Trinidad & Tobago, W.I. - For many steelband music lovers, it is the most anticipated night in the preliminaries for large steel orchestras - the North region participants, which, this year are the final set in this phase of competition in the 2026 Trinidad & Tobago National Panorama season. The anticipated start time on Wednesday January 28 is 7:00 p.m. AST (Atlantic Standard Time) per event organizer Pan Trinbago.
see judging schedule
Replies
Panorama 2026
Hello, having viewed the North Zone preliminaries live last night, I think that all the participating bands made a sterling effort to cater for the live crowd and the internet viewers. The experience was epic.
I did not get to view South Central large bands and Eastern region large bands live Preliminaries but spent some time looking at those performances after streaming.
So far my standout performances worthy of a mention were South – Fonclaire and Skiffle; Eastern region – Exodus
But last night’s event was very atmospheric. Starting with TASSO then on to Renegades, Silverstars, Invaders, Phase II, Starlift and Desperadoes.
In my humble opinion, I really do sympathize with all steelbands when it comes to finally selecting a Tune of Choice and that extends to the arrangers by virtue of the fact that with a dwindling pool to select from, they somehow have to conjure up an eight minutes performance to please their dedicated followers, judges and the worldwide audience. I’m not surprise that some of them revert to the historic list of Calypsoes and Soca (Sokah) music. Let’s face it, the really memorable tunes of the past 5 years may be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Carnival music in its many guises, is not like it was in the 20th century, sorry but that is my view.
The subtleties, wit, sarcasms, and melodic intricacies have largely disappeared. Don’t get me wrong “jam and wine” has it’s place but it may not be to everyone’s liking. That said, we must appreciate what we have.
I could not, with hand on heart, tell you who will move forward to the semi-finals (Savannah Party). I’m still to catch up with the Tobago Large bands’ performances but will do so in due course. At least I will have to by the time Saturday afternoon.
Getting back to last night’s performances. I was pleasantly surprised by the all-round performances of Silverstars, Invaders, Phase II and Starlift. Bravo the drill-masters, I really did not expect them to be quite as polished as they were. One would naturally expect All Stars, Renegades and Desperadoes to be at near perfect level given the very short practise season. The fact that all large bands have been able to produce the performances that they have done, means the skill levels of the panists have risen to near professional levels.
Finally I must also say a big thank you to Radicle Tube for the stream, without which I could not have written this.
Randi Curvan