Mas Band Saturday Night Mash Up
Two Different Approaches For The Saturday night Battle of the Bands
By Stephen Weir Photographs by Stephen Weir
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| Jully Black from reggae singer to Soca sailor |
In the business of Mas, the
winners and losers of a Battle of the Bands, is ultimately not determined by
the number of people that attended (in which case Jamaal won hands down) but
rather by the number of costume buyers who decide to sign on the bottom line as
a result of the fashion show. The
Revellers won at the gate, and Fantazia had the most social media cameras
beaming their pictures to the world.
Fantazia was the first band to
claim the Saturday nighttime slot.
Apparently the Revellers had to go on the same night because of the
Toronto Raptor’s playing schedule. Magloire, in addition to running the Mas
Camp, is also the Raptors Assistant Coach, Player Development Consultant & Community Ambassador, and with the club in a playoff drive, April 6th was the
only night available to him.
To accommodate die-hard mas fans
(myself included) the start times of the shows were adjusted to allow people to
catch both launches. The Revellers
launched ended before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, and Fantazia’s launch show started
at about 40-minutes later (an hour later that formally announced.)
Jamaal Magloire was the big man
on the stage and he started it all by making a point of reminding audiences
that The Revellers are the people’s band. It was all the right people on the
York Mills Gallery stage and in the crowded hall that the people wanted to see.
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| Revellers: Art of the Blur |
There was a show stopping
reggae / R&B star – Jully Black - on
stage modelling mas for the first time in her life. Pan Fantasy, Canada’s top steel pan orchestra
was playing in the wings, and the VIP section had a mix of name recognition
Raptor brass and TV personalities.
A fleet of food trucks ringed the
building - so much so that there was
briefly a price war for corn soup. I got
a $5 container for half-price as I dashed out halfway through The Revellers
Show to make it to Fantazia’s launch at Cinnamon Banquet Hall on McNicoll.
“ Jamaal and I grew up together. I am proud of my Jane Finch roots and of
course Caribana but you know, because of my career I have never been able to
take part,” Jully Black told the Caribbean Camera just before she went on
stage. “When Jamaal asked me to play mas I instantly said yes, for the young
Jully Black who struggled with body image issues and for the 247 Women who are
members of my Women and Girls empowerment initiative.”
Magloire added, “Jully did such a
wonderful job headlining my charity event last month, that I asked her to join
me on stage. She represents everything that my masquerade band stands for:
strength, confidence, inclusiveness, beauty and fun, especially with her (own
community initiatives).
After years of performing across
North America, the Caribbean and Europe there were no butterflies for the Juno
award winning singer songwriter. Black
is a tall person, and with high wings and heels she towered over the diminutive
guest emcee Akil Augustine (NBA TV Host) when she first appeared on stage
sending over 1,000 ticket holders into a clapping frenzy!
Black and the costumes were
beautiful. The theme of the band this
year was Treasure Island, so models in 15 Sections wore pirates and tropical
inspired outfits. All the men and women
were a photographer’s dream; well rehearsed they made a point of pausing in all
directions to give professionals and selfie takers get the best shots.
If there was any complaint, it
was that the event was too successful.
There were so many people jammed into the hall it was difficult to see
the costumes on stage unless you were lucky enough to score ringside VIP
tickets. The Revellers did live-stream
the show on Instagram, which attracted viewers both from the back of the hall
to people at home (and also by the media waiting to cover the Fantazia show).
Fantazia had originally planned
to start their stage show at 12.30 am but they held it for an hour to
accommodate latecomers from the Revellers’ show. They had expected to get 600 people through
the door, but, even with a post-midnight push, their overall target did not
appear to have been reached.
What made the Fantazia show
noteworthy was in the set-up of the stage and the model routines. This was one of the most accessible costume
launches on record.
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| Fantazia stage show |
The big pluses were the sight
lines – you got a good close up view of the models no matter where you stood in
the hall and ticket holders were encourage to stand close-up to the stage. Will and his wife Lisa probably realized that
personal Facebook postings and Instagram onsite photographs will sell more
costumes than live shows. I estimate
there were 200 people taking-up close cell phone photos and videos of the 11
sections who strutted on the catwalk..
“ We had 75 models on
stage; men and women of all shapes and sizes,” Michelle Brazier the stage
manager of the launch told the Caribbean Camera.
“ In terms of the Caribbean
cultural, our appeal is that we are very diverse. We are from all over, Trinidad, St. Vincent,
the Bahamas, St Kitts and Nevis. Wherever you are from, you will find
friends here!”
In 2009 when Will and Lisa Morton
formed Fantazia, they designed all of the costumes. This year almost half of
the sections featured their costumes, the rest of the sections are lead by
longtime members of Fantazia.
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| Fantazia Stage Show |
In this the 10th anniversary year
for Fantasia they are marking the milestone with the theme Rebirth and have
adopted a fiery Phoenix bird for its logo.
Many of the costumes were riffs on some of the most popular costumes
from years’ gone by.
It had to be some sort of Mas
record. The biggest shock of the evening – a 9-year girl created one section’s
costume designs – and yes her designs got the loudest cheers early Monday
morning.
Caribbean Camera
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