Exit of a giant

I'm at a loss for words, first of all am I right in saying, there have never been a panorama finals without Despers????...

Aside from all that, the issue is, was Despers performance substandard? the answer is NOOOO!!!!!

Andre, brought a whole new concept and freshness to the pot with his arrangement of Profit of Pan, but I believe it was a little to high for some people to grasp, this was no jam,jam,jam,jam and a whole lot of runs that didn't make sense or fool dem with a lotta noise, like I said in my pan song "Underdog raise de game in de Panorama"  Despers tried too, but alas the judges won't listening.

The Radoes could hold their heads up high and know they did set a standard on sunday night in de panorama maybe next year they might listen. one love.... 

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  • Please pan people, try to remember the way Boogsie was judged. Only after  Andy Narell stated in an interview that Boogsie's music was the best was he Boogsie, deservedly given first place the next year.. Seems the judges, like the rest of the trini power structure have a problem with age.

     

  • Despers was also out of the Panorama finals in 1965 sponsored then by Coco-Cola after a very musical arrangement of Hold On To Your Man by Lord Kitchener.

  • There has been panorama finals without Despers,1974, 1975

  • I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and arrangement of Despers; Andre was able to maintain that distinctive Despers sound throughout the arrangement and he introduced some new techniques in the arrangement, which was refreshing. However, I would like to know what the judges "heard", literally...I am not judging the judges, but I am curious as to what they actually heard.

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    One person posted that he went to Despers yard and heard the arrangement, then on semi-finals night, sat behind the judges and could not hear any of the inside parts. So my question is, were the pans arranged in the same manner as in previous years or were they arranged differently to suite Andres voicing OR were the sections improperly mic'ed ?  All of this makes a HUGE difference in terms of what the judges actually hear from a band on the night. It's a shame that there's no sound check for the bands before their actual performance because that would eliminate the possibility of the judges not hearing certain parts.

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    For me personally,  I loved the arrangement and I wish Andre all the best because he gave a good account of himself...the band played music...they were not beating the instruments like some other bands and as for the tempo and some people saying that it needed to be faster...I beg to differ...Panorama's have been won with slower tempos than that...High Mas (Bradley) . It really bothers me when I hear a band beating their instruments while playing nothing but runs (mostly chromatic) through an entire arrangement at blazing pace...and "some" people call that good music. Despers played good music in my humble opinion...but that is just my opinion and others may disagree, which is the beautiful thing about music in that it is....subjective.

    GP

  • I think its time we pan lovers begin to demand that we know the judges before Panorama and their qualification, also we need some foreign judges in the mix  for balance. Where are the days when we use to fete in the North Stand to the sweet music of Pan no DJ's just pan and their interruptions of a song? Now what do we have excessive runs, stolen sections from pop songs, men jumping around, when one wonders exactly what is it in that piece they are playing makes one want to jump other than to impress the judges . I saw pan players sticking out their tongues, some going down low, other trying to out jump the guys next to him and one set of nonsense, and you have to ask yourself where has the days of tunes like In my house, Woman of the Bass, Rebecca gone. Then the judges depress the young arrangers like Liam and Andre with their questionable decisions, arrangers that want to bring back the glory days of Pan Music to the Savannah, because that is how it should be, pan music that would stand the test of time. It is really sad what these judges with their personal bias is doing to the Pan, something needs to be done quickly before we lose it all.

  • I might anger a few people here but it needs to be said.  Those of us who are not just pan lovers and pan players but (other) musicians as well need to comment on the Desperadoes elimination. IT IS IMPORTANT and RELEVANT to the issue of Judges and Judging.  The Judges decision is ALWAYS FINAL but that does not mean we the people cant critique and tweek and 2nd guess them after the fact.  I have listened extensivelyover the past 24 hours,  to All Stars,  Phase 11, Invaders and Desperadoes on WST Panorama 2012 performance. With the knowledge that an electronic recording is NOT the same as being there I find the foll, Desperadoes had toooo much belly (strumming Guitars too strong & overpowering) All Stars did not have enough of it (almost none). All Stars had an overwhelming thin Trebble tone,  Invaders (my favourite band for 60 years) and All Stars played simple diatonic runs and riffs (all of which I have played in the last 50 years of my pan playing life (nothing new) They both had simple 3 chord fixation through out and were a bit monotonous. Desperadoes (Andre) certainly had chromatic chord changes and some nice phrases with Flat 5th's, Flat 3rd's, 6th's and 7th's  that put colour in the music. Phase 11 stood out on every level. For the FIRST  time I find no fault with Boogsie.  I wonder what the judges were listening to.  Paddy Corea,  Despers NY.

  • I am so disappointed at some of the remarks from the Despers haters. I tried to listen to each band objectively.  While All Stars and Phase 11 were good and Silver Stars exciting Despers were in a league of their own. They were a  re energized band and one could feel their excitement and their enthusiasm even before they "played" their pans.  There's a difference between pounding the pan and playing them with the sweetness and originality that Despers put down on Sunday night.

    Three judges to judge 16 bands.  Gimme a break! Is it the same old tired judges from years gone past who can't get with the program and see a young genius in the making? Maybe they were napping when Despers were performing or maybe they should be listening to Alvin Daniel who's opionion I respect as he rated their opening sequence as pure perfection.

    As of now I'm a former  Finals Die Hard as the plan done gone down who will win so I will keep meh money in meh pocket and play Jour Ouvert instead which is where I think those "Judges" should be.

  • where were some people in the 1970's some were either too young or not yet born but it is time for critics to learn simple history grab one of Ian Franklyn's book 400 questions and answers on pan, if you were not around the last 50 years or so or just started lovin pan big up curtis B I did note the set up did not bring out the best for Andre, but I do believe that if Rythym sound setters were left out it may not have gotten this much attention but it also would have been Robbery with V

  • Allow me to correct you james Desperadoes missed several finals in the 1970's from either 1971or 1972 to 1975 I have not seen all the comments but those folks who banging the radoes and the arranger you all are excused for your ignorance and lack of music appreciation, if possible I know Despers will get copies of their score sheets it will be interesting to see how the marks were allocated whether it was a unanimous choice to score the band low or plain bias on a minority of the judges or downright robery with vee or a penalty over looked the last thime with renegades there was a penalty arrising out of a situation that had nothing to do with the performance, this is happening too often Exodus, renegades, now despers who's next phase 2, this is a bad message to the standard of the panorama which has seemed to have improved the last two years now with fresh blood on board, no encouragement for higher standards, bands like silver stars playing an 8 minute sequence of 16th notes(simiquavers) with little variations, the criteria for judging has been obviously ignored  by some or all the judges, how much marks can they allocate for motifvic development to a band that did not vary their rythym on their passages, I may see despers loosing just a few marks with tone but tone carrys a smaller marking, even though the standard was higher this year every band had loose ends but not less than despers, some had serious ensemble problems and I heard quite a few brim bram arrangements from the qualifers, how much variations can be made playing chromatic scales using semi quavers or 16th notes and no dynamics, it is an insult and whoever were the judges that low scored the greatest steelband of all times, are haters of progress and no lovers of pan 

  • ****It is sad that Despers will not be at the Big Party......just as it was sad when All Stars, Renegades & Exodus were eliminated.  I have been listening to Andre and ADLIB for quite sometime and this arrangement did not haveAndre's style/stamp on it. It was lackluster and so was he. I don't know if he was being "Bradleysized ", but I think that he should  be given another chance to bring his own arranging style (that helped him win in NYC & London) to Despers next year. Congrats to Trinidad All Stars......way to defend!!!!!

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