Words by Dantana
When one door closes, another opens. Our usual source for all things Cockney & Yardie, Gabe Heatwave of the Heatwave crew had logged on to provide us a breakdown of the runnings at London’s Notting Hill Carnival (which just wrapped up a day or so ago) but then had to jet off to a festival in Croatia before he could file his report. As luck would have it Okayplayer grand poobah Dantana was in town with The Legendary Roots Crew for their recent show at Hammersmith Apollo and decided to extend his ticket for a day or two to check the scene. Stepping into the breach, he filed this personal account for us; a Brooklyn cat’s perspective on his first UK Carnival.
It’s a small world but a big planet and while I’m sure I had heard of the annual Notting Hill Carnival in London, I couldn’t say I knew much about it, and certainly had never been. Imagine the shocked reactions, then, when only two days ahead of Europe’s largest festival and the second largest street festival in the world (after Rio Carnival, Brazil) I informed my London crew I would be returning to Brooklyn, USA. With a phone call to Delta and a swipe of the Credit Card, I really had no choice to extend my stay, and it was well worth it.
Notting Hill Carnival is held each August since 1966 on Bank Holiday on the streets of West London. That’s a lot of history, so to get the full story here and here. For the Cliff Notes version, it goes like this: On the last Sunday in August and the following monday (Bank Holiday), the Notting Hill district in West London goes H.A.M. (to use modern terms). Custom-made soundsystems are hauled on to the street and it’s hard to imagine moving these things without a giant lift (or helicopter). Crews set up and then its roots dub reggae dance–I just like to call it BASS–being blasted from start to finish. There is also a parade with soundsystems on trucks, costumes, people covered in mud, dance crews…in other words, what you expect you see from Carnival celebrations that happen all over the world (including ours happening this coming Monday for Labor Day in Brooklyn). For me, I was lucky to be with an experienced crew of Carnival heads who had already determined who they felt had the best block parties and sounds. And that was: Mikey Dread’s legendary sound Channel One (who ran shit with one turntable), Aba Shanti I and Up Rock (who provided the only hiphop sets I heard while roaming the close to 50 soundsystems spread across West London.)
There are tons of amazing photos on the web but here are some selects I took with my phone (after the jump) and a video from Channel One on the first day (kids day, as it were). Enjoy.
