Tribe ICE gets the fetes started

Partygoers came out in their numbers for the first large fete of the 2011 Carnival season held last Saturday at the car park of Jenny’s on the Boulevard, Port-of-Spain. Mas band Tribe’s Insane Cooler Experience (ICE) attracted thousands carrying their coolers which doubled as storage for cold drinks and platforms for several ladies who displayed their wining skills atop the iceboxes.
Several popular artistes performed but it was Benjai (Rodney Le Blanc) who stole the show with his performance on the night. He came out singing one of his older songs, “By the Bar” and teased the audience several times by declaring his performance was finished before he began singing, “Wine to the Side,” one of his two hits for the 2011 season. His second song, “Trini,” had the audience singing and declaring that the song is one of the strong contenders for the Road March title.
Kees Dieffenthaller took to the stage first to the cheers and screams of the audience. Backed by the DJ, he sang some of his old and new songs, including his popular 2010 offerings, “Wotless” and “Ah Thing” which he sang with Kerwyn Dubois.
He was followed by TC who hyped the crowd up with “Speakerbox” but they went wild when Shal Marshal took to the stage to perform, “MotoBike,” both songs off the Flagship Rhythm. Both artistes borrowed from other soca singers including Iwer George and Machel Montano before Shal was joined by Screws to sing their 2010 hit, “Police.”