Miami Carnival J’Ouvert 2014: Paint, Soca & GenX Red Antz
Saturday morning during Miami Carnival Weekend meant one thing: nobody was staying clean.
On October 11, 2014, Julianspromos hit the road for the official Miami Carnival J’Ouvert at Central Broward Regional Park & Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida — a morning filled with paint, water, Soca, masqueraders and the kind of energy that only J’Ouvert can deliver.
For the 2014 experience, Julianspromos joined GenX Red Antz Miami J’Ouvert, representing the BACHAC section by YMogul.
And this time there were three Julianspromos personalities in the middle of it all: Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs and Intrigue Lane, with Julian C. Hackett filming and later editing the coverage.
J’Ouvert Morning With GenX Red Antz
The official J’Ouvert ran from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Central Broward Regional Park as part of Miami Carnival’s 30th-anniversary weekend. Contemporary event listings advertised $15 advance admission.
Julianspromos went inside the experience with GenX Red Antz rather than watching from the sidelines.
The band was described in the original video as having nine sections and more than 1,000 people, with drinks, water and paint all part of the package.
That combination pretty much tells you what happened next.
Paint went everywhere.
Water went everywhere.
And once the Soca started, the road took care of the rest.
Vivaa, Chandy & Intrigue Take the Mic
Having three hosts on the road gave the coverage a completely different feel.
Instead of one person trying to catch everything happening around a massive J’Ouvert band, Vivaa, Chandy and Intrigue could move through different parts of the experience, jumping in with masqueraders and bringing viewers directly into the morning.
The original video even moves between their individual segments, with Intrigue appearing around the 9:30 mark, Vivaa around 16:00 and Chandy around 20:00.
The photos tell the same story: paint-covered hosts, masqueraders dancing through the band and everybody looking considerably less clean than when the morning started.
Ricardo Drue Brings “Vagabond” to J’Ouvert
The morning was not just DJs and road music.
Ricardo Drue stepped into the action with a live performance of “Vagabond.”
That appearance came during an important period for Drue. The song had already been part of his Antigua Carnival 2014 season and was beginning to travel deeper into the international Soca circuit by the time Miami Carnival arrived.
In the Julianspromos video, his performance lands right in the middle of the J’Ouvert action — surrounded by paint-covered revelers instead of a traditional concert crowd.
Lead Pipe & Saddis Keep the Party Moving
Later in the video, Lead Pipe & Saddis take their turn.
The duo arrived in Miami only months after an enormous Barbados Crop Over season, where “Ah Feeling” won the 2014 Tune of the Crop title.
At J’Ouvert, the Julianspromos footage catches them performing as the morning continues, adding another live artist moment to the GenX Red Antz experience.
It also connected this Saturday morning directly to what had happened the day before: Julianspromos had already interviewed Lead Pipe & Saddis at Rise Miami Meets Shine NY on Friday.
By Saturday, they were back in front of the camera — this time performing in the middle of J’Ouvert.
The Sound of Miami Carnival 2014
If you want to know what Soca sounded like around Miami Carnival in 2014, this video is basically a playlist with paint thrown on it.
The original presentation moves through music from Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin, Skinny Fabulous, Patrice Roberts, Blaxx, Olatunji, Lyrikal, Kerwin Du Bois, Fadda Fox, Lil Rick, Benjai, KMC, Hypasounds, Konshens and more.
Songs heard throughout the coverage include “Fog,” “Truck On The Road,” “Haunted,” “Possessed,” “Too Real,” “Ducking,” “Advantage,” “Welcome To The Carnival” and Ricardo Drue’s “Vagabond.”
It is very much a 2014 Soca time capsule — not because somebody compiled the songs years later, but because this was the music actually playing while the cameras were rolling.
Watch: 2014 Miami Carnival Official J’Ouvert Highlights
The full Julianspromos video takes viewers onto the road with GenX Red Antz, through the three host segments and into the live performances from Ricardo Drue and Lead Pipe & Saddis.
Miami Carnival J’Ouvert 2014 Photo Gallery
The photos take you even further into the GenX Red Antz experience — from paint-covered masqueraders and host moments to Ricardo Drue performing and the crew enjoying J’Ouvert on the road.
One Weekend, Three Different Miami Carnival Experiences
What makes this particular weekend fun to revisit is how quickly everything changed from one day to the next.
On Friday, October 10, Julianspromos was at Rise Miami Meets Shine NY on Virginia Key, interviewing Soca artists at an all-white daytime fete.
By Saturday morning, the white clothes were gone and the team was covered in paint with GenX Red Antz at J’Ouvert.
Then on Sunday, October 12, Julianspromos moved on to the main Miami Broward Carnival Parade of Bands, joining Freaks Mas for the road experience.
Three consecutive days.
Three completely different sides of Miami Carnival.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Miami Carnival J’Ouvert 2014 shows how much Julianspromos’ Carnival coverage had expanded by this point.
The team was no longer arriving in a city to document just one event.
During Miami Carnival Weekend 2014, the cameras followed the experience across multiple days — from artist interviews and a Friday fete, to Saturday J’Ouvert, to the main Carnival road on Sunday.
And the on-camera team had grown too.
At J’Ouvert, Vivaa, Chandy and Intrigue were all representing Julianspromos on the mic, while Julian worked behind the camera and handled the edit afterward.
That meant different personalities could move through a large band, interact with masqueraders and artists, and bring viewers into different parts of the same event.
The following year, that growing style of multi-event Carnival coverage would develop into Julianspromos’ first formal Multimedia Carnival Tour.
But in 2014, you can already see the pieces coming together.
Event Details
Event: Miami Carnival Official J’Ouvert 2014
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2014
Time: 7:00 AM–2:00 PM
Venue: Central Broward Regional Park & Stadium
Address: 3700 NW 11th Place, Lauderhill, Florida 33311
J’Ouvert Band: GenX Red Antz Miami J’Ouvert
Section: BACHAC by YMogul
Band Size: Nine sections / 1,000+ participants advertised
Live Performances Featured: Ricardo Drue; Lead Pipe & Saddis
Advance Admission: $15
Julianspromos Hosts: Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs & Intrigue Lane
Camera: Julian C. Hackett
Editor: Julian C. Hackett
