I was having this discussion with some friends thought it might be interesting here.
Is it just me or do other players/bands find that the 2 week period between semis and finals is somewhat monotonous? Don't get me wrong...it's an exciting time, but while the tune is most likely TIGHT by the time finals rolls around, the repitition for that time period can cause SOME bands to be not as sharp as they may have been during semis.
So what to do? Should the arranger put in new parts? The stakes are so high at semis that few dare leave something back for finals for fear that they simply end up gettin left out of the finals.
And what if the judges appear to like what you doin and you get good points and a decent placing? Do you want to mess with what has gotten good comments and into the final? Don't you just want to clean it up and make the band really precise and clean on finals night?
Back in the day, panorama Friday night we practicin till sunrise on Saturday learning new parts. New music to take in but yuh also sharp because you can't relax. It was a challenge. We sometimes learnt new parts on the drag. Now that's taking it to the extreme but it was done.
But instead of messing with the arrnagement, could another solution for this "boredom" for lack of a better word, simply be new music?
Bands frequently play one song all night every night during the panorama season. There's a complaint that the people who come out to hear pan are "cheated" because is just one song or one part they hear repetitively. What if in addition to your panorama selection, you also learn...trini (if that's not your tune of choice)...or wotless....or an old time tune like pan on de run or whatever your fancy? It doesn't have to be a lot. It could be 2 tunes. But it could help to break the monotony for the players in that 2 week period and may help to ultimately make our band "sharper" come final night. And the people who come to the panyards get an extra treat too.
Win win......no?
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