By NATHELIE TAYLOR, Staff Reporter AT APPROXIMATELY 3:30 A.M., after one too many CD scratches, definitely too much liquor and throbbing feet begging for rest, the innocent in the crowd thought it was time to go home. But the veterans only laughed. They knew what was coming; one of the best after-parties of any party for any year was about to unfold on the streets of New Kingston and it was not to be missed.
The Jokers Wild Road March began shortly before 4 a.m. with a large gathering following happily behind the big truck. With wicked soca and raunchy dancehall spewing from the Renaissance turntables, and DJ Kurt Riley's loud dancing instructions accompanying song after song, the wild jokers claimed the streets as their own. Inhibitions were stomped into the asphalt and caution thrown to the wind, well at least to the crisp morning air, as patrons continued being their utterly bad selves for more than two hours on the road.
But it wasn't all fun and games. Truck 'officials' had a hard time controlling patrons. There was one instance when Kurt Riley, who had assumed emceeing duties for the march, had to plead with patrons not associated with the truck to get off. Another distasteful moment came when a group of three seated men dragged an unsuspecting female into their laps, the latter who had to be rescued by a friend. While they might have only acted out of fun, these wrongdoers dampened other patrons' fun.
Bedroom-positions
Many, though, concentrated on singing and dancing, with quite a few choosing to engage in various bedroom-only positions. It was also nice to see total strangers walking, wining and jumping behind each other without malice or fear. As the time crept by and dawn broke through clearly, no one seemed to have realised or cared much that they had partied from one day into the next. They were still in a euphorically dazed state of intoxicating mixed drinks, mixed music and the joy of being thoroughly painted. Almost everyone was a beautiful kaleidoscope of colours, with some still pouring on the thick body paint way into the march.
Renaissance's repertoire of songs on the road march weren't new as they had already been heard several times at the NHT parking lot they had just exited. These same soca songs were now being played again and again on the march, but, interestingly, patrons seemed oblivious to this as they accepted each re-playing of a song as its first. Soca specials like Come Beta, Bachelor, Carnival and Tremble It and the 'waist-wucking, soca-inspired' dancehall favourites like Tek B, Inna Har Heart and a slew of Ele's tongue twisting dance songs were played a number of times, and each time patrons danced wildly and sang raucously till the cocks crowed and the sun shone.
