Crowd at the Yasco Sport complex for the 2013 School Panorama
Antigua & Barbuda, W.I. - Beautiful weather was the backdrop to the 2013 Antigua & Barbuda Annual School Panorama on October 30th in the country’s capital of St. John’s. The fair weather conditions were indeed welcome as in the past, steelband Panorama competitions had at times been adversely affected, making for hard slogging for pan players transporting instruments. So on this evening Antiguan and Barbudan steelband music lovers, proud parents and supporters turned out in very large numbers at the Yasco Sport complex to catch the performances of fourteen steel orchestras and revel in the sounds of steel, as the bands vied for the titles of pan champs in the primary and secondary schools categories.
Antigua Grammar School
It was Antigua Grammar School, showcasing arranger Aubrey “Lacu” Samuel’s musical storyline of the addictive “Socaholic,” which dethroned the 2012 champions St. Joseph Academy. The latter had made a valiant attempt to repeat its winning ways, and had looked forward to clinching four titles in a row. But their talented and fiery serving of “Hot Steel” as arranged by Victor “Babu” Samuel’s was in vain; St. Joseph was knocked off its perch into second place.
St. Joseph’s Academy
Thirty-five player-strong Antigua Girls High School, which wowed the audience earlier with its own highly energized delivery of “Socaholic” as envisioned by arranger Aubrey “Lacu” Samuel, snagged the third spot. In all three bands gave music fans super-sized doses of steel and soca, when they opted for Richard Drue’s “Socaholic” as their tune of choice to highlight their talents on steelpan - the third orchestra being All Saints Secondary School.
Antigua Girls High School
Willikies Primary School
Holy Trinity Primary School (Barbuda)
Pigotts Primary School
It was better news for the Panorama title defenders in the Primary school category as Villa Primary’s 2013 triumph gave them three championships three years running. They were followed by Sunnyside Tutorial and Willikies Primary Schools. Both Villa (with arranger Veron Henry) and Willikies (Davidston David took the reins as arranger) played the very popular 2013 Antigua-Barbuda soca smash “Smile A Lot” by Set-On of Mad T-Guans – and the kids had a great time on stage in each case. In fact, the first three positions in the primary segment were retained by the same three steel orchestras as in 2012.
Pigotts Primary School, the final band in its category finished at 9:45 p.m. after making its musical statement through “All Christian People” arranged by Elvis “Kenya” Wetherill. There had been a fifteen-minute intermission before they took the stage. Joining the event in progress, the Antigua & Barbuda government station ABS Television broadcast almost the entire Panorama live online, with the exception of the first two primary school steelbands, whose performances were telecast as soon as possible between band changeovers on stage – and those were completed before that stage of competition ended.
Prime Minister Spencer hands over trophy to Villa Primary School player
The Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, the Honourable Winston Baldwin Spencer, a pan lover and himself a former manager of Halcyon Steel Orchestra was on hand as he always is, schedule permitting, for steelband events. And when the results for the Primary school were announced just after 11:00 p.m. (enabling the younger competitors to leave for home rather than awaiting the end of the Panorama a couple hours later), Spencer along with his Minister of Culture Eleston Adams handed out trophies to the joyful recipients.
Clare Hall Secondary School
The final two steel orchestras for the evening, eventual champs Antigua Grammar School, along with Jennings Secondary School both took the stage on the ‘other side of midnight,’ and the grounds of the Yasco Sport complex were still packed. Jennings wrapped up the competition musically around 12:45 a.m. and results were not long in coming just after 1:00 a.m. Unlike in 2012, the final results were not shared for the placement of each band which competed on this night; instead, much to the chagrin of many, only the top three in each category were announced, but not the remaining four.
Antigua Grammar School player receives championship award
From the reports and chatter on the ground, the 2013 Antigua & Barbuda Independence School Panorama was a success. Several of the young musicians performing here had already enjoyed one competition earlier this year, that of the main Panorama featuring the country’s larger steel orchestras, and held within the regular Carnival season, but this was their turn alongside similarly-aged peers within the education arena, and many are looking forward to the 2014 edition.
2013 Antigua & Barbuda Independence School Panorama RESULTS |
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Results | Primary Schools | Tune | Performer |
Arranger |
1st | Villa Primary School | Smile A Lot | Set-On (of Mad T-Guans) |
Veron Henry |
2nd | Sunnyside Tutorial School | Cya Fail Me | Tian Winter |
Curtis “CC” Cochrane
|
3rd | Willikies Primary School | Smile A Lot | Set-On (of Mad T-Guans) |
Davidston David
|
n/a | Bendals Primary School |
Boom Boom | Calypso Joe |
Ira “Ibo” Lashleyren
|
n/a | Holy Trinity Primary School (Barbuda) |
Roaming | Tian Winter |
Everette Thomas
|
n/a | Pigotts Primary School | All Christian People |
Grace Singers |
Elvis “Kenya” Wetherill
|
n/a | Potters Primary School | Got Little Something For You | King Obstinate |
Curtis “CC” Cochrane
|
Play order | Secondary Schools | Tune | Performer |
Arranger |
1st | Antigua Grammar School | Socaholic | Ricardo Drue | |
2nd | St. Joseph’s Academy | Hot Steel | Red Hot Flames | |
3rd | Antigua Girls High School | Socaholic | Ricardo Drue |
Lorenzo “Gecko” Hodge
|
n/a | All Saints Secondary School |
Socaholic | Ricardo Drue |
Kareem King |
n/a | Clare Hall Secondary School |
Good Times | Tian Winter |
Jeron “Hymo” Hopkins
|
n/a | Jennings Secondary School | All Ah We | Claudette Peters |
Cuthbert “Tiny” Thomas & Foster “Spinach” Ralph |
n/a | Princess Margareth School (PMS) | Hot Steel | Red Hot Flames |
Click for more on Panorama in Antigua & Barbuda
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