21ST Century Pan

Posted By: Express
Date: Friday, 5 April 2002, at 1:58 p.m.

In Response To: Silver Stars Tops Prelim Round Of 21st Century Pan (News)

By Terry Joseph

Band officials are being typically modest, but pannists performing with Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars at tomorrow night’s Pan in the 21st Century final seemed pretty confident about another victory.

Apart from being defending champions, Neal & Massy Trinidad All Stars ran off with this year’s National Panorama championship for conventional orchestras. Tomorrow night they will play in position nine “Green, Green Grass of Home” in the attempt to add this trophy to their 2002 shelf.

The event, which takes place at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, also accommodates the final of the single-pan band competition, Down Memory Lane.

In that contest, 12 groups will participate, with pack leaders Laventille Serenaders playing Shaggy’s “Angel” in position six.

Gates will be open from 3 p.m. for what Pan Trinbago hopes will be another Savannah Party, echoing the vibe of last Panorama’s semi-final at the same venue.

“We have DJ music and bands will be playing their songs at rehearsal speed in the enclosure that once housed the North Stand,” Pan Trinbago president Patrick Arnold said yesterday. Competitions begin with the single-pan bands at 6 p.m.

Exodus and Renegades had opted out of the contest when it was situated in the middle of Carnival season and did not change their minds when it was moved outside of the festival loop.

Some bands had already performed for judges when the decision was taken to postpone the event. They all performed again over the past fortnight, at the end of which Silver Stars topped the conventional orchestras with Barry White’s “Love’s Theme” and Serenaders ran past their grouping with “Angel”.

In both categories pop and R&B songs have dominated. The contest requires each band to perform a six-minute version of a non-calypso tune at calypso tempo. Selections vary in degree of difficulty, from Sforzata’s “Phantom of the Opera” and Potential Symphony’s “Fantasy” (by Earth, Wind & Fire) to enraging but relatively simple ballads like the Beatles’ “Something”, which will be performed by Carib Tokyo.

Among the single-pan bands, “Perfidia” was selected by three of the 12 groups (La Horquetta Pan Groove, San Juan East Side and Trinidad Nostalgic).

Marsicans will play a chutney selection, Terry Gajraj’s “Laycha”, Trinidad East Side chose Herbie Hancock’s “Chamelon” and the legendary St James Tripolians opted for the classic “Leibersfreud”.
New rules will be in force for tomorrow’s competition, with no rehearsals being allowed on the track, that strip of tarmac that approaches the stage.

Arnold said Pan Trinbago had recreated another type of track inside the North Stand area, where patrons will be allowed to bring their coolers and picnic as the bands rehearse during the pre-competition period. “Once competition begins,” Arnold said, “no further rehearsal will be allowed”.

Admission prices range from $40 for the picnic area through $60 general admission in the Grand Stand to $100 for box seats. Gates will open from 3 p.m.

Messages In This Thread

Silver Stars Tops Prelim Round Of 21st Century Pan
News -- Tuesday, 2 April 2002, at 6:49 a.m.

21ST Century Pan
Express -- Friday, 5 April 2002, at 1:58 p.m.