Musical ‘Battle Zone’ By JOHN BABB and DARCEL CHOY Monday, February 1 2010
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Pan lovers having fun at the Savannah party. ...
AS THE sun sank into the west yesterday, Panorama guns were blazing at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain all shooting for the glory of a spot in the final night of the competition on Carnival Saturday.
As usual, there was the late start to the competition, with the first of the small conventional bands making an appearance well after the scheduled 9 am start. However, by the time the medium category bands hit the stage it was truly a war zone, with the combined composition of Edwin Pouchet and Alvin Daniell, “Battle Zone”, a winner among the top hits played. Not to be outdone two Tobago bands – Carib Dixieland of Mt Pleasant and West Side Symphony of Patience – showed their musical mettle, indicating stiff competition on final night.
Both Tobago bands played “Somewhere in Tobago” composed by Amrit Samaroo and Avis Bruce. The difference between the two was arrangement of the tune. Dixieland, under the baton of pan maestro Len “Boogsie” Sharpe and backed by better tuned pans had the edge over West Side. Not that they were overshadowed, because Kareem Brown put some spunk in the music, which also captivated the audience, including President George Maxwell Richards and his official party who occupied the VIP section on the north greens.
By 4.30 pm, the “army” that is Valley Harps from Morne Coco Road, Petit Valley, made clear their intention. In their battle green jerseys, at the start, the troops took their orders from their “drill sergeant” indicating that they were out for war. There was much tempo to the tune “Battle Zone” with some musical tidbits added as flavouring, one of which was a couple music bars of the piece “Cry of the Battle Hymn”. It was ideal, but someone with musical sense would have preferred to make that statement at the start of the tune, which would have had more impact rather than it being used somewhere in the middle of the tune. Overall, the tune was well put across, under the guidance of arranger, Michelle Huggins-Watts.
But with all the “Battle Zone” music taking place among some bands, the medium category clearly made it tough to select ten finalists.
Among those who showed clearly that they can be expected among the ten finalists were Carib Dixieland, West Side Symphony, CLICO Sforzata, Valley Harps, and Courts Sound Specialists of Laventille.
Earlier in the day, 14 bands opened competition in the semi-finals in the small bands category.
The hot sun and dust-filled arena did not stop the National Panorama semi-finals from running smoothly. There were no reported hiccups among the small bands that participated with the last band completing their session a little before 2 pm.
The first on stage was the Flamingoes of St John Road, St Augustine who performed to a handful of supporters. However, as the day progressed the crowd kept growing as patrons began to file in, most of them heading to the Northern Greens for the grand Savannah party.
Causing a bit of an issue for the many police officers patrolling the area was dust. Some were seen wearing face masks while others used their hats to block their faces every time the wind blew. Fire officers were brought in to wash down the area which brought temporary relief.
A variety of songs were chosen for this year’s competition.
Among the small bands that crossed the stage were the Tamana Pioneers who played “The Pan” by Newton Phillip; Antillean All Stars with “Musical Fire”; Panosonic Connection with “Pan on Fire” by D “Orignial De Fosto Himself; and Crescendoes Musicale who played “Pan War”.
Arima Golden Symphony was the fourth band to perform but were the first to bring spectators to their feet with their thrilling rendition of De Fosto’s “Smooth Sailing”.
Also impressing the crowd was Merrytones with “Pan War” by Emmanuel “Oba” Sinnette. Getting a standing ovation was the last small band to cross the stage, Laventille Serenaders, with its rendition of “This Melody Sweet” by Timothy “Baron” Watkins.
Full results are expected to be released today by Pan Trinbago.
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