LUCELEC Pantime Steel Orchestra: Did they huddle to pray for a win or for the government to take Panorama more seriously?
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Rain poured in burdensome beads last Friday night as patrons of the annual Panorama competition made their way to the night’s performances. Apparently, the sogginess felt unbearable only by me, a newcomer loaded down with a huge umbrella and purse while trying to soak in music even as I sought to avoid the downpour. Diligent attendees and the usual Panorama competitors hardly noticed the weather. I was assured that “it always rains on the Friday before Carnival”.
If not the rain, then how to explain the almost-not-there, tiny audience? Why only six competing bands this year when, in previous years, twenty-something showed up to do battle? One patron had the answer: “Politics is what destroyed Panorama. Just like what happening with the calypso tents. The competition is a shate now, compared to what it used to be.”
His friend chimed in: “It’s no wonder they booed Allen Chastanet at the Calypso tents. If he come here tonight they will boo him too.” This fellow said he had been coming to Panorama for over 25 years and this year’s was a serious disappointment. It seemed a bit absurd to place the blame on the current government but I soon discovered another truth.
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