some of the toddlers were already demonstrating an genetic inheritance of the Caribbean sense of rhythm.
At last at 9.45 the first act came on at the same time as we realised, with sinking hearts, what we had payed our 2 dollars for, a talent (I use the word loosely) competition. The first act was a Rap performer who couldn't remember his words and went on roughly 5 songs too many (he performed 5) and the second was two girls doing a dance routine whilst "singing". By then it was well past our bedtime and a unanimous decision was taken to make a strategic withdrawal and cut our losses. It should be said firstly that neither of us has anything against talent competitions (we've both sat through many in our times as teachers!) but felt as though this has been mis sold as we heard no music that could remotely be described as "Calypso" for the rest of the evening as the sound carried out across Marigot Bay for the adulation of dozens of anchored yachts who hadn't paid their 2 dollars. Secondly our music tastes are pretty eclectic, as anyone who has heard our iPod on shuffle will testify, but the music we heard on the Calypso Concert was all from a computer and definitely not our idea of calypso!
Sarah would also like to mention that she was not the person with the whitest skin there! A young (although Sarah did not think he was young) man entered the stadium early on, wearing tight blue short, shorts with grey socks and sand shoes, a white t shirt and carrying a large leather motor cycle pannier and crash helmet, which he deposited behind one of the stall counters after being warmly greeted by the staff. The helmet was then purloined by one of the youngsters who then wandered around with it half on his head for the rest of the night proudly showing off the 'Harley' logo. He (the man) seemed very uncomfortable as he wandered around, cooly drinking a bottle of still water. Sarah identified a teacher and probably a head teacher in his manner. (Did he reminder her of a particular type?) How he could be so white working in the Caribbean? Sarah has a theory of course which I am not going to divulge.
Our disappointment at the nights events was tempered by the knowledge that the following day we were off to Mahi beech again to meet up with Boddas, one of Darrell's ex colleagues from Bellingham who was in the Caribbean on a cruise and wanted to experience the Sunset Bar.
*SXM is the local airport denominator and has been adopted locally for many things to do with St Martins.