Soca artiste and songwriter Erphaan Alves had much to celebrate on December 3 as he marked his 31st birthday surrounded by fans, friends and fellow performers for his first-ever EA BDay party at the Sound Forge production house, Christopher Samuel Drive, Mucurapo.
Alves has traditionally celebrated his birthday with a Grateful concert every November 22.
In 2020, when covid19 restrictions prevented live events, Alves produced and performed the concert live and it was streamed via TTT and Digicel's D Music App.
Speaking with Newsday after the event, the So Sweet hitmaker said the decision to change the format from a concert to a birthday party was to provide an experience more consistent with his style.
[caption id="attachment_989614" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The audience shows its appreciation as soca artiste Erphaan Alves performs during his EA B Day birthday party at Sound Forge, Woodbrook, on December 3.Photo courtesy Kenyon Mitchell[/caption]
He said the atmosphere gave fans a sample of things to come for Carnival 2023, as artistes performed their new tracks.
"During the pandemic, I did some self-reflection and through the meditation, I realised I needed something that was more synonymous to my brand, which is the EA brand. So I decided to keep the Grateful as a charity aspect of what I do, geared towards supporting the Erphaan Alves' St George's College Music Fund. Alves is a past student of the school at Sixth Avenue and Tenth Street in Barataria.
"This birthday celebration here marks the start of Carnival, because the people got to see some of their favourite soca artistes bringing some brand new songs. So this is a lesson to them, to show what they can expect next year, touching some of the older heads. There's no VIP (section), a general crowd and I'm heading out to vibe and love up the crowd."
By 10 pm patrons packed the Sound Forge auditorium, where they were kept entertained by mixes from DJs and giveaways.
[caption id="attachment_989613" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Soca artiste Erphaan Alves holds his audience in rapt attention and interacts with the audience during his EA BDay birthday party at the Sound Forge production house, Woodbrook, on December 3.Photo courtesy Erphaan Alves[/caption]
Commenting on the turnout, Alves said he was heartened by the support of his fans, noting that the appetite for soca was particularly high with the approach of the Carnival season.
"This was a beautiful turnout. I appreciate the crowd and we're going to carry this energy, because this spirit is going to flow straight into Carnival.
"I'm going to continue spreading that love, because at the end of the day, my mission and my goal is to take soca global, so these little events here, outside of the Carnival season, show we can still pump soca and give people a nice event.
"At the end of the day, that's what my dream was: to be busy, to be working, to be presenting myself to the public as they want me. So you know, as a child, my dream was to be a soca star, and today I'm grateful f
