Hundreds of spectators who went to South Quay, Port-of-Spain, yesterday from noon to see revellers in their costumes were left disappointed for about four hours.
Between 11.30 am and 3.30 pm, just about ten mini bands had made their way past the judging point. And they did so sporadically. Despite the lulls, one thing was certain, Machel Montano's Waiting on the Stage was the song that had the handful of masqueraders' adrenaline pumping in the scorching Carnival Tuesday heat and seemed well on the way to securing him another Vibe CT105FM/TUCO Road March title.
Among some of the bands were Jus Wee and Friends, The Original Jab Jab, Cherish Griffith and Family Mas Band who presented Dis is Mas, and Vintage People who presented Warriors of the Mountain.
So dreary was downtown that even Desperadoes Steel Orchestra, the 2016 Panorama champs, rolled onto South Quay in front of the Ministry of Legal Affairs with no recognition or applause. They were also not playing. However, the announcer, on seeing the band, said, “There’s no way they could come here quiet, quiet so.”
The winning steel orchestra was then greeted with some scant applause from spectators in the stand around 12.23 pm and played for over ten minutes.
The female announcer then said, “There’s no band in sight so don’t move until I say so.”
Police officers were out in their numbers around the area, walking up and down with their batons and guns. Cepep workers also did not delay in cleaning up the streets.
The stand, though not filled to capacity, had young and old onlookers. Some elderly women were seen napping as there was nothing to see at times and only a DJ playing old soca tunes such as Baron's Sweet Soca Man.
Across the road, a few people were lined up outside of Courts; further up by City Gate, people were on the pavement drinking alcohol and waiting.
It was large mas band Ronnie and Caro which finally burst onto the scene around 3.35 pm bringing some energy and life to downtown Port-of-Spain, much to the delight of onlookers.
Blasting Montano's Waiting on the Stage, masqueraders took close to 30 minutes to make it past the judging point. The band portrayed Tears Of... with sections such as Rage, Happiness, Pride and A Lady.