Antigua
&
Barbuda
-
Antigua
&
Barbuda is the
only
country
in the
world
where a
sitting
Prime
Minster
can be seen
pulling
or
pushing
a pan
rack
filled
with
steelpan instruments
onto and
off the
stage
during a
national
panorama
contest.
This was
again
the
circumstance
during
this
year’s
event.
This
Prime
Minister
- the
Honourable
Winston
Baldwin
Spencer
-
knows
Pan!
As he
himself so aptly
put it -
“....Steelband
music
won
tonight;”
that
about says it
all on the 2011
Antigua
and
Barbuda
National
Panorama
held
last
Tuesday. And with
that, it
is
implicit
that at
least on
this
night
there
was a
clear
understanding
of the
need,
value
and
uprightness
of
meeting
the
challenge
of
elevating
and
supporting
the
steelpan
music
genre
immediately,
and in
the
years
going
forward.
Hell’s
Gate
The
world-renowned
Hell’s
Gate
Steel
Orchestra
took the
much
sought-after
2011
Antigua
and
Barbuda
national
panorama
crown
with
their
rendition
of calypso
great
Rupert
Mighty
Swallow
Philo’s
“Satan
Coming
Down.” The song
was
arranged
by the
young
steelpan
music
standout
Khan Cordice. Swallow,
who is
celebrating
his 50th
year as
a
performing
artist
in the
music
business,
also
took the
stage
with
Hell’s
Gate as
they
performed
to an
engaged
crowd at
the
Antigua Recreation Grounds
in the
country’s
capital,
St.
John’s.
Swallow
would
also
return
later
when the
2010
champions,
Halcyon,
took the
stage,
also
playing
another
of his
greatest
all-time
hits “Don’t
Stop The
Party.”
Dressed
in a red zoot
suit,
Swallow seemed
quite
pleased
with the
arrangement
of his
music on
pan, and
the attention
he was
receiving
as he
pranced
around
the
stage
during
Hell’s
Gate
presentation.
Band
members
were
clad in
all
black, the
color
interestingly
synonymous
- on this
particular
night -
with
both the
subject
matter
of their
tune of
choice
(Satan
Coming
Down)
and part
of the
orchestra’s
own
name,
Hell’s
Gate.
Using a
three-judge
system
(all
were from
Trinidad),
six of
the
country’s
steel
orchestras participated
in this
very
well-attended
2011
national
panorama
competition;
Ebonites,
Hell’s
Gate,
East
Vibes,
Halcyon,
Gemonites
and
Harmonites,
in that
order.
The
stands
were
filled
with
steelband
lovers.
In
addition,
there
were those
die-hard
pan fans
who
anchored
themselves
firmly
and
directly
in front
the
stage,
cheering
wildly as their
favorite
bands
played
their
hearts
out in a
bid to
snatch
the 2011
championship
title
and
bragging
rights.
For the
overall
event,
not even
conditions
described
as
“swamp-like,”
and “a
virtual
mud
hole” -
with
both
people,
and
racks
laden
with
steelpan
instruments
weighing
several
hundred
pounds,
sinking
deeply
into mud
due to
the
ongoing rain
earlier
during
the day
- could
stop the
2011
National
Panorama.
Practically superhuman efforts on the part of almost all the bands were needed to literally lift stands and instruments on their way to the stage, instead of rolling them up
and on as is
customarily the case. The average time
lapse
amid band performances increased dramatically to
between thirty-five and forty-five minutes, as band members
and
supporters struggled to get instruments and racks on and off stage. It is not a stretch to imagine how exhausted musicians
probably were, just before they began to perform
after
such
unanticipated
and
challenging
exertion.
Guest
artist
Panache
Steel
Orchestra
entertained
the
crowd
before
the
competition
began,
through
8:20
p.m.,
and ten
minutes
later
saw the
end of
the
delivery
of the
country’s
national
anthem.
In terms
of time,
the
impact
of the
racks
and pans
having
to be
negotiated
along
the way
to
playing
positions
was
being
felt.
It was
already
9:12
p.m.
before
ninety-five
players
of the
1977
Panorama
champs, Ebonites,
struck
their
first
chords
of
Aubrey
“Lacu”
Samuel’s
arrangement
of Short
Shirt’s
“Nobody
Go Run
Me.”
The band
faced
several
challenges
along
their
way to
the 2011
panorama,
including
that of
their
regular tuner
not
making
it to
Antigua.
Forty-seven
minutes
later at
9:59
p.m. it
was the
turn of
the band
established
in 1945
- and
the
eventual
2011
champs –
Hell’s
Gate, to
stake
their
musical
claim,
with one
hundred
players
sounding
off.
Newcomer
to the
Panorama
competition,
East
Vibes
Steel
Orchestra
delivered
“Panorama
Night,”
an
original
composition
of their
arranger
Curtis
“CC”
Cochrane,
at 10:42
p.m., to
be
followed
by
Halcyon,
celebrating
their
fortieth
year of
existence
as a
music
organization.
Halcyon
Naturally
the
steel
orchestra
had
looked
forward
to the
Panorama
title to
be their
crowning
glory
for
2011.
With a
track
record
of
twenty-two
Panorama
championships
between
1972 and
2010,
four of
those
consecutive
wins (1992-1995)
- they
were
more
than up
to the
task,
and
entitled
to the
aspiration.
Arranger
Victor
“Babu”
Samuel’s
vision
of “Don’t
Stop The
Party”
and
UK-based
tuner
Dudley
Dickson’s
handiwork
came
through
clearly
in the
steelpan
instruments
commanded
by the
band’s one
hundred
and
three
musicians,
right
through
to their
final
notes at
11:39
p.m.
Competing
in
position
five
with
their
resident
arranger,
Patrick
“Stone”
Johnson,
was
Gemonites
Steel
Orchestra,
which last
took the
Panorama
championship
back in
2005
(which,
incidentally, was
also
held
July 28).
With
Johnson’s
arrangement
of
“Frenzy”
the band
gave it
their
best
shot,
beginning
12:25
a.m.,
fielding
between
sixty-five
and
seventy-five
steelband
musicians
- the
normal
complement
for the
band
(they
won with
seventy-six
players
in
2005).
The
difference
with the
band
this
time
around
was
a
larger
number
of young
people;
this
according
to
Joseph “Jowato”
Henry, a
senior
management
member
of
Gemonites.
East Vibes
The band
which
had the
luxury
of being
the one
to make
the
‘lasting
impression’
on the
audience
and
judges,
was
Harmonites
with
seventy
players.
This was
also the
second
time the
arranging
talents
of
Aubrey
“Lacu”
Samuel
were
heard
for the
night,
the
first
time
being
with the
first
band up.
He
arranged
Harmonites’
tune of
choice
“Tribute
to
Swallow:
50
Years”
sung by
Carl “De
Panman”
Richards.
With
respect
to the
performances,
all was
said,
done -
and
played -
by 1:27
a.m.
After a
well-received,
three-song
appearance
by
Antigua
&
Barbuda
soca
favorite
“Drastic,”
it was
2:08
a.m.
when the
results
were
announced,
and by
then the
rain had
returned.
The
weather had
held up
well for
the
duration
of the
competition,
much to
the
relief
of the
steel
orchestras,
audience
and
event organizers.
Certificates
of
Appreciation were
first
bestowed
upon
each of
the six
participating
bands,
for making
the 2011
national
Panorama
what it
was.
Then
came the
moment
all had
been
waiting
for:
results. Harmonites
were
deemed
second
runners-up,
defending
champions
Halcyon
had to
be
content
with the
first
runner-up
position,
and
Hell’s
Gate
triumphed
in the
2011
Antigua
&
Barbuda
National
Panorama;
both
Hell’s
Gate and
Halcyon
received
their
trophies
from
Prime
Minister
Spencer.
Editor’s
note:
Months
later
in March
2012,
HALCYON
Steel
Orchestra
was
eventually
declared
JOINT
2011
Panorama
champion
with
Hell’s
Gate
Steel
Orchestra
following
a
protracted protest
by the
former,
relative
to the
points tally
during
for the
2011
competition.
Back and
forth
persisted
as late
as
August
2012.
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