As children growing up we went to Panorama with our parents, we went to panyards with our parents, and even had school outings to panyards. Our parents taught us the love of the steel pan in all forms. Throughout our teenage years and into adulthood we continued our yearly trek to the panyards and to “the big show” because to us without Panorama there is no Carnival. Recently we have seen the advent of the self-serving corporate citizens, J’Ouvert bands, and masquerade bands that are intent on making a mockery of Panorama and the hard work and sleepless nights that panmen and women endure for the love of our national instrument.
They are using Panorama as an opportunity for advertisement space and publicity at minimal cost to them, but to the detriment of pan. We have tolerated this decline in respect for steelbands and pan lovers but enough is enough. We expect Arts and Multiculturalism Minister Winston Peters to take back Panorama. Let these people have their parties somewhere else. Make Panorama affordable to pan lovers once more.
Let parents feel able to share Pan-orama with their children without them being subjected to that melee of crass, uncouth, and disrespectful people. Minister Peters, why should the house announcer have to appeal to the rhythm sections every five minutes to cease and desist? Why let them in? The same way we were made to leave all bottles at the gate, deny them entry with the instruments. Every year they create the same problem. We look forward to pan back in Panorama.
Raquel Chandleur
Replies
I FULLY ENDORSE ALL SENTIMENTS REFLECTED HERE.I THINK THAT PAN MEN MUST TAKE A PORTION OF THE BLAME, BECAUSE THIS HAS BEEN A RECURRENT PROBLEM, AND HAS THE PAN MEN HIGHLGHTED THIS TO THEIR EXECUTIVE?MR.SHARP IS CORRECT WHEN HE MADE THE STATEMENT"DO SOMETHING FOR PAN".OIL AND WATER DONT MIX, THE SAME FOR PAN AND POLITICS. ITS HIGH TIME PAN TRINBAGO GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER, AND IF IN 1979 PANMEN COULD HAVE BOYCOTTED PANORAMA, THEN WE AS PAYING PATRONS CAN CERTAINLY DO THE SAME INTHE YEARS TO COME.
As a pan player, it is sooooo frustrating when, after many nights and early mornings of hard practicing, it can all be for naught in less than ten minutes, when these sections openly disrespect these efforts by refusing to either stop for the bands to play or even worse, play alongside them.
Some arrangements have crucial stops and crescendos. If rhythm is heard where silence is meant, who is penalised? Certainly not these rhythm sections. They go home happy now that they have displayed their skills.
I will accept these rhythm sections when I see "brass sections" amid the crowds in fetes and concerts. I say deny them entry into the stands with instruments and do away with that "greens" idea altogether. There are so many other ways and times to make money.
The answer is easy. Love of money.
If president Keith Diaz and his board had any true interest of Pan at heart they would have strongly advised Minister Peters not to construct a "North Stand" because what first started off as the world's largest cocktail party (at the Prelims) degenerated into a competition of caucophony of sound and inanely at an even more crucial stage of the competition (Semi-Finals).
One stand in an arced design facing the stage to hold four to five times more than the Grand Stand now holds would have sufficed. By doing so, the price of tickets could be reduced and families and neighbours could again use this opportunity to picnic, enjoy and appreciate this most unique musical treat.
But no. This is the highest revenue maker of Pan Trinbago. So build a larger North Stand: capacity 9,000 at $300.00 per ticket. Tickets sold out within hours. Do the Math and see how much money they are raking in. What percentage of that income is expended in transportaion and housing of pannists and instruments. 70%?
In addition to this nonsense, the 'greens' lime is born and with it several tents in which each is housed a DJ who collectively have an aversion to pan music and surely enough a competition amongst themselves is sure to evolve. But this is not only allowed by Pan Trinbago but encouraged. They actually accommodated space on the greens for "groups" of more than 500 persons so that the smaller "groups" could stay upstairs of the North Stand. So that one of these "groups" paid $150,000.00 to go behind the North Stand to drink and wine on ah tong ting to DJ (non pan) musicat a Panorama SemiFinal!. How mad are we?
As an aside, about four to five years ago, I called the then program "Pan for the people" aired on 94.7 hosted by Keith Diaz and Richard Forteau. I asked to speak to Mr. Diaz off air. He obliged. After identifying myself and giving him the area I was calling from, I simply asked the man to explain to his listeners the justification of increasing the cost of Panorama Finals tickets by 100%. I paraphrase his reply - Who the hell are you to call and tell me how to run my business -
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