Greenz United Unveils “Mystique” for New York Carnival 2015
Before the costumes hit Eastern Parkway, Greenz United Mas gave Brooklyn its first look at “Mystique,” the band’s presentation for New York Carnival 2015.
Julianspromos captured highlights from the launch in “2015 Greenz United NY Mas Band Launch - Mystique Highlights,” preserving the moment when the designs were still fresh, the sections were being introduced and masqueraders were deciding where they wanted to play for Labor Day.
Contemporary 2015 Carnival records confirm Dave Louison as Greenz United’s band leader and officially list the band’s portrayal as “Mystique.” The same records place the mas camp at 5902 Ditmas Avenue in Brooklyn during that season.
Enter “Mystique”
The name gave Greenz United plenty of room creatively.
Mystique suggests mystery, glamour and fantasy without locking the designers into one narrow visual world. That flexibility is part of what makes a Carnival presentation work, allowing individual sections to develop their own look while still belonging to the larger band.
At the launch, those individual costumes were the main attraction.
This was where masqueraders got their first chance to see the colors, feathers, details and styling before committing to a section.
Months later, the same designs would look very different surrounded by thousands of people on Eastern Parkway.
But launch night was the reveal.
A Grenadian-Built Brooklyn Mas Band
Greenz United’s story had started only a few years earlier.
Louison, who is from Gouyave, Grenada, later explained that he founded Greenz United in 2011 after becoming frustrated with the sound-system experience surrounding the Grenadian contingent on Eastern Parkway. His original goal was to create a stronger musical presence for Grenadians participating in New York Carnival.
The first Greenz United appearance wasn't even a full costume band.
According to Louison, the group initially came out in T-shirts.
Costumes followed as the organization became more deeply involved in the West Indian American Day Carnival and developed into a full mas operation.
That background makes the 2015 footage particularly interesting.
Only a few years after beginning with a simpler road presence, Greenz United was now staging full band launches and presenting named Carnival concepts such as Mystique.
From the Launch to the Road
By Labor Day 2015, Mystique had left the presentation stage and become a living band on Eastern Parkway.
Contemporary Carnival photography preserves one particularly useful detail from Greenz United’s road presentation.
Jamila Parke and Ketty Paul were photographed portraying “Enchantress” with Greenz United during the 2015 West Indian American Day Carnival.
That means we can definitively connect at least one named section to Mystique:
Enchantress.
The surviving photograph shows the kind of transformation these launch costumes went through.
At a band launch, the designs are displayed individually.
On Carnival Monday, they become part of a moving mass of color, music and people stretching along Eastern Parkway.
More About the Experience Than the Trophy
Greenz United also developed a different attitude toward competition than some of Brooklyn’s larger powerhouse bands.
Looking back on the organization in 2017, Louison said Greenz United had never placed in the Carnival competition, but emphasized that this did not discourage the band from participating. For him, the experience and enjoyment of mas mattered more than the competitive result.
That philosophy helps explain Greenz United’s place within New York Carnival.
Not every band is built around becoming Band of the Year.
Some are about community.
Music.
National pride.
Giving masqueraders a good road experience.
And simply making sure your people have somewhere they feel at home on Labor Day.
For Greenz United, its Grenadian identity was always a major part of that.
Grenada Energy on Eastern Parkway
The band’s connection to Grenada remained central as Greenz United continued growing.
Louison later described how many of the group’s masqueraders traveled after participating in Grenada Carnival, while Grenadian DJs and the country’s high-energy jab and Soca music remained important ingredients in the Greenz United road experience.
That makes Mystique more than just another costume launch from 2015.
It is part of the story of Grenadian Carnival culture taking its own place within Brooklyn’s much larger Caribbean celebration.
The costumes gave Greenz United its visual identity.
The music and people gave it its personality.
Before “Mystique” Hit Eastern Parkway
The Julianspromos video catches Greenz United before Labor Day changed the atmosphere completely.
No packed Parkway yet.
No long hours on the road.
No sound trucks shaking Brooklyn.
Just the costumes, presentation and anticipation of another Carnival season.
Then came September.
Mystique went from a band-launch concept to a full Eastern Parkway presentation, with sections such as Enchantress appearing among the thousands of masqueraders participating in the 2015 parade.
For Greenz United, it was another step in the progression from a Grenadian crew that had started out in T-shirts only a few years earlier to a full Brooklyn mas band with its own launches, costumes and Carnival identity.
And Julianspromos was there for the reveal.
