Spending all day at Vinoy Park and then hitting the Pretty Girls Fete on Day 1, left the team very exhausted, some more than others. But today, we're off to fresh start ... it's Day 2 of the Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival, and after enjoying the Latin flavor yesterday, we were looking forward to the Soca and Reggae action in store.

Today is going be a long day. Not only is there the festival and concert in the park, but it's also the Parade of Bands aka 'The Road Jump Up’. It was announced yesterday that the bands would assemble at 10AM and the parade would start at 1PM, so we figured we'll be good if we arrive just in time for the start of the parade. Now, from what JoyJuice told us based on his past experience, we have to reach on time because this is one of the smaller carnival's, so there aren't many bands and the route is pretty short.

We arrived on location around 12:15PM, and most of the bands were still assembling. The first band had a huge float that looked like a Pirate Ship; this is Tampa Bay after all. The biggest (and best sounding) band on the day was Shottaz (powered by Powerline Sounds HD), a t-shirt band who you could tell had done this carnival business before as they were all setup and ready to go early o'clock. They even found a way to extend the jump up for their masqueraders by making a circle before heading down the parade route. There were maybe about 10 bands in total, including a Tassa (T&T Sweet Tassa) and Steelband (New Generation Branches). It was also nice to see individuals in large carnival costumes, not affiliated with any particular band, enjoying the road. After the short trip into Vinoy Park, there was actually a judging point for all the bands. A temporary platform was erected in front the main stage, so all bands got to ‘cross de stage’ for spectators. And you know once it have a stage, it will have masqueraders having a good time being on display that don't want to come off!!

Photos By Andre C.Q. & Collin Mc.
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With the parade wrapping up at about 3PM, the second half of Day 2 kicked off with performances by the likes of Terry Gajraj & the Supertones band, Juliette Mills and Leon Coldero & Code 868. The final two acts were headliners in their own right - Bajan Soca Queen Alison Hinds and international dancehall superstar Sean Paul - attracting an even larger audience than last year's Sunday concert.

Alison showed why she is one of the most favored artists throughout the entire Caribbean, performing all of her hits ("Carnival Baby", "Iron Bazodee", "Roll It Gyal", "Soca In Meh Vein") and even blessing the Tampa Bay crowd with a taste of her recent release with raggae artist Richie Spice titled "King & Queen". Some lucky female fans were serenaded by her Trinidadian bass player as the band introduced classic song "Faluma", and one lucky male fan even got a chance to match his wining skills with the "Obsessive Winer".

By the time Sean Paul took the stage, darkness had fallen on Vinoy Park and the crowd was crammed as close to the stage (that the barricades would allow), and trust us ... they were trying to get closer. "LL Sean Paul" should be his new name. His arrival backstage was greeted with much fanfare, matched only by his entrance on stage ... crowd gone wild!!! He then spent the better part of an hour taking the audience on a musical journey through all his hits backed by his full band (including Coppershot Sound) and dancers. The vibe was going real nice, so much so, that not even the police (who showed up to end the show at 10pm) could stop it. Thanks to his determination to give the people a complete show (and some smooth talking from SP's manager), Sean Paul was able to hold off the police and squeeze out his last song for the night, ending off an electric show and enjoyable weekend.

Party McFly

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Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival 2009 Day 2 - Road Parade
Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival 2009 Day 1