Poor showing at We Beat Pan Parade

Dancing to the sweet music of Brimblers.

GARY CARDINEZ

LAST Saturday’s We Beat Pan Parade proved smaller than expected, with large bands like BPTT Renegades, Massy Trinidad All Stars, Hardo Phase II, Shell Invaders, Desperadoes noticeably absent. Some of them were booked for an event in Arima on the same evening.

This was the 19th edition of the parade and despite the poor turnout of bands, president of Pan Trinbago Beverley Ramsey-Moore and several members of the executive were present at the St James Amphitheatre, where the bands played before moving along the parade route. Patrons too made the most of the evening as they chipped behind the steel orchestras, which included Brimblers, Harvard Harps, Old Tech, Power Stars, MHTL Starlift, and Woodbrook Playboys.

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  • Composed and arranged by Jit Samaroo for National Quarries Cordettes in 1993, with lyrics by Michael Marcano and vocals by a Salloum (can't recall which one) the third successive Jit Samaroo own tune played by Cordettes, the only steelband to play Jit Samaroo's own compositions at a panorama.

  •  GARY CARDINEZ come and OPENS a can of worms that was hidden in plain sight for YEARS.

    Look! LARGE is LARGE; All Stars did apologize to their FAN base for their “No Show” at Lagniappe: The Event - Steelband Champs, Soca Stars and more…The PRESIDENT said this in their media release promoting that event.

    As President of the organization Mrs. Beverley Ramsey-Moore declared: “The people of Trinidad & Tobago have been calling for it (the show). I have responded to that call. I trust and obey the people and so there will be a lagniappe…. a night with the champions.”

    Headline acts include the National Panorama Single Pan, Small, Medium and Large Conventional steel orchestra winners – i.e. San Juan East Side Symphony single pan band, Trinidad & Tobago Defense Force, Pan Elders and Renegades Steel Orchestras. They will be ably supported by Desperadoes, Trinidad All Stars and Invaders Youth Steel Orchestra, champions in their own right.

    https://www.panonthenet.com/tnt/2019/411/pantrinbago-media-release/...

    From the “Smooth” “Life is about changing the era. Right now, it is about youths. If you stay by what you know, you won’t get to move with the times. For example, Nadia Batson’s song, So Long, may be more monotone, but we’re moving on.”

    https://www.panonthenet.com/news/my-space-dalton-narine/2019/malice...

    No one wants to address the CHALLENGES that’s facing the PAN MOVEMENT, blame someone else for the incompetence, lack of communication SKILLS and diminishing attendance at PAN events. No amount of PROMOTION could attract bigger crowds, its only die-hard supporters in attendance at these Local events.

    Cordettes "Miss Supporter"

    • ODW: Yuh GENUINELY LOVE PAN, BOY!!!

      I really have to RESPECT YOU!!!

  • Maybe the lack of funds could have been a good thing, since the WeBeat organisers were forced to only hire "smaller" bands...But that could only have worked in a situation where Steelbands still had players, supporters, membership...and thing like that. Sadly those days are long long gone and once "certain bands" are not on show...Well...No show...Plain and simple. As sad as it is...It is what it is...Imagine, now that so many Steelbands exist, so few panmen do?...Quite remarkable...

  • How much money was given to the committee by gov't ? How much, if any, did PanTrinbago contribute? Were there contributions from the business community(doubtful)? How many bands participated? Plus, minus, multiply and divide equal accountability.

  • I don’t like to say much in this forum but some of the bands mentioned in the beginning of this article were never asked to participate in We Beat this year, plain and simple. The 2nd event someone mentioned did not take place last Saturday, it was rescheduled to last Wednesday instead. The wording of the article is unfortunate as it could imply those bands were invited to We Beat and did not show, but that is not the case. There is no bacchanal here, please move on.

    • Hey DJ...

      The truth is the truth.

      bugs

    • Never asked to participate. Very interesting. No money, no Pan.

  • The Pan in School project will be ex­tend­ed to all pri­ma­ry and sec­ondary schools, Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter An­tho­ny Gar­cia an­nounced yes­ter­day dur­ing his brief ad­dress at the launch of the 44th Na­tion­al Schools Panora­ma 2019 at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah in Port-of-Spain.

    Gar­cia said there are few­er dis­ci­pline prob­lems with stu­dents at schools in­volved in the min­istry’s Mul­ti-Cul­tur­al Mu­sic Pro­gramme Unit (MM­PU).

    http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/garcia-plans-to-push-steelpan-in-all...

    3006136781?profile=RESIZE_710x

    Education Minister, Anthony Garcia stands proudly next to members of the St Margaret's Anglican Boys Primary School, as they played a pan rendition at yesterday's launch of the National Schools Panorama 2019 at the Queen's Park Savannah.

    OCV - the Digital Future

    Sanch Electronix Limited
    Published on Apr 25, 2019

    The inhabitants of the Caribbean archipelago comprise a mere fraction of a percent of the world's population. Incredibly, however they have created some of the most fascinating and compelling rhythms including calypso, chutney, mambo, merengue, parang, reggae, salsa, shango, soca, son and zouk.

    Born in Trinidad circa 1935 the Steelpan, a definite-pitch acoustic musical instrument of the idiophone class, is rapidly attaining mainstream status four decades later. Simultaneously, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, Egrem, Caziq and Sanch Electronix Ltd are commemorating important historical milestones and celebrate Pan together for becoming the most significant rhythm of the region.

  • Cecil Hinkson: There were not two pan events on the same day, as the event of the same day that the big bands were advertised to play at was rescheduled.

    Claude Gonzales: Some steelband leaders may have voted in favor of the medium bands finals in Tobago, but panmen on the ground in general are not in favor of that idea, and are wondering why Pan Trinbago does not honor the 2018 remittance debt before investing in a show that they expect the people that they owe, or refuse to pay to ensure its success.

    merrytonestothebone: Maybe only "ole people" in the majority are the ones who support pan, but the reality is, that young pan players greatly outnumber the"ole people" who play pan, so in that context I see some continuity, not necessarily expansion, but continuity.

    Mercer Ramdoo: The propaganda that, "There is a plan afoot to get rid of all ole ppl in and around pan", maybe as a result of "ole People" in pan not understanding when it is time to, or that the time has come to pass the baton.

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