Carnival Monday began with a yawn at several judging points yesterday. It featured a disorganised, lifeless showing from large band Tribe at the Lord Kitchener Stand, South Quay, Port of Spain.
By Julien Neaves and Kimberly MackhanThe parade started half an hour later than its scheduled 11 a.m. with Tribe's Ole Time Something Come back Again.
Masqueraders in the various sections were confusingly intermingled and, while a few were chipping and wining, many of them walked past the National Carnival Commission and Downtown judging points.
Police were out in their numbers patrolling the section, including a full showing from police attached to the Port of Spain City Corporation.
Tribe was followed a half an hour later by mini-band Something's out there: Into the New Dimension, then another gap before large band Pulse 8's presentation Cocktails: You Shake We Stir.
The 1,500-member band was energetic and organised in its sections and was led by its queen Ann Marie Quamie-Alleyne in "Manzanilla Sling in La Boucan", a bright aquamarine blue and yellow peacock costume with a large champagne glass.
At the Piccadilly on the Greens judging point, Brian McFarlane's India, with more than 3,000 masqueraders, danced and pranced in sea of white, showing off their "jumbie" moves to the judges.
The steelbands were the first to cross this judging point, followed by a number of traditional and small bands. It was 12 noon at the Queen's Park south judging point when the first band, Trini Revellers, kicked off the celebration there with its presentation, The French Revolution.
Hundreds of people in The Royalty section of the band took to the streets as the revelry got under way, jumping to Shurwayne Winchester's "Open The Gate".
Last year, Trini Revellers won with Rome, the Empire and the year before it copped the Band of the Year award with Arabian Nights.
Most of the bands that crossed the judging point area did so in under half an hour, but there were mostly vacant seats in the viewing area near the Princes Building grounds and around the Queen's Park south area. -with reporting by Rohandra John
