Pure Happiness Hollywood 2014: Machel Montano & Lyrikal Kick Off Carnival Weekend

Hollywood Carnival weekend moved into full Soca mode on Friday, June 20, 2014, when Pure Happiness brought Machel Montano and Lyrikal to Bardot in Hollywood, California.

Presented by Regulaz Entertainment and DJ Stephen Music, the event was one of the major Friday-night attractions surrounding the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Culture Festival and Hollywood Carnival.

The party ran from 9:00 PM until 3:00 AM at Bardot, 1737 Vine Street in Hollywood, with Giselle “The Wassi One” serving as the event host.

For Julianspromos, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosted the coverage, while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.

Pure Happiness at Bardot in Hollywood on Friday, June 20, 2014.

Machel Montano Brings Trinidad Carnival Energy to Hollywood

Machel Montano arrived in Los Angeles during another major year in his career.

The Pure Happiness flyer promoted him as a six-time Road March King and the 2014 Power Soca Monarch King, putting one of Soca’s biggest performers at the center of Hollywood Carnival weekend.

Only a few months earlier, Machel had dominated Trinidad Carnival with “Ministry of Road,” one of the defining Soca records of the 2014 season.

Now that Carnival energy was moving west.

Instead of Port of Spain, Brooklyn, Miami or Toronto, Machel was performing in the heart of Hollywood as Los Angeles prepared for its own Carnival celebration.

Lyrikal Brings New York Soca to Los Angeles

Sharing the night with Machel was Lyrikal, whose career connected Trinidadian Soca with New York’s large Caribbean community.

By 2014, New York had become one of the most important international centers for Soca outside the Caribbean, with artists, DJs, promoters and audiences keeping the music active throughout the year.

Lyrikal represented that connection.

His appearance at Pure Happiness brought another part of the Caribbean diaspora into a festival designed to showcase Carnival culture on the West Coast.

Soca in the Heart of Hollywood

Pure Happiness was held at Bardot on Vine Street, placing a Caribbean fete directly inside Hollywood’s entertainment district.

That setting gave the night a different feel from the traditional Carnival markets where Soca audiences were already well established.

Los Angeles was still developing its own Carnival identity, and events like Pure Happiness helped bring established Soca artists into that growing scene.

The night also served as a lead-in to the next day's main attraction: Hollywood Carnival on Hollywood Boulevard.

Giselle “The Wassi One” Hosts Pure Happiness

The event was hosted by Giselle “The Wassi One,” a familiar presence across Caribbean Carnival events and entertainment.

Music for the night included DJ Stephen, while the official flyer also teased a surprise guest artist.

With Carnival only hours away, Pure Happiness gave the Los Angeles crowd one more major Soca night before the celebration moved outside and onto the road.

Watch Machel Montano & Lyrikal at Pure Happiness

The Julianspromos footage captures Machel Montano and Lyrikal during the Hollywood Carnival weekend, with Vivaa handling the on-camera coverage and Julian C. Hackett shooting and editing.

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Machel Montano, Lyrikal and moments from Hollywood Carnival weekend in Los Angeles.

The Night Before Carnival

Pure Happiness was only the beginning of the weekend.

The following day, Caribbean Carnival moved from Hollywood's nightlife venues directly onto Hollywood Boulevard.

Masqueraders, DJs, artists and Carnival personalities gathered for the Parade of Bands as feathers, costumes and Soca transformed one of Los Angeles' most recognizable streets.

Julianspromos moved with them, joining Epic Mas and Extacy Mas on the road for Saturday's Carnival.

From the Julianspromos Archives

Pure Happiness was the opening chapter of Julianspromos' first Hollywood Carnival assignment.

The Los Angeles trip became an important expansion in the platform's destination coverage, producing several different pieces of original media from the same Carnival weekend.

Friday captured the concert and fete experience with Machel Montano and Lyrikal.

Saturday moved the cameras onto Hollywood Boulevard with Epic Mas and Extacy Mas.

Monday continued at Xen Lounge, where Julianspromos documented the Epic After Party and Vivaa sat down with Machel Montano for a separate interview.

Throughout the assignment, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson handled the on-camera coverage while Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the footage.

Together, those stories created a much broader record of Hollywood Carnival than a single highlights video could have provided.

Continue Hollywood Carnival 2014

Next: Hollywood Carnival on Hollywood Boulevard — Saturday, June 21, 2014
https://julianspromos.com/archives/2014-hollywood-carnival-highlights

Then: The Epic After Party at Xen Lounge — Monday, June 23, 2014
https://julianspromos.com/archives/epic-after-party-xen-lounge-hollywood-2014