Steel Orchestra at Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee Concert
What should have been one of the greatest moments in the history of the steelpan instrument in the United Kingdom, is now turning into a less than stellar occurrence - as BBC allegedly pulled the plug on the ‘live’ broadcast / live streaming of the event with the world watching.
A deeply disappointed and irate viewer posted his feeling on this behavior in the When Steel Talks forum.
For those fans who have since seen the social media clips of the performance - it was indeed an awesome production.
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Fact: Hells Gate and TASPO both performed at the Festival of Britain in 1951. Stated, but not confirmed: the Royals have been Pan fans ever since. Confirmed:The Queen Mother was a Despers fan.
I sympathise with you that you were disappointed not to have more live time shown of the 100 piece steel orchestra that performed on Sunday. However, I do disagree with you that ‘this was the first time in the history of its existence that Steel Pan was included in a major celebration in Britain’. My band, The Melodians Steel Orchestra UK, has performed at numerous major events both in the UK and British events overseas in the 35 years since it was formed. That includes many ‘major events’ at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey among other key locations. I can’t tell you exactly how many times we have performed at these key events but it will be far more than 20 occasions. That includes the Diamond Jubilee celebration for Her Majesty in 2012 when we performed at Windsor Castle.
In many of those performances we have been filmed by the BBC although they do not concentrate on our performance but feature it as part of the event. There are plenty of occasions when we have been filmed and I can remember that sometimes they will have a live recording in progress. The live recording of the band will not last for a very long time as there are always many other major things going on at the same time that have to also be featured.
I don’t think you should demand ‘an official apology’ from the BBC as I am sure they have been pushed to the limit over the past few weeks in their preparations for this event.
Here is a link to a performance by the Melodiansuk for the Commonwealth Day Service 2019 at Westminster Abbey when we were filmed by the BBC and it was broadcast live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFtindSl9Ag
T. Noel MBE JP
Leader Melodiansuk.co.uk
Like you Paul, I did the same. I also recorded the show just to make sure I didn't miss anything....but the good ole Beeb were up to their usual ignore them it's not headlines selves.
I thought when the cameras switched to Lulu and others something worthwhile was taking place. (smiles how right I was)
to Terry....
I love the way some folks are always ready to accept things and not see them for what they really are. The BBC mostly make a lot of time to cover incidents when black people are not seen in a positive light.
Having lived in England off and on since 1955 and permanently since 1966 I can honestly say that over the years BBC TV coverage of the instrument has always been sporadic and limited to a fleeting glimpse.
The truth is that the majority of black Caribbean 1st , 2nd and 3rd generation don’t really know much about pan, as the groups have usually been small (with the exception of those appearing at Notting Hill or Leeds carnival). Generally, pan has been used as incidental entertainment or a quaint side show mainly for the benefit of the liberal middle classes.
In my part of the country there were clips of kids, all white, playing pan leading up to the local news bulletins. I would wager there must be hours of archive recordings in the depths of the Beeb which may never see the light of day.
There is no one in the organisation that can relate on a musical level to the instrument.
But as soon as someone white (especially if they’re flavour of the day) gives a nod to the steeldrum they’ll be there like a flash, pretending they’ve loved it all their lives. No doubt quickly reading up on the subject so as not to appear totally foolish.
By the same token, recordings in the past have been (to say the least) poorly produced and have done themselves no favours. So there’s nothing compelling about it.
Sorry Mr Noel just my opinion.
Randi.Curvan
Thank you for posting this arrangement.
Brenda ECH
"For the first time in the history of it's existence . . . " Not true. A 100 piece steelband performed for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002.
But more importantly she managed 70 years of British neocolonialism/exploitation across the globe: Africa, India, China, the Caribbean . . .
"God save the Queen" not the Monarchy.