Category: Crop Over

Baje Int’l Kadooment Day 2018

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In my Mole voice “Do Dixie now landddd…AYEE AYYYE AYEEE AYEEE”

After 3 years away I returned to Baje International.

Registration

I’m gonna be real. I had no intention of jumping this year. I was seriously out of it after a bad experience last year and a low key Carnival. Then suddenly, a small vibe hit me and I went with a friend to check out the costumes.

Honestly,  I feel like this was probably the best customer service I’ve received at a band house ever because we asked questions for an hour. Tried on several samples of costumes and even if she was annoyed, Dawnya Serrao, it did not show at all. I left after choosing the F. L. Y backline.

Distribution 

I saw the distribution schedule on Instagram and drove to the band house where, in literally 5 minutes my payment was verified, I was shown the costume and received it.

I definitely have to mention Cheryl Alleyne, whose hospitality I have experienced on Limerz Cruise, who made sure that I was satisfied with everything before leaving.

Cheryl Alleyne of Baje International

When I tried the costume at home I realized the clasp for the golden chain on the bra was missing I took it back for an exchange no problem at all. Again, thank you to Cheryl who was on a fete and took the time out to call and make sure someone at the band house handled the minor problem with the costume.

Costume

I really miss the extraness of frontline but the F.L.Y backline was hella blingy and extra even without feathers and your basic Backline Betty accessories. I loved it. The golden chain popped in Station Hill but since the bra fit fabulously this was not even a concern. Popped that shit off and kept feteing.

F.L.Y Backline by Dawnya Serrao.

Road Experience

Breakfast

Ya girl was late and for the first time ever I met the band outside of the stadium so I can’t help yuh there. I drank prosecco for breakfast.

Vibes

Praise Kadooment Yeshua, praise Her name because this was exactly what I needed this Crop Over.

Best *clap* jump *clap* in *clap* years *clap*

We didn’t run down the road.

There were drinks all day.

Nobody was getting on stush and stupid.

Extremely happy down Spring Garden

Security

Ain’t see a straggler yet!

Music

A harn purcent soca. Yassss!

Tl;dr Here’s my cash Baje. Take it for next year.

Xhosa Barbados Launch 2018: Circle of Life

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*stares in wine hangover*

*stares in sore quads and glutes*

*stares in bashment*

Once again Xhosa Barbados’ launch was lit. 

At this point, I could just copy and paste last year’s review but what fun would that be?

– Parking.

Lol the parking attendant by the Stadium has to be the most nonchalant being I have ever met and that’s saying something considering I spent two hours by myself with cats that didn’t know me in my friend’s house.

That aside, the parking area was definitely secured and close to the venue.

– Venue.

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Love the stage set up

This is my first time going to the NCC Botanical Gardens. Honestly, didn’t even know it existed. The walk to the venue was super dark and since it was in a natural setting the ground undulated (check me using all my Common Entrance words) so patrons had to take care where they were stepping. I loved the set up of the stage which enabled more patrons to see the costumes up close and to get decent photos.

-Vibes.

White girl bend over

Actual photo of me doing a 6:15. I’m 35…I am not throwing out my back to contort myself in a 6:30

The above is all you need to know.

-Drinks.

Didn’t bother to check the bar because I had a bottle of Apothic Red.

-Presentation of costumes.

Circle of Life and Xhosa came through with the goddesses (Ceres), death (Reaper) and aspects of the natural world (Lignum Vitae). I really enjoyed the sections and making the connection to the theme.

The presentation started with some West African dance and then came the costumes which were really beautiful, there was even some thought behind the men’s costumes, but definitely, there were some crowd faves.

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Love this mesh get up. Phoenix Option B, led by Punchy Punch and designed by Keisha Als.

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I would probably fight someone to be in any of the options for this section, Aja. Designed by Humzee and led by Richard Rollocks

View the all of the costumes here.

-Models.

Xhosa does the right thing by using dancers as models because the hype is always there on stage.

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Aisha Commisiong wearing the shit out of Christian Boucaud designed Ari.

COLOUR AND BODY DIVERSITY.

There was a good mix of skin tones and body types on the stage. Xhosa set the trend with this years ago and I’m pleased to see it was not a one-off situation.

I had a great time and I hope Xhosa continues in this vein for their road experience this year.

* Do Dixie is affiliated with no band or business for Crop Over. I do run Juck Down, a 12- week women-only training program designed to make women Crop Over sexy and do dixie on the road during the season (and yes this is a completely shameless plug)*

Krave The Band Launch 2018

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I’ve been busy this past weekend attending all these launches for your (and mostly my) gratification so let’s get straight into it.

Venue

Fiddlewood Park was so cold.Yes, yes I know spring is taking for ever to come and there’s a snowstorm and blah, blah, blah! It’s relative and it was cold for Bim.Other than that it was quite spacious and there was room for patrons to dance and socialize.

KFC Pop Down Bucket

Most pop down bucket of chicken I’ve ever seen

Parking

It was well lit and there were really helpful parking attendants who made sure there was no double parking etc.

Drinks

I’ll spare y’all my usual diatribe about my fave liquor. There was free rum, vodka and beer and if left up to their own devices the Heineken girls would have built a fortress of canned Heineken around you the way they were giving out those beers.

Vibes

This was a fete where the vibe built as the night went on. There was a mix of dancehall and soca and at this point I just not gonna fight that particular battle anymore.Motto from St. Lucia performed but I think at that point people were more interested in the costumes to come so he didn’t get too much of a response. I left before Lil Natty and Thunda and Iwer performed because…a girl is old.

Presentation of costumes

Beating their previous record of unveiling costumes at 1:06 a.m. Krave blessed us with this year’s presentation at 2:31 a.m.

Their theme was “Year of the Savage”. I was really interested to see how they would portray this as this could easily be seen as referencing indigenous peoples negatively. Nomenclature aside it was a brilliant and innovative depiction of the clothing used by indigenous peoples all over the world. Each costume incorporated elements of the cultures, mostly through prints and accessories, while giving you the Krave extraness and bling.

I’m here for it. All of the costumes were effing beautiful.

Mesoa

If I had to pick a fave, Mesoa which paid homage to Mesoamerican (Central American) cultures, would be it. Here we have all variations of the costume (Low key sound like I on National Geographic nuh)

Iskaba

Iskaba section.Yass come through and honour West African cultures Krave come through. I love this so much.

Tracy Boyce and company slayed the designs again this year.

Models

Flawless as usual.

Mix of nationalities as usual.

Vibes as usual.

C’est tout.

Krave launched their 5th-anniversary band in grand style and can’t wait to see them on the road.

* I am affiliated with no band or business for Crop Over. I’m just a complete Crop Over lover who runs  Juck Down Bootcamp, which helps people to improve their fitness to do dixie on the road during the season (and yes that is a complete and shameless plug)*

Erup Band Launch 2018: Hidden Treasures

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I missed Khepri Kulture’s launch cuz I old and pop down but somehow I managed to stay awake long enough to attend Erup’s Launch at George Washington House.

Parking

When I arrived there weren’t many patrons so parking was easy. As usual with this particular venue, people park along the Garrison Savannah whilst trying their best not to impede the customers of the business women and men who work there.

Venue

George Washington House is a hit or miss venue for me. It’s nice if you don’t have a large number of people because it gets hot very quickly.  The stage took up most of the space in the venue but that was a good thing, I think because we were able to see the details of the costumes easily from the crowd.

Drinks

Wunna tired of me and gin yet?

^^ Rhetorical question

The bar was pretty decent especially the Stoli cocktail bar which gave you gummy worms in your drink.The bartenders were awesome and even modified my cocktail to accommodate my allergies.

Vibes

Man, look, de ting was dead and I don’t even feel like it was for lack of trying.

Big Red-

*TURN AROUND FOR BIG REDDDDDD TOUCHHH YUH TOESS FUHHH BIG REDDDD*

I real sorry but my love for that dibby classic knows no bounds and I will stop anywhere I am to sing and dance to it.

But I digress.

Big Red and the other DJs were awesome and played some really good sets but the crowd just wasn’t into it. Level with me man. Elections got wunna? De economy got wunna? Wunna get horn?

Nick Young confused

But also I won a bottle of champagne because I knew the theme of last year’s band. I pulled up the blog on my phone and found the name. Y’all should probably bookmark this site if you want to win tings too.

Presentation of costumes

The theme this year was “Hidden Treasures”.

I want Erup to give a master class on theme portrayal because they always execute.This year they scaled back on the drama and theatrics of last year and said “huh! tekk dese  costumes. Like dem and guh home.”

The female costumes were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. I think they really took a step back from their male costume designs this year which is a big disappointment for me tbh.

I have two strong favourites (butmy pics sucked more than usual so I’m linking to their Instagram for you.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhqAgNwl3Kx/?taken-by=eruptheband

White Diamonds had me gagging!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhp9V7ylnz1/?taken-by=eruptheband

HEL-LO Ametrine!!

You can keep up to date on their Instagram page here.

Models

To quote fellow blogger Luke Lascaris ” What I learned tonight is that a bad bitch turns 18 every day”. Lemme tell you the way I cackled. Lmao

He’s right though. There were so many fresh faces at the launch. They danced, they strutted and brought an energy to the stage. I thought it was smart to put the darker models in costumes that made their skin pop and it made the costume come alive.

* Do Dixie is affiliated with no band or business for Crop Over. I do run Juck Down, a 12- week women only training program designed to make women Crop Over sexy and do dixie on the road during the season (and yes this is a completely shameless plug)*

Zulu Int’l 2018: Hidden In the Stars

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Wunna.

Wunna!

Um is me.

I’m back to review your fave bands and some of the ones you love to hate as well. After a lacklustre Trini Carnival experience due to illness, I’m dying for some diamantes, feathers and aspirational bodies back in my life.

So here we are with Zulu leading the pack once again by launching early as France. I’ve been busy with work so the launch almost caught me unawares but wunna know there is no stopping the dibby.

PARKING

My buddy, Paula, and I arrived around 5 pm to the venue which enabled us to get a decent parking spot (or so I thought because when I left my car was covered in bird shit ugh). Even though there is limited parking available it worked because Zulu management capped the number of launch patrons this year so there wasn’t any double parking or anything to make yuh fling up yuh skirts and carry on.  The parking attendants were super polite and even parked some people’s cars for them.

VENUE

Queen’s Park.

I have not been to the park since I gave up going on Christmas morning with my grandmother (God rest her calypso loving soul). I think this venue was boss because there is a lot of Barbadiana attached to it. If you haven’t been to fairs, primary school sports, Agrofest or parading your Xmas outfit there then you’re either not Bajan or were very sheltered. There was a cool breeze the entire time and it was just plain old nice to be somewhere different for a change.

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DRINKS

No gin.

But I’ve accepted my fate as an alcohol pariah and I’ve learned to lower my expectations and there will never be any gin when I go to fetes.

After being searched at the door, which I was glad for cuz there are just too many mad ass people out there, we were given a chit for a complimentary drink. I thought that was great especially since the launch was free.

I can’t comment on the prices of the drinks because I’m cutting back on my alcohol consumption and just had the one drink.

VIBES

So Zulu tried something different this year and I think it worked. They opted for a smaller crowd with a more intimate setting. They experimented with limited patrons, in a more intimate setting at the legendary Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre.  Despite the very late start, the vibe was appropriate for the setting.m I didn’t come expecting to pooch back and fling my braids around but I did expect to be entertained and they delivered on that.

COSTUMES

Hidden In The Stars  is this year’s theme. I came in expecting costumes depicting the signs of the zodiac but what we got was just as interesting. Most of the costumes were named after celestial bodies, space expeditions and solar systems. Each section was preceded by an explanation/ skit by Simon Alleyne. The nerd in me really appreciated that.

The costumes were…nice. Just nice. Kind of like having a vegan brownie when you really wanted to have a ridiculous one covered in fudge and cheesecake. I didn’t have that “Oh gawdddd I must have that” moment once during the presentation. The main designer was David Dewer, with other designs by Natalie Fonrose of Fonrose The Brand, Kat Gittens and Janiece Springer.

The male costumes…lmao…night sky board shorts in different colours but the guys who jump with Zulu are usually into the juck downs and not the aesthetic anyway so I guess it’s ok.

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Aurora- Northern Lights would definitely be an option for me if I decide to jump with Zulu. Love this cut out monokini style.

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Milky Way Frontline by Fonrose. I knew this was her work without being told. Definitely her aesthetic and my first choice for Zulu.

 

You can view all of the costumes on Zulu’s Facebook page

MODELS

As usual, Zulu gets high ratings for their models.

I got my entire life from the models. First of all, they don’t take themselves too seriously and aren’t strutting on stage like they are the next Jourdan Dunn (not shitting on anyone’s dreams btw.

The male models were very entertaing and showed us what the bar was for Zulu revellers i.e ripped bodies and stiff jucks.

 

Nandi Yard was, again one, of my faves this year.

 

You ever heard of winning the genetic lottery? Well, the mother-daughter team of Rose Hategekimana and Mutamuliza Cutting won it like 4 times. Flawless.

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Rose’s melanin popping so damn severely *insert longest yass ever*

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Mutamuliza wearing her costume flawlessly.

I do have one caveat though…it would have been great to have plus-sized models as well.

*Disclaimer (cuz people love to run dem mout): Do Dixie is affiliated with no band or business for Crop Over. I do run Juck Down, a 12- week women-only training program designed to make women Crop Over sexy and do dixie on the road during the season (and yes this is a completely shameless plug)*