Every waking hour
By Marlon Miller
Trinidad Express
...Maybe that is one of the reasons why they no longer command capacity audiences, with the North Stand just over half-full last Saturday night, when the first big band didn't come on stage until after 11 o'clock.
It wasn't so long ago that Panorama was finished by 2 a.m. and you could head to the nearest fete. Now, many spectators are struggling to stay awake to get through to the end of the show.
If the medium bands are kept on the Saturday line-up, then they have to start no later than 6 p.m., which of course means 7 o'clock, which actually was the official starting time, but the first medium band was more than an hour late.
There is no denying the majority of pan lovers come to hear the big bands, so why must Pan Trinbago make them suffer year after year. Is it possible to alternate the line-up, with a medium band then a big band?
If we want the foreign visitors—I'm not talking about returning nationals, who are accustomed to sitting through the whole session—to continue to patronise Panorama then they must be catered to.
Pan Trinbago has already lost almost half of the North Stand so it better do something before the Grand Stand aficionados start to trickle away. Most of them are already past middle age, so someone has to think about getting a younger audience to appreciate what is still the greatest night of pan in the world, the Grand Prix of the artform. Because in ten years or less, on Finals night, the Grand Stand will also be half-full! ...
Replies
For a number of years I have been remarking to friends that unfortunately, the panorama audience in the stands at the savannah is an aging and shrinking crowd. There may be a few reasons for this. Firstly, life is in continuous evolution, change is inevitable. The youth may consider pan too old time, and now too main stream for them. Youth cannot be forced to like pan, they must be naturally drawn to it if panorama in it’s present form is to last, this is the challenge. There is also a lot of competition out there for the age-group that used to go to panorama, in the form of fetes. There are still enough pan lovers to fill the stands, but because of their “religious” connections to the bands that they support, most prefer to stay with their bands and cross the stage with them. The issue of the length of the evening is another story, I like others, think that the program on the night of finals is simply too long, and most people really only go to hear the big bands. The challenge for Pantrinbago is to come up with a plan of how best to give the medium bands an outlet for their moment to glory. Just my two cents.
if we as the home of pan after all this time and promises dont even have a headquarters for the national instrument- and pan trinbago- then we still only wasting time and $$$
every pan trinbago president is only interested in driving the big car and the trips and freeness
we are the mexican circus to the world
We are the birthplace of Pan. Not sure that we have done enough to be acknowledged as the "home" of Pan. Surely in the home of Pan there would be a Steelpan Museum. I would also expect that the oldest panyards would be established as heritage sites. I can think of at least a dozen other characteristics of "The Home of Pan" that are lacking, but I am leaving room for others to comment. We all need to work assiduously towards making T&T the Home of Pan. As my friend Brian says - it is time to begin a renaissance of Pan in T&T.
I think it is also time we Trinbagonians of the diaspora and our allies (meaning those who love pan and will support the thriving of pan) , think seriously of providing an additional source of revenue for pan especially in T&T. We could do this by creating an organization ( yeah!) that could provide grants, organize ways for pannists and their band could receive training exposure, create other revenue streams etc. We would not compete with Pan Trinbago instead we could provide a little more independence for the pannists to create and expand innovation not only in terms of new types of pan, but also in music - the creation of integration of pan music with other forms. I have seen pan playing with South African national instruments; I watched Liam Teague with a symphony. Wanted to hear him with Korean national instruments.
It could be time to give pan at home a hand that is not tied to the political system, and offer other ways for pannist to be fed and challenge. There are so many ideas jsut floating in the air waiting for someone to provide the soil for them to grow.
It could be time for another role for panlovers of the diaspora.
Is it possible to have the bands perform on different nights?
Say...small bands on the friday....medium bands on the saturday..then the big boys on the sunday?
I for one would want to listen to EVERY band coming down the track, small, medium and large. But in
the present format, it becomes draining to be a listener for that length of time.
I watched on the inet this year and only got to like the second big band before mother nature
took over.
GREETINGS TO EVERYONE
PAN TRINBAGO
STEELBAND MEN AND WOMEN IN
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO AND
WORLDWIDE
STUDENTS OF THE PAN
THIS IS AN OPEN DISCUSSION I HAVE A GREAT PASSION FOR THE PAN BECAUSE IT IS
OUR INVENTION THE ONLY MUSICAL INVENTION FOR THE CENTURY AND WE HAVE IT
IN OUR HANDS, WE HAVE TO DO MORE WITH IT.
IT HAS ALREADY GONE WORLD WIDE. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPENING IN OUR COUNTRY
IS EVERY COMMUNITY SHOULD HAVE A STEEL BAND,NOT ONLY ONE BUT MORE THAN, BECAUSE SOME COMMUNITIES ARE SO LARGE. WE HAVE TO USE THE PAN TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN, WE
HAVE TO TEACH THEM TO PLAY THE PAN NOT ENOUGH IS BEING DONE IN THAT RESPECT,
WE HAVE TO TEACH NOT ONLY THE CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY BUT THE YOUNG MEN WE MUST HAVE PAN CLASSESS IN EVERY COMMUNITY, THAT IS ONE OF THE WAYS TO HELP KEEP THE YOUNG
MEN ESPECIALLY, AWAY FROM A LIFE OF CRIME, BUT WE NEED HELP, NO ONE PERSON CAN DO
IT ALL OF US HAVE TO COME TOGETHER AND ASSIST, WE NEED MORE PANS, WHERE CAN WE
GET IT FROM, WE NEED PEOPLE FROM RIGHT IN EACH COMMUNITY TO TEACH THE RESIDENTS
TO TEACH, SOME COMMUNITIES HAVE PEOPLE WHO CAN TEACH THE PAN, SOME OF THE TEACHERS
WILL HAVE TO COME FROM DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, HOW WILL THESE TUTORS BE PAID, FROM THE GOVERNMNENT AND OTHER STAKE HOLDERS? I SAW YES. HOW SOON CAN WE GET THIS THING GOING? WE CAN FIND OUT FROM THE VILLAGE COUNCIL IN EACH COMMUNITYWHAT PLACE IS AVAILABLE TO SET UP THE TEACHING, COMMUNITY CENTRES WHERE NON IS AVAILABLE, THE SCHOOLS IN THE COMMUNITY
I HAVE BEEN ORGANIZING A STEELBAND RALLY IN BON AIRE GARDENS FOR YEARS BUT WHAT
WAS KEEPING ME BACK I DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR THE TRUCKS TO TRANSPORT
THE PAN, I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY FOR THE MICROPHONE, TENTS, CHAIRS BUT I STILL WANT THAT STEEL
BAND RALLY IN BON AIRE GARDENS, AROUCA TO START ABOUT 1.00 PM TO 6.00 PM SO THAT
THE ELDERLY, THE CHILDREN, PARENTS EVERYONE CAN COME OUT AND ENJOY THE AFTERNOON
OF PAN WHEN THE ENTIRE FAMILY AND THE COMMUNITY CAN COME OUT AND HAVE SOME FUN TOGETHER THAT MAKES FOR A GREATER TOGETHERNESS, MORE LOVE AND HAPPINESS
THE BON AIR GARDENS SAVANNAH IS AV AILABLE THERE IS ALSO AN AREA IN FRONT OF THE BASKETBALL COURT THAT IS AVAILABLE PAN TRINBAGO WILL HAV E TO ASK THE TUNAPUNA
PIARO REGIONAL CORPORATION FOR PERMISSION TO USE THE GROUNDS SO HOW ABOUT IT
EVERYONE WE NEED THAT STEELBAND RALLY IN BON AIR GARDENS
contact me i want this steel band rally rolling now thank you
THE QUEEN OF PAN IN TRINIDAD AND TOBGO
godsservantheavenlyhost@yahoo.com
in ten years the grand stand goer will be dead.
To compound matters, the controlling factor which determines the starting time of Panorama Finals is the time that the Children's Parade of the Bands ends. This is the beginning of the lead time required to prepare the facility for the Panorama event. Unfortunately, PanTrinbago has no control over the event that precedes theirs.