It’s amazing: we are out of lockdown and still I can’t believe we are out – and so were the Talk Yuh Talk promoters. I attended the very first event since Covid and despite the England cricket team playing on the night, the Tabernacle was buzzing. The Caribbean community dominated the space, which is how it was back in the day.
The evening was hosted by calypsonian Tobago Crusoe who at one point duetted with Alexander D Great. We were also blessed to have De Alberto, who pleased us by performing Margie, which for me is the best tune he has ever done. We ended the evening with Justin Richardon (Redz aka Pan Fever) playing pan along with some soca tunes. And a mix of the latest and the oldest soca tunes were blasted by Mr Soca Massive.
It was such a pleasure to see everyone from the old school Carnival world, such as Dexter Kahn, who produced the event; Ansel Wong, fresh from the Jubilee event; the lady of steel Deb; and Notting Hill Carnival CEO Mathew Phillip, who is always calm even when I mentioned that this year’s carnival might have double the normal audience!
All in all, it was a brilliant evening and what a joy to see the Tabernacle back in action with the communities that made it what it is. My only plea is for a recruitment drive to secure young blood in calypso – a message that I would direct also to London Calypso Tent organisers ACASA.
Kaiso Lime takes place at 7pm at The Tabernacle, Powis Square, London W11 2AY, on the first Saturday of every month until October 2022.
