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Wave your hanky in the air like you just don’t care!

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The Afterword is back! Time for a party!

At this moment, on the other side of the Atlantic, some of the best parties on the planet are happening.

Yesterday, it being Pancake Day, Mardi Gras and Carnival, we had a thread on the music from those amazing celebrations over on The Lifeboat. I was particularly chuffed at finding this wonderful clip of soca star Super Blue performing in front of an ecstatic Caribbean crowd. It captures the atmosphere perfectly. I love the strongmen in their swimming trunks and the guy on stilts.

But can you imagine a crowd of 10,000 Afterworders all jumping up and down waving their hankies like madmen? Or can you imagine yourself wearing a bejewelled thong, pasties and a large feather head dress?

Some things just don’t travel very well however hard you try. There is a samba troupe here in Stockholm. The girls are gorgeous, they have beautiful outfits and the music is great. But somehow, when you are freezing and covered in goosebumps, it’s a little difficult to let Bacchanalian abandon take over.

Any other examples of cultural events which do not travel well?

Anybody here been to Mardi Gras or Carnival?

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Comments

  2. I am reminded of a dear friend of mine who assured me that Carnival would be “shit”.

    The sole basis for this judgement was “I’ve been to Notting Hill and that was rubbish”.

  3. Talking of Carnival, I shouldn’t forget the Venetian version. It looks like a far more sedate affair than Rio. Then again, it’s a lot chillier.

    When we were in Venice this summer there was Vivaldi playing everywhere. I wonder if they have a slightly more raucous party music too. Somehow I doubt it.

  4. Good point Bingo. For most Brits, Carnival is Notting Hill, which I’ve had little experience of.

    If I went to Brazil at Carnival time, I’d want to go and see the celebrations in a smaller town. Rio sounds far too OTT. Same goes for the Caribbean. A smaller island would be much more enjoyable.

  5. Been to New Orleans many times but never for Mardi Gras. Done the hanky wave at hunners of Irma Thomas gigs though. (Happy birthday today to the Queen BTW).

  6. How does it work with that hanky waving Jorrox? I presume one does not use the snot rag one has been snuffling into but rather has a special waving hanky. Does Irma sell these at her merch table perchance?

    I will add a track by the queen to my carnival playlist.

    • The hankies, I believe, are an indoor gig alternative to brollys. Miss Irma hands out the paper tissues herself. I now do the same thing with my NOLA band over here.

  11. Probably already on the list (can’t see the Spotify Playlist for some reason).
    Alan Price Set – Don’t Stop The Carnival

    (Dig that affected Jamaican accent – is that still allowed in these days of rampant PC-ness?)

  16. There are enormous similarities between the Mardi Gras Indians and the samba schools of Rio. Both are very rooted in the local community and spend all year making costumes and rehearsing for the Carnival week.

    When I was in Rio many years ago I visited a samba school rehearsal and it was an amazing joyous noise they made. One guy with a little guitar and about thirty others bashing away on the drums.

    http://www.greatbrazilianmusic.com/samba.html

  17. A few years ago we were fortunate to experience the colour and kicking sounds of the Tobago Carnival in the capital, Scarborough. Supposedly the smaller brother of the Trinidad Carnival it was none the less stunning in the sheer detail and vibrancy of the costumes, the volume of the sounds and enthusiasm of the participants. Unfortunately, we had been warned not to linger after dark so arranged a taxi to take us back to the hotel at 7pm when things were just warming up. Another time maybe.

    By contrast I’ve just returned from a beer festival in Chelmsford where the local Morris troupe were happily bashing sticks and waving hankies. Party on.

  18. That must have been amazing Phil. Scarborough! Unusual name for he Caribbean.

    Now for some classic New Orleans party music. Featuring the Neville Brothers and The Wild Tchoupitoulas, both of whom have quite a few references to the “Indian” culture in their songs.

  20. Phil’s reference to the Trininad and Tobago Carnival made me look for a clip.

    Jinkies! These girls are NSFW. I can’t really imagine anyone in Scarborough, England dressing like this.

  21. It would be remiss of me to, um, miss this chance to play a clip of the Cologne carnival – carefully crafted floats, often with a satiric message; countless lines of marching bands; Napoleonic troops throwing cheap sweets at the waiting crowds, all dressed for the cold northern European winter with a clown outfit or animal costume or afro wig on top. An opportunity for Rhinelanders to get pissed and probably get lucky, the surrounding hospitals will be reading the maternity ward for the regular carnival baby boom in 9 months time
    Cologne Carnival 2010 Rose Monday Parade: http://youtu.be/TXAMEmfdgeE

  22. Brilliant! Thanks for re-dressing the balance a bit. Europeans can have fun too.

    Some of those floats were amazing and reminded me of the Fallas in Valencia and also takes place in February.

    There’s even a Spanish lesson thrown in for you!

  25. Down here in Somerset, Carnival is very big, but takes place in November. Large floats, covered in lightbulbs trundle through the streets of Bridgwater, and other towns nearby. Two types of float – one where everyone jigs around to a tune, and one where they all stand still. Rigidly defined themes (it seems) of pirates, circuses, robots, and the wild west. If, like me, you are Carnival-negative blood group and find the whole thing utterly underwhelming, you keep that opinion to yourself and wait for it to blow over for another year.

  27. Thanks GCU and Cheshire. Glad to hear about your enthusiasm for hanky waving CC!

    Here, from Ivrea nea Turin, is another lively Shrove Tuesday tradition: The Battle of the Oranges.

    Colourful and rather sticky by the looks of things.

  28. In Haiti, the equivalent to the samba schools and the NOLA Indians is rara music.

    That’s a pretty extraordinary noise they make. Very primal. This clip looks like it was recorded during an outage!

  29. A little more rara music. Not as slick as other carnivals perhaps but it looks as though they are having a lot of fun,

    And surely this must be an AW first? Two geezers on horseback playing trombones!

  35. The Wild Tchoupitoulas album is excellent, but a band who seem to be comprised of the Meters and the Neville Brothers are always going to be good. The first album by another Injun tribe, the Wild Magnolias, is a funk classic.

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