Mas Band Saturday Night Mash Up


Two Different Approaches For The Saturday night Battle of the Bands

By Stephen Weir Photographs by Stephen Weir 
Jully Black from reggae singer to Soca sailor
Two Mas Men went head-to-head on Saturday night and both came out winners, each in their own way.  A pair of Caribbean Carnival Band launches were held on the same night – one in North Toronto and the other in Malvern.   The two band leaders  - Raptor celeb Jamaal Magloire (Toronto Revellers) and Will Morton (Fantazia) took two different approaches to showing off the costumes that their bands will be wearing on the road this summer.
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.
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.
Fantazia stage show
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.
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.
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.
Fantazia’s Mas camp is located at 3895 McNicoll only a few doors away from the CinnamonBanquet Hall. It will open later this month, as well; the band will have costume pick-ups available in Hamilton, Brampton and mid-town Toronto.






Caribbean Camera

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