I love Soca music, there is no doubt about it.
From as early as December I had assembled the majority of my Soca collection for 2007 (maybe that was the first mistake). I've listened to most of them over and over, but unfortunately the 2007 collection does not compare to Soca 2006. Last year, the music was so wicked. Band of the Year, 3 Mile, Scandalous, and not to mention Roll it Gyal were among a list of energetic hits with satisfying sounds. I still love my Best of Soca 2006 CD to death.
Anyway, I figured that a few Fridays at Mas Camp would help me get excited about the new music. So on Friday I went. Unfortunately, the music did not quite satisfy my musical urges. It was funny to watch, actually, as the crowd jumped and waved when older songs were played, and became very suddenly subdued any time the DJ played a new tune. I hope as the season goes on and people get use to the songs, their (our) enthusiasm will increase.
That however was only a small part of my problem. There's a fundamental difference between a Soca fete and a Dancehall party- at any good Dancehall event, the same song will never be played twice; at a Soca party, the you're likely to hear many songs at least 3 times. It never was a real problem for me before Friday night, but I took a step back and watched people behave like a crowd of brainwashed lab-rats- from relative calm, everybody would jump out of their pants when Dead or Alive (or any other popular song) hit the speakers, even if it's played 15 times. And I thought to myself, 'This is a tad silly!' And that feeling alone was enough to dampen my vibe a bit.
So now I'm not sure I'll be back at Mas Camp before the stage performance weeks come around. I will, however, continue to enjoy my music from the convenience of my computer and home system.
5 comments:
LOL. And you aint seen nothing yet. Hype songs are hype, no matter how many times for the night you hear it. Case in point: NY Panorama 2005. They play the original song for the song that the band is going to perform over and over until they set up and are ready. As a result, the crowd heard 'Dead or Alive' literally more than 15 times for the night, many of them back to back... and that still never stopped one person from dancing and jumping up to it the whole night long. Sigh. Yup, I love soca.
soca meh.. not a fan.
I too have noticed that soca fetes tend to play over the same songs a few times during the night.
I guess as thier repertoire grows over the years there will be more music to play
The issue isn't so much a lack of music. The real issue is, since Soca has a seasonal appeal, when a new season comes around DJs tend to highlight the hit songs of that season. Soca music in general isn't in short supply.
Don't be fooled by the inadequacy of the D.J.s you have heard at mas camp. They are not fit to play soca properly. In my opinion they are LAZEEEEEEEEEE.Just as with dancehall there are a million and one songs ffrom later and current years to pull from, the same is true for soca. If they would do their research before coming to the fete same as they do for dancehall there would be no problem.
Went to see Alison Hinds last week, she's the only person who can get me attending mas camp these days.
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