By Chaos, Freelance Writer 
A male patron took up Square One's Alison Hinds on her invitation to whine or "don't waste my time" at Wednesday night's Bacchanal Avalanche Party. It took place at Mas Camp Village, Oxford Road, St. Andrew. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
WHEN THE Gleaner arrived at Mas Camp for Digicel's Bacchanal Tropical Avalanche party at almost midnight on Wednesday Square One was on stage, having recently been introduced by MCs Francois St. Juste and Abie B. The group was in full flow with that ubiquitous Carnival staple, Biting Insects. Alison Hinds was poured into a pair of black tights and a tiny white tube top that did wonders in just staying attached to her body as she and the rest of the band jumped, waved and wined, inducing the large crowd on-hand to do the same.
As usual, the segment of the crowd at front obeyed every instruction with abandon, often threatening bodily damage to those around them. The 'frontrunners' were adorned with beads and Digicel headbands and dressed in everything from short shorts and tiny tops to, in one instance, an evening dress.
Those at the back were a bit more relaxed, content to drink and watch the goings-on. There were relatively few couples, with people intent of having a good time in the best way they knew how. For example, one of those human equivalents of the Energiser Bunny, formally known as Trinidadians, was in constant motion, directing traffic left and right with Allison Hinds during a rendition of Run while, oddly enough, staying in place and wining, her hand atop her much taller boyfriend's head.
REAL SNOW A 'NO SHOW'
Unfortunately for some, perhaps, the 'real snow' advertised was a no show. A couple of attempts at what appeared to be snowmen were at spots in the venue, made out of crushed or dry ice. There was a stall with three cut-outs of snowmen and a trough with crushed/dry ice which patrons could scoop out and throw at the snowmen or use for cooling down. Closer to the entrance of Mas Camp was a structure that could be taken for an ice sculpture in it was embedded a translucent glass block with the Digicel logo lit up by a backlight.
However, the snow or lack thereof did not seem to matter to the patrons, who kept doing their thing as Square One did theirs. The band, by the way, spent almost as much time promoting the Jokers Wild J'Ouvert today as it spent singing. After a while they were joined by Trinidad's current Road March song winner Nyah George, who customised his winning song, Trinidad, for the mainly Jamaican crowd. But that was not before he asked "Anybody from Trinidad?" This sent the diminutive Tricia, the Energiser Bunny mentioned earlier, into paroxysms of physical gestures that defied description. Nyah George then proceeded to pit the left and right sides of the audience against each other in an effort to see who could jump and wave the wilder. Both sides participated with abandon before George finally called the contest a draw.
A few songs later Square One, which had been performing non-stop without letting their energy drop even a notch, finally handed over the reins to Renaissance Disco. Delano and friends immediately changed the tempo with a few lines of Damian and Stephen Marley's hit, featuring Yami Bolo, Still Searching, which met with general approval from the crowd -- to put it mildly. They then went through a medley of hits, including One Minute Man, Shake Your Ass, Party Up In Here, songs from the Nine Night rhythm, a Log On remix and Position, as well as the soca remix of TOK's Chi Chi Man.
Cellular phones were presented to a man and woman who had the most beads, which they wore around their necks, turning them into something one might see on a documentary about African tribal dress. This effectively brought the party to an end, as people started to stream out of Mas Camp at around 1:30 a.m. Renaissance played until the slated 2 a.m. end.
