The John Schmidt Reports Collection of John's emails to the Pan People around the World

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Steelband National Panorama 2001
  Trinidad & Tobago
February 2001
eEd - tobagojo@trinidad.net

 REPORT 8
 2001 Panorama Final Results

25 February, 2001 03:07 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

Exodus won the 2001 Panorama title with Pelham Goddard's arrangement of
A Happy Song. In one of the tightest Panorama races in a few years, they
scored 471 points, to second place All Stars' 468. Desperadoes took third
with 466; Tropical Angel Harps took fourth with 462.

Skiffle Bunch was fifth with 459. Phase II took sixth with 457. There was
a tie for 7th at 454 points between Renegades and Invaders. 9th place went
to Hatters with 450 points, 10th to Redemption Sound Setters with 449, 11th
to Pamberi with 447, 12th to Starlift with 446, 13th to Laventille Sound
Specialists with 443 and 14th to Tokyo at 442.

The tightness of the scores bears notice. The top four bands were within 10
points of each other, it wasn't until you got down to 9th place that the
score was more than 20 points below the winner. The level of performance
and arrangement this year was exceedingly high. In my mind, this was
overall one of the best Panoramas in recent years. I didn't envy the
judges' task.

Once again, I feel that thing called "spirit" played an important part in
the results. I saw all the top ten bands except for Despers in either their
panyard or the south finals in the week before last night's Panorama. Those
bands which could "taste" victory the most in the yard showed it in their
performance on the stage. They gave it the little extra. Mind you, this
won't make up for a mediocre arrangement, but all else being equal, or maybe
only almost equal, the spirit thing can push a band over the top.

You will notice 14 bands played in the finals. As I indicated in my last post,
Tokyo had protested their score in the Semi-Finals. While the cause
of the protest was not initially made public, the Trinidad press now says
there were erasures and changed scores on some of the score sheets, and that
the original score (apparently not fully erased) would have put them into
the finals. Pan Trinbago agreed to let Tokyo into the finals for this
reason. Laventille Sound Specialists then protested claiming they had a
higher score than Tokyo, and therefore should also be included. The logic
behind this claim escapes me, since Tokyo's claim was that their score was
incorrectly marked low, and Sound Specialists, as far as I know, never
claimed their score was wrong. Whatever, at the last minute Pan Trinbago
relented and agreed to let them in at position 14. Don't look for logic in
decisions like this, politics or expediency generally overrules logic.

The additional bands didn't change the results, they both scored at the
bottom, one point apart. They are able, however, to apparently take home
the appearance fee of $40,000 TT each (Less the mandatory 10% kickback to
Pan Trinbago). The biggest problem created by the extra bands is that the
Panorama would have been over at 1:40 AM instead of 2:40 without them.

The Panorama started just about on time at 8:00 PM. After all the fuss,
Kiddies Carnival ended early at about 2:30 PM, the stands were vacant by 3.
The bands flowed at the usual pace of about 25 to 30 minutes per band. The
Track Steward system worked well this time, with bands generally ready to go
on stage as soon as the previous bands departed. Of course, the increased
number of "supporters" to clear from the stage slowed things up a little.

The Grand Stand was full, actually a little over-full. Not the horrid
overcrowding seen some years, but apparently more patrons than seats. This
is always a little hard to judge, as there are people in the unreserved
section who continue to hold empty seats next to them for their invisible
"friends" who never seem to arrive...

The North Stand, in contrast to the Preliminaries, never filled up. There
were a large number of empty seats at the East end. At one point the
announcer asked those without seats in the Grandstand to move to the empty
seats in the North Stand. The audience responded with boos.

By contrast, the drag was solid people, as far as one could see. Of course,
these were nonpaying customers, and the long history of this being so makes
it unlikely to change. Completing the fencing of the drag and charging
admission is probably politically not feasible. By comparison, New York
Panorama is entirely contained in the large Car Park behind the Brooklyn
Museum. Patrons must pay the same $20 US to lime with the bands as they do
to watch the Panorama.

There was a letter to the editor just published in one of the Trinidad
weeklies bemoaning that the poor people are being excluded from Carnival by
increased fees and a reduction in free events. Pan Trinbago in particular
was mentioned. The author, who is a Port of Spain City Councilman, makes
the important point that Carnival has always served as a release valve for
the frustrations of the less affluent members of Trinidad society. Even a
cursory study of the history of Trinidad Carnival will show this has always
been the case, and that attempts to change this (the period of the 1880's
comes immediately to mind) have resulted in social unrest in the past.

Times may be different now, and there may be other ways to deal with
societal problems, but Trinidad's vibrant culture remains a strong class
equalizer, and it would be ashamed to see it priced out of the reach of
portions of the population. When Trinidadians have told me stories of their
youth, a constant theme is that they never considered themselves poor
despite the fact that their families had little money or material goods.
They always had their culture, which made them very rich indeed.

It should be noted that this City Councilman never offered in his letter to
provide funds to Pan Trinbago to help them make their programs more
affordable. Pan Trinbago and the other Carnival organizations might have
more success in getting increased government funding if they better promoted
the social functions they serve, particularly for the less affluent among
the young people in Trinidad.

I've gotten a bit off the subject, although maybe not as far as it may
seem... Back to Panorama:

For the first time in years, Panorama was not televised live. It was taped,
though, and Pan Trinbago promises to have tapes for sale shortly. In fact,
they taped the Semi Finals - Pan in the 21st Century last weekend, and
repeatedly advertised the availability of these tapes for sale under the
Grandstand during the Finals. Once again, those who can't afford the tapes
are left out. It is sad that the image of pan in Trinidad seems to have
sunk so much that Pan Trinbago feels it can make more money selling extra
tapes than the TV stations can raise from advertising sponsors for live
broadcast and pass on to Pan Trinbago as a "rights fee".

I'm not bemoaning Pan Trinbago the few dollars for the tape, I've already
spent much more on the various "pan song" CD's out this year. But it seems
a bit unfair to "pay" the players $200 TT for their hundreds of hours of
practice, and then charge them as much or more for a copy of the tape to see
themselves and their band perform. And I wonder if taking the event off of
TV, and thereby out of the view of the 99% of Trinidadians who could not
attend may in the long run do more harm for the artform than the small extra
income from the increased sale of tapes.

Finally, following the end of Panorama, the members of Exodus returned to
St. Augustine for a joyous panyard party. About dawn, they put the band on
the road, heading East on Eastern Main Road to "Wake up the (Tunapuna)
Market." After returning again to the panyard, after 7:00 AM, Ainsworth
Mohammed, after congratulating the players, told them that today's practice
was postponed from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. No rest for the victors.
Jourvert and pan on the road are right ahead.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 7
 Panorama Finals Order of Appearance

21 February, 2001 08:05 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

Pan Trinbago this morning conducted the draw for positions in the Panorama
finals.

The order of appearance for conventional bands is:

1) Trinidad All Stars
2) Phase II Pan Groove
3) Pamberi
4) Renegades
5) Desperadoes
6) Starlift
7) Hatters
8) Invaders
9) Skiffle Bunch
10) Redemption Sound Setters
11) Exodus
12) Tokyo
13) Tropical Angel Harps

Of course, the immediate question is how come Tokyo, who placed 13th in the
semi-finals made it into the finals? While Pan Trinbago is not admitting
much of anything, Tokyo found a problem with their scoresheets. When they
pointed it out to Patrick Arnold and the Chief Judge, it was agreed to let
them in the finals. Rumor has it that there might have been an
"embarrassing arithmetic error". Shades of New York Panorama, where I have
personally seen several scoresheets with such errors over the years.
  [ Back to: ...in my last post... ]

  South & Central Zonal Finals

I attended the South zone Pan Finals at Skinner Park last night. The big
news there is that Tropical Angel Harps copped first place with 270 points,
pushing crowd favorite Skiffle Bunch into second with 268. Hatters was
third with 266, Fonclaire fourth with 243, Tornadoes got 242, Panosonic
Connection 237, Deltones 224, and Southern Marines Steelband Foundation 220.

The event was supposed to start at 7 PM and we were late arriving at 9:00
Not to worry though, the first band, pan round the neck side, Shades in
Steel, was just taking the stage. At the scheduled starting time, they were
still building the ramp up to the stage. The show finally opened with a
long "cultural act", delaying the pan competition . The last band finished
playing after 2:00 AM. Nuff said.

The efforts at building the ramp may have been too rushed. Tornadoes rhythm
rack fell through the single layer of half inch plywood, leaving a foot
diameter hole. An emergency patch was applied, but then Panosonic
Connection's rhythm rack broke two more sheets, leaving another hole. Not
quite ready for Panorama if you ask me.

There was a good sized crowd, all the seats were taken and many others were
standing in the field. Far more than the North finals or even the
semi-finals. A good portion of the crowd stayed until the post-2:00 AM
ending. There is decidedly a demand for this event in the south.

The vibes were also pleasant, it was much less formal than Queens Park
Savannah, with the crowd wandering among the bands as they lined up along
the track. There was no problem with supporters not leaving the stage, the
stage could barely hold a full sized band. There was no space left for
supporters, who had no problem standing ten feet away on the turf. There
was a considerable presence of Trinidad police officers, but they had little
to do. No attack dogs, muzzled or otherwise, were visible.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 6
 Panorama Semi-Finals

19 February, 2001 00:51 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

Here are the results for the semi-finals for Panorama 2001, in order of
appearance:

Appearance Position, Band, Song, Arranger, Score, Rank, Prelim Score, Prelim Rank

Note: Defending Champion Desperadoes did not play in the semi-finals but did
in the preliminaries, and placed second. Therefore, all rankings in
semi-final below first must be decreased by one for equivalent relative
ranking to preliminary.

1, Cordettes, Kitchener Say, Dexter Simon, 423, 17, 408, 20(T3)
2, Skiffle Bunch, Stranger, Godwin Bowen, 455, 3, 440, 4
3, Phase II Pan Groove, Freedom, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, 454, 4, 433, 5(T)
4, Renegades, Sound of the Ghost, Jit Samaroo, 449, 5, 423, 12
5, Melodians, Rain Drops On My Pan, Terrence "BJ" Marcelle, 426, 15, 420, 13
6, Merrytones, Rain Melody, Kendall Lewis, 424, 16, 427, 8
7, Tornadoes, Rain Melody, Brian Brumant, 426.5, 14, 412, 17
8, Tokyo, Stranger, Beverly Griffeth, 427, 13, 419, 14
9, Exodus, A Happy Song, Pelham Goddard, 469, 1, 444, 3
10, Tropical Angel Harps, Raindrops On My Pan, Clarence Morris, 440.7, 8, 426, 9
11, Deltones, Yuh Looking For Horn, Carlton Zanda, 415, 19, 408, 20(T3)
12, Our Boys, Freedom, Kenneth Guppy, 408, 21, 411.5, 18
13, Laventille Sound Specialists, Fire and Steel, Seion Gomez, 429, 12, 411, 19
14, Redemption Sound Setters, Rain Melody, Winston Gordon, 445, 6, 433, 5(T)
15, Pamberi, Stranger, Brian Villafana, 436, 9, 413, 16
16, Hatters, Rain Drops On My Pan, Earl Brooks, 431, 10, 424, 11
17, Trinidad All Stars, Rain Melody, Leon "Smooth" Edwards, 467, 2, 452, 1
18, Nu Tones, It's the Culture, Wayne Bruno, 414, 20, 408, 20(T3)
19, Arima Angel Harps, Rain Melody, K. and H. Headly, 421, 18, 417, 15
20, Invaders, Stranger, Ken "Professor" Philmore, 443, 7, 430, 7
21, Starlift, Fire and Steel, Annise Hadeed, 431, 10, 425, 10

Here are the results for the Pan in the 21st Century competition held
simultaneously with the semi-final:

[ The P21C Play Order is embedded in the Panorama Semi-Finals Play Order as; if a band has qualified to enter the P21C Competition, it would then play the extra P21C tune when it arrived on stage in the Panorama Semi-Finals Play Order - eEd ]

Appearance Position, Band, Song, Score, Rank, Preliminary Score, Preliminary
Rank

Note: There was no list of who arranged the composition, although it was
announced as the bands performed. In most cases it was the same arranger as
the panorama composition. Starlift's arrangement was done by Carlyle
Oliver, not "Halfers".

Also note that the bands played their Pan in the 21st Century composition
while they were on stage for the Panorama composition. No separate draw was
held for position. Each band decided which composition to perform first.
The appearance position listed below is for the Panorama composition. Since
only 13 of the 21 bands were in the Pan in the 21st Century finals, the
appearance position numbers are not consecutive. There was a tie in the
Preliminaries for 12th place, so 13 bands performed.

2, Skiffle Bunch, How Great Thou Art, 274, 2, 442, 6
3, Phase II Pan Groove, Love Me Tender, 273, 3, 461 1(T)
4, Renegades, More, 261, 10,445, 5
5, Melodians, I Will Survive, 253, 13, 433, 8
8, Tokyo, My Love Does It All, 266, 6, 453, 3
9, Exodus, Maria Maria, 272, 4, 461, 1(T)
11, Deltones, Its Too Hot, 259, 11, 432, 9(T3)
13, Laventille Sound Specialists, Give Me The Night, 264, 8(T), 423, 12(T)
15, Pamberi, My Way, 254, 12, 432, 9(T3)
16, Hatters, Let It Be Me, 264, 8(T), 423, 12(T)
17, Trinidad All Stars, Precious Lord, 278, 1, 450, 4
20, Invaders, Rock The Boat, 267, 5, 432, 9(T3)
21, Starlift, Tripping, 265, 7, 441, 7

There is an obvious discrepancy between the preliminary Pan in the 21st
Century scores, which approach 500 points and the final scores which
approach 300 points. I confirmed with Pan Trinbago that the same five
judges were used for both competitions. Apparently they dropped the high
and low scores in the final, but not in the preliminaries. I don't have a
copy of the rules, but I'm sure they don't call for the judging rules to be
changed between rounds. I'm going to try to get a copy of the master score
sheets for both rounds to determine what they did.

Concerning the Panorama compositions, anything is possible in the finals.
This is the closest competition in several years. The level of performance
at the top is very high, and rising. All Stars seem to have slipped a bit,
Exodus is up to first, Renegades and Pamberi came way up, Merry Tones went
way down. Laventille Sound Specialists and Tornadoes both improved
considerably, but missed the cut, placing 12th and 13th respectively. Both
Tobago bands dropped, as has been the pattern the last couple of years,
though Redemption Sound Setters only fell to sixth. They impressed me very
much with their style and performance.

Desperadoes was not present. They skipped the Pan in the 21st Century
competition. In fact they have moved back up the hill. Although all kinds
of rumors about their plans are floating around, Curtis Edwards says they
are not abandoning "Horn", but the arrangement we will hear next Saturday
will be quite different than the one we have heard up to now.

There were no guard dogs (not counting the cleverly dressed pooch
accompanying a couple of Starlift supporters dressed as Pierrot Grenades).
The stage was patrolled by Trinidad police, and while some of them had
holstered firearms and carried truncheons, they primarily depended on polite
persuasion for crowd control. A very few of the guards from the private
security service, unarmed, were observed on the premises.

There certainly was no problem with overcrowding. The North Stand remained
nearly empty, and the Grand Stand was only lightly attended until about 9
PM, just before All Stars appearance, when they opened the gates, and many
of the people liming on the drag chose to sit in the Grand Stand. There had
been a significant crowd on the drag all day, but by no means was it packed.

The day's activities started about 1/2 hour late, and ended about 11:30 PM.
There were still problems with the track stewards not moving bands up to the
stage in time. Of course, most bandleaders want to stay away from the stage
entrance as long as possible, so they can continue to rehearse while the
bands are playing on stage.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 5
 Semi-Finals Order of Appearance

17 February, 2001 00:14 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

Order of Appearance for Steelband Semi-Finals, Sunday at Queens Park Savannah:

1: Cordettes
2: Skiffle Bunch
3: Phase II Pan Groove
4: Renegades
5: Melodians
6: Merrytones
7: Tornadoes
8: Tokyo
9: Exodus
10: Tropical Angel Harps
11: Deltones
12: Our Boys
13: Laventille Sound Specialists
14: Redemption Sound Setters
15: Pamberi
16: Hatters
17: Trinidad All Stars
18: Nu Tones
19: Arima Angel Harps
20: Invaders
21: Starlift

Note, this is for the Panorama Semi-Finals, the Pan in the 21st Century
Final competition which takes place at the same event is still undetermined.
The judging for the 12 finalists for that event was not concluded until
early this morning.

Desperadoes does not compete in the Panorama Semi-Finals (as defending
champions), they likely will be one of the 12 finalists in the Pan in the
21st Century competition. In all likelihood, bands playing in both
competitions will play both tunes in the order pulled for the Panorama Semi
Finals. It is unclear when band(s) in only the Pan in the 21st Century
competition will be accommodated.

Again last night, the in panyard judging of the preliminaries for the Pan in
the 21st Century continued to fall way behind schedule. The judges
apparently also re-arranged the order to their convenience. Renegades was
supposed to be judged at 10:10. Some time around 11:15, they were told that
the judges were at Belmont 5th Dimension and would be there imminently.
Renegades was supposed to be judged before Belmont. The judges showed up at
Renegades at about 11:50. After judging Renegades, they immediately went to
All Stars, who were judged about 12:30.

If the judging in the yard system is to be successful, and be expanded to
the first phase of the Panorama judging, as many people (myself included)
are recommending, the judging schedule must be realistic. Unfortunately,
the people who made up the schedule this year were apparently the same ones
who schedule most of Pan Trinbago's events. They have no sense of time.

Last night was also the continuation of the successful Terry Joseph
"innovation" of having bands play an hour of their music in the yard. All
Stars played starting at 8:00 PM, and was supposed to stop about 9:00.
Repeated requests for encores from supporters in their packed yard kept the
concert going to 9:30. Renegades, however, started about 9:15 They ended
early a little after 10 PM, expecting the Pan in the 21st Century judges to
show up. Unfortunately, many of the stragglers who had driven from All
Stars and had difficulty finding parking near Renegades arrived just in time
to hear the last notes of the concert. Not to worry about attendance, the
Renegades yard was packed the whole time anyway. To their credit, when
Renegades realized the judges would be more than a little late, they played
several more selections.

Those who schedule these events in the future need to avoid falling into the
same Pan Trinbago time trap, though. Leave enough time between the yards to
allow the pan jumbies like yours truly to comfortably get between the yards,
and that includes some time spent 'liming' in the yard after the concert
before moving on. Perhaps it would work better to have each band do this on
a different night, or at least not more than two bands per night. Spread
over more nights, it would provide a regular source of entertainment for the
pan community, and enlarge the ranks of pan lovers. However the details are
worked out, this is an idea whose time has come.

The third scheduled band, Desperadoes, chose to cancel. In fact they did
not practice on the Barber Green where we thought they would be. So we
assumed they had gone back up the hill, but at about 12:30 while I was at
All Stars, they towed their rhythm rack and some other equipment down
Picadilly Street behind the bridge. So I don't know where they had been
(possibly at Picadilly Greens?) or where they were moving to. Whatever,
they apparently felt, given their disappointing score in the North Zone
final, they had better use the night to work on the tune, instead of putting
on a concert.

It is obvious that the panyard concerts are wildly popular, at least in
town. Whether the same format would work with a rural band remains
unanswered. These concerts fulfill the same need for bands to diversify
beyond the Panorama tune that Pan Trinbago saw when it started the Pan in
the 21st Century program. Since that event has never been economically
successful, and the panyard concerts obviously are, it is time to move on.
Replace the Pan in the 21st Century program with a full series of panyard
concerts. The events could even be judged at each yard, and not only for
musical performance, but for organization, running on schedule, service to
patrons (food, bar, sale of jerseys), etc. Since the individual bands are
now running the event, it is in their interest to satisfy their supporters,
not only musically but in all aspects of a well managed event. They should
be judged accordingly.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 4
 North Panorama [Zonal] Finals

16 February, 2001 02:47 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

Here are the results of the North Zone Finals held February 15th. Each band
played two tunes, their Panorama composition and a Sparrow tune.

Playing Position, Band Name, Tune, Arranger, Points

Panorama Tune:

(Traditional Bands played both tunes, but were only judged for the Sparrow tune)

1, Harlem Syncopators, Yuh Looking for Horn, Gerald "Bellies" Charles, -
2, Woodbrook Playboyz, Freedom, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, -

(The other North traditional bands did not appear)

Conventional:

1, Starlift, Fire and Steel, Anise Hadeed, 261
2, Renegades, Sound of the Ghost, Jit Samaroo, 270
3, Trinidad All Stars, Rain Melody, Leon "Smooth" Edwards, 282
4, Merrytones, Rain Melody, Kendall Lewis, 258
5, Tokyo, Stranger, Beverly Griffith, 250
6, Invaders, Stranger, Ken "Professor" Philmore, 270
7, Phase II, Freedom, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, 278
8, Desperadoes, Yuh Looking For Horn, Clive Bradley, 277

Sparrow Tune, Traditional:

1, Harlem Syncopators, Slave, Gerald "Bellies" Charles, 201
2, Woodbrook Playboyz, Drunk and Disorderly, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, 250

Conventional:

1, Starlift, Bad John, Eastlyn Hinds, 248
2, Renegades, Memories, Jit Samaroo, 240
3, All Stars, Doh Back Back, Leon "Smooth" Edwards, 274
4, Merrytones, Drunk and Disorderly, Kendall Lewis, 236
5, Tokyo, Keep the City Clean, Beverly Griffith, 239
6, Invaders, Congo Man, Ken "Professor" Philmore, 254
7, Phase II Pan Groove, Drunk and Disorderly, Len "Boogsie" Sharpe, 267
8, Desperadoes, Rose, Beverly Griffith, 243


I spent much of the evening at Potential Symphony in Barataria, where I and
a couple of friends went to observe the "in the panyard" judging of the Pan
in the 21st Century Preliminaries.

The judging was scheduled for 8:45. The judges finally appeared at 10:15.
I do not know the reason for the delay, but I think optimistic scheduling
may have played a part of it. This does not bode well for tonight (Friday)
when 11 North Zone bands are scheduled to be judged all in one evening, with
only 25 minutes between bands in some cases. On Thursday, Potential was
only the third band of a scheduled five. On Friday, Laventille Sound
Specialists is the last band that will be judged, and the judges are
scheduled to appear at 12:50 AM. Given Thursday's delays, they are likely
to appear there at about dawn.

Actually, I don't think the delay was much bother for the band, it just gave
them more opportunity to rehearse. Unlike performances in venues such as
Queens Park Savannah, there is very little distraction or expense for the
band. They spent the evening rehearsing as they do every evening, instead
of moving racks, pans, et al. The only extra facilities they had to prepare
were a small tent with lights and a table for the judges. They also served
the judges refreshments. Unlike some of the larger bands, where the judging
last year attracted a large crowd, only a few supporters and family members
were present, typical of any night the band rehearses.

For those who come to Trinidad and only visit the panyards of the large "in
town" bands, you are making a mistake. These smaller bands are the roots of
pan. Many of the players are young people from the neighborhood of the
band. The vibes in the panyard can be very pleasant. I enjoyed my time at
Potential every bit as much as I have at the large bands.

These bands may not have the star arrangers or the crack-shot players, but
many of them perform at a high level. They will not have the power on stage
of let us say an All Stars or Phase II, and therefore don't get the high
scores, but for most of them the important thing is not to win, but rather
to simply do the best they can with the resources available. Some of these
players and arrangers will be the big names in future years.

Pan Trinbago must take steps to help these bands develop. In particular,
the Panorama competition needs to be restructured to allow these smaller
bands to compete against each other, independent of the 100 player giants.
In most sports, teams are placed in different classifications, based on size
and ability. The smaller "farm teams" are not expected to compete against
the major leagues. A similar arrangement is needed for pan.

Now back to the North Zone... After the delay at Potential, I expected we
had missed most of the competition. Listening on the car radio, we were
very surprised to hear band number four, Merrytones, just finishing their
first tune. By the time we drove to QPS, about 11:00 PM, the conventional
bands were only half done. In fact Desperadoes, the last band, was not
finished until about 2:00 AM. Since the event actually started before its
8:00 scheduled time, and there were only two "single pan" bands, I don't
know what delayed things so much. There was a dance presentation and an
awards ceremony between the Single Pan and Conventional parts of the
competition, and this may be where the time disappeared.

When we entered the Savannah Grandstand, we couldn't help but notice the
north stand was all but empty, and the Grandstand itself was far from full.
Going out to the "drag", it became apparent the event was in fact well
attended, the drag was crowded, unfortunately for Pan Trinbago with
non-paying customers. If half the people on the drag listening to the bands
warm up had been inside, the stands would have been full. In fact, late in
the evening when they opened the gates and stopped checking tickets, the
Grandstand crowd grew considerably.

For most of the night the overly aggressive security force noted last
weekend was notably absent. At one point I saw a few of the "estate
police", they were armed only with night sticks. Late in the evening, when
the prize giving began, there was a substantial presence of Trinidad police,
some with firearms, but they were polite, and the participants were
cooperative in return.

Since I only heard half the bands, I can't comment too much on the
performance. Be aware that this was judged by a different group of judges
than those judging the main Panorama events, so it is hard to say how much
of the point differences from the weekend represent differences in
performance and how much differences in judge's tastes.

I didn't see All Stars or Renegades, but those I talked to were again
impressed by All Stars, and felt Renegades sounded much better on the stage,
and this is reflected in the score. Last weekend they were 7th among these
bands. This time they were tied for fourth. Still a ways from the top, but
a considerable improvement. Phase II edged out Desperadoes for second, and
were only four points below All Stars. It is obvious that this year's
competition is very much a horse race, and anything is still possible.

Speaking of horse races, the big buzz was the decision by Patric Arnold and
the Pan Trinbago executive to move the Panorama finals from QPS to Skinner
Park. While I understand Pan Trinbago's total frustration with QPS (which
was an abandoned horse racing grandstand, for those who may not know),
Skinner Park is far from a good venue for this type of event. While the
pitch may hold many thousands, the stands only hold a couple thousand, much
smaller than QPS. The layout of the large entrance (the only place where
band floats can enter and leave) relative to the stands will make crowd
control far worse than QPS.

Everyone I talked to last night thought this plan was doomed to failure, and
very opposed to it. But they were all from North bands who would now have
to travel to San Fernando to perform. I am told there is an old Trini
saying it is a lot further from Port of Spain to San Fernando than from San
Fernando to Port of Spain. We will have to see what develops when the
entire Pan Trinbago membership discusses this plan.

Back to Despers. They slipped to third, as I said above. For some reason
they slowed the tempo of "Horn" down even further. Probably no slower than
Sparrow sings it, but it came across as too dragged out for a panorama
presentation. The song also still lacks a proper ending. There are rumors
about some unpleasantness between Bradley and Despers, supposedly about his
fee, and how fast he is receiving it. These are amplified by the fact that
Beverly Griffith, not Bradley, arranged Despers' Sparrow tune. But this may
also be part of a grand plan by Despers to hold back and catch the
competition off guard with a big splash during the Finals. Anything is
possible this year.

There was, a "prize giving ceremony" immediately after the scores were
announced. I thought this might set some kind of a record for fast pay-out
by Pan Trinbago, but only half way. They paid each band the 18,000 dollars
(TT) for playing their Panorama tune, but the bands will have to wait for
the 8,000 still owed them for the Sparrow tune. (These amounts are for the
conventional bands, traditional get far less.)

While on the subject of money, I'm not sure it made the Internet but
Trinidad's Cabinet approved the appropriation of funds to pay the
outstanding debts of the World Steelband Festival, including the unpaid
prize money. That embarrassing episode can now be put to bed. The Cabinet
also approved funds including an additional couple of million dollars (TT)
to pay back Pan Trinbago debts to give them a clean slate for running this
year's Panorama. Whether this will allow Pan Trinbago to restore the
payment to Panorama players back to $400 from the reduced $200 remains to be
seen. Given that the payment was for those who played in the Preliminaries,
already passed, it is unlikely the amount will be increased this year.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 3
 Complete Prelim Results

14 February, 2001 02:12 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

The table below lists the bands who played in all rounds of the
preliminaries. They are listed in the order they were scheduled to perform.
Many bands performed out of order on Saturday for various reasons, and one
band on Sunday. I believe most problems involved transport. The second
column lists the approximate actual position the band played in. My record
keeping on Saturday may have been incomplete, and I could find no-one after
the results were announced who had a record of the actual order of appearance.

I do not know the actual order of appearance of the Tobago bands.

Scheduled Day and Order, Actual Position, Band, Points, Place after
Saturday, Place after Sunday, Final place

1-1, 1, Birdsong, 401, 13, 26, 30(T)
1-2, 2, Belmont 5th Dim., 390, 15, 32, 38
1-3, 3, Blue Diamonds, 355, 18(T), 39(T), 45(T)
1-4, 5, Motown, 322, 23, 47, 53
1-5, 12, Humming Birds Pan Groove, 406, 12, 23(T), 25(T)
1-6, 4, Tunapuna All Stars, 344, 21, 44, 50
1-7, 6, Curepe Scherzando, 407, 11, 21(T), 23(T)
1-8, 7, Tokyo, 419, 7, 13, 14
1-9, 8, Fonclaire, 392, 14, 30, 36
1-10, 9, Exodus, 444, 2, 3,3
1-11, 10, Phase II, 433, 3, 5, 5(T)
1-12, 11, Fascinators Pan Symphony, 363, 17, 37, 43
1-13, 13, Trinidad All Stars, 452, 1, 1, 1
1-14, 21, Melodians, 420, 6, 12, 13
1-15, 14, Harmonites, 385, 16, 33, 39
1-16, 15, Parry's Pan School, 355, 18(T), 39(T), 45(T)
1-17, 18, Southern All Stars, 321, 24, 48, 54
1-18, 16, Renegades, 423, 5, 11, 12
1-19, 17, Laventille Sound Specialists, 411, 9, 17, 19
1-20, 22, Mt. Moriah Pan Movement, 343, 22, 45, 51
1-21, 19, Claytones, 319, 25, 49, 55
1-22, 20, Arima Angel Harps, 417, 8, 14, 15
1-23, 23, Panatics, 350, 20, 43, 49
1-24, 24, NuTones, 408, 10, 18(T3), 20(T3)
1-25, 25, Merry Tones, 427, 4, 7, 8
2-1, 1, Potential Symphony, 391,-, 31, 37
2-2, 2, Pamberi, 413,-, 15, 16
2-3, 3, Pan Knights, 405,-,25, 27(T)
2-4, 4, Silver Stars, 407,-, 21(T), 23(T)
2-5, 5, Casablanca, 325,-, 46, 52
2-6, 6, Tornadoes, 412,-, 16, 17
2-7, 7, Hatters, 424,-, 10, 11
2-8, 8, Cordettes, 408,-, 18(T3), 20(T3)
2-9, 9, Starland, 369,-, 35, 41
2-10, 10, Couva Joylanders, 353,-, 42, 48
2-11, 11, Moods, 400.5,-, 27, 32
2-12, 12, Panosonic Connection, 406,-, 23(T), 25(T)
2-13, 25, Staffire Flamingoes, 318,-, 50, 56
2-14, 13, Southern Marines, 370,-, 34, 40
2-15, 14, Simple Song, 354,-, 41, 47
2-16, 15, Desperadoes, 449,-, 2, 2
2-17, 16, Tropical Angel Harps, 426,-, 8, 9
2-18, 17, Valley Harps, 399,,-, 28, 33
2-19, 18, Starlift, 425,-, 9, 10
2-20, 19, Deltones, 408,-, 18(T3), 20(T3)
2-21, 20, Skiffle Bunch, 440,-, 4, 4
2-22, 21, Power Stars, 398,-, 29, 34
2-23, 22, Kalamo Kings, 362,-, 38, 44
2-24, 23, Sforzata, 365,-, 36, 42
2-25, 24, Invaders, 430,-, 6, 7
T-1,-, East Side Symphony, 401,-,-, 30(T)
T-2,-, Bucconneers, 402,-,-, 29
T-3,-, Dixieland, 405,-,-, 27(T)
T-4,-, Our Boys, 411.5,-,-, 18
T-5,-, Redemption Sound Setters, 433,-,-, 5(T)
T-6,-, West Side Symphony, 394,-,-, 35


I was not in Tobago, and heard little of the radio coverage, as I was
"panyard hopping" yesterday evening. The Tobago bands scored relatively
high, with Redemption Sound Setters tieing Phase II for 5th place.

A good friend who has watched the scoring closely for many years pointed out
that the Tobago bands in the last couple of years have done well in the
Preliminaries, then poorly in the Semi-Finals. As he put it, "knocking out
better bands from Trinidad" (Of course, he represents a Trinidad band, this
time his band wasn't "knocked out".) This could be because of improved
listening conditions for the judges in Tobago, or their more rested state.
We will have to see if this continues to hold this year.

Because of the three way tie at 20, there will presumably be 21 bands
competing for the 11 positions in the Finals. Desperadoes, as defending
champion, is guaranteed a position and does not compete.

Scherzando and Silver Stars, previously tied for 21st, were knocked out.

There have been some rumors that more bands might be let in to the
Semi-Finals, but I have heard nothing official about this. Since the Pan in
the 21st Century finals are combined into the same event, with 12
compositions to be played, I would suspect there will be strong opposition
from some quarters to lengthening the competition.

John Schmidt

 REPORT 2
 Panorama Preliminary Results though Sunday

12 February, 2001 01:53 PM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

The table below lists the bands who played in Saturday's or Sunday's round
of the preliminaries. They are listed in the order they were scheduled to
perform. Many bands performed out of order on Saturday for various reasons,
and one on Sunday. I believe most problems involved transport. The second
column lists the approximate actual position the band played in. My record
keeping on Saturday may have been incomplete, and I could find no-one after
the results were announced who had a record of the actual order of appearance.

Scheduled Day and Order, Actual Position, Band, Points, Place after
Saturday, Place after Sunday

1-1, 1, Birdsong, 401, 13, 26
1-2, 2, Belmont 5th Dim., 390, 15, 32
1-3, 3, Blue Diamonds, 355, 18(T), 39(T)
1-4, 5, Motown, 322, 23, 47
1-5, 12, Humming Birds Pan Groove, 406, 12, 23(T)
1-6, 4, Tunapuna All Stars, 344, 21, 44
1-7, 6, Curepe Scherzando, 407, 11, 21(T)
1-8, 7, Tokyo, 419, 7, 13
1-9, 8, Fonclaire, 392, 14, 30
1-10, 9, Exodus, 444, 2, 3
1-11, 10, Phase II, 433, 3, 5
1-12, 11, Fascinators Pan Symphony, 363, 17, 37
1-13, 13, Trinidad All Stars, 452, 1, 1
1-14, 21, Melodians, 420, 6, 12
1-15, 14, Harmonites, 385, 16, 33
1-16, 15, Parry's Pan School, 355, 18(T), 39(T)
1-17, 18, Southern All Stars, 321, 24, 48
1-18, 16, Renegades, 423, 5, 11
1-19, 17, Laventille Sound Specialists, 411, 9, 17
1-20, 22, Mt. Moriah Pan Movement, 343, 22, 45
1-21, 19, Claytones, 319, 25, 49
1-22, 20, Arima Angel Harps, 417, 8, 14
1-23, 23, Panatics, 350, 20, 43
1-24, 24, NuTones, 408, 10, 18(T3)
1-25, 25, Merry Tones, 427, 4, 7
2-1, 1, Potential Symphony, 391,-, 31
2-2, 2, Pamberi, 413,-, 15
2-3, 3, Pan Knights, 405,-,25
2-4, 4, Silver Stars, 407,-, 21(T)
2-5, 5, Casablanca, 325,-, 46
2-6, 6, Tornadoes, 412,-, 16
2-7, 7, Hatters, 424,-, 10
2-8, 8, Cordettes, 408,-, 18(T3)
2-9, 9, Starland, 369,-, 35
2-10, 10, Couva Joylanders, 353,-,42
2-11, 11, Moods, 400.5,-,27
2-12, 12, Panosonic Connection, 406,-, 23(T)
2-13, 25, Staffire Flamingoes, 318,-, 50
2-14, 13, Southern Marines, 370,-, 34
2-15, 14, Simple Song, 354,-, 41
2-16, 15, Desperadoes, 449,-, 2
2-17, 16, Tropical Angel Harps, 426,-, 8
2-18, 17, Valley Harps, 399,,-, 28
2-19, 18, Starlift, 425,-, 9
2-20, 19, Deltones, 408,-, 18(T3)
2-21, 20, Skiffle Bunch, 440,-, 4
2-22, 21, Power Stars, 398,-, 29
2-23, 22, Kalamo Kings, 362,-, 38
2-24, 23, Sforzata, 365,-, 36
2-25, 24, Invaders, 430,-, 6

Sunday, Pan Trinbago was unable to keep to their announced 11:00 AM start,
the National Anthem was played at 11:52. The system of "Track Stewards" who
are supposed to keep bands positioned in the "drag" ready to move on stage
failed most of the day. Repeatedly, a band would complete their performance
and move off stage, and the next band would be nowhere to be seen. They
were often somewhere by the Barber Green still rehearsing, with no Pan
Trinbago people to tell them to move on stage. I estimate that close to an
hour could have been saved by more attention to having the next band moved
up to the foot of the stage ready to move on.

Even with this delay, and a close to 30 minute, ineffective, "Tribute to
Kitchener" which was staged just prior to Desper's performance, the
competition was over before 11:00 PM.

I have to correct a mis-statement I made yesterday. 20 bands go on to the
Semi-Finals, not 16. I should read the rules myself, not listen to what
someone told me! Sorry for the confusion. The Tobago preliminary is
Tuesday night, and that may knock a couple of the top 20 listed above out of
the Semi-Finals, scheduled for next Sunday.

There was one serious problem, which could have escalated into a tragedy,
and requires immediate attention. For both days, there was a line of
heavily armed "Estate Police" which would walk across the stage after each
band, to try to get the members and supporters to exit across the stage to
the west, rather than walking east back into the drag. I think the purpose
of this exercise is to prevent confusion between the departing band
members/supporters and the next band waiting to move on at the east foot of
the stage. Of course this makes little difference if the next band is still
back by the Barber Green, as was often the case Sunday Night.

These "Estate Police" did their job without much notice until Desperadoes
performance. Both before and after Desperadoes, there were arguments
between people involved with Desperadoes and some of these "Estate Police"
which escalated into shoving matches, and came close to going further. Some
of the "Estate Police" (who are not government police officers but employees
of a private security service more usually used to secure private property)
got totally unreasonable and refused to back off, even when asked to by the
Pan Trinbago stage managers who were present. Those of us who witnessed
this couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was obvious that these people
had no training in crowd control.

This was happening while these "Estate Police" were holding their firearms,
fingers on the triggers. What would have happened if a shot had been fired,
even accidentally as a result of a shove.

Firearms have no place on the Savannah stage during a competition like this.
There is no way any officer could have safely fired a shot with the
thousands of people present. Batons and night sticks are power enough. If
there is some concern that armed officers might be required to deal with,
let us say a similarly armed person on the stage, there could be a team of
armed (and properly trained) Trinidad Police Force officers kept offstage
discretely out of sight unless needed.

It seemed to me there was also an amount of "class consciousness" on the
part of these "officers". They often seemed to allow those who appeared to
be more "mainstream" to pass, while firmly resisting those who appeared to
belong to an "alternative lifestyle". This did not go over well with the
Despers crowd.

I am aware of the long standing problems with crowd control on the Savannah
stage during these events, and understand the necessity to provide some form
of security service. In this case, the force used and available was
inappropriate to that need, and could have precipitated a real disaster. A
force of Trinidad Police Officers (who would be more respected than armed
security guards) without firearms, but with batons would provide much better
security for all concerned.

Now on to the better news. Disregarding the above problems, the event went
well. The quality of the music was generally high, and while one might
quibble with the score given to a particular band, there did not seem to be
gross problems in the judging.

Fears that lack of some of the big bands, who had played on Saturday, would
affect attendance were unfounded. The North Stand quickly filled to its
usual overcrowded state, and remained that way until after Invaders'
performance. It did not collapse. The Grandstand was not full, but the
center sections were near capacity. Patrons who got up to dance to Shadow's
music, the choice of many of the steelbands, often blocked the aisles making
exit and entry difficult.

As you can see from the scores, All Stars remains in first place by 3
points, but I'm sure Bradley has some surprises in store for the Final, so
Smooth had better have some of his own plans if he wants to stay in the
lead. Exodus and Phase II aren't that far back. This year there is a much
tighter race at the top than the last two, so anything is possible.

One surprise is the poor showing of Renegades. I don't know what is going
on. The band sounded sweet to me on the drag, but seemed to lack snap on
the stage. It seemed to be this same "spirit" thing which the judges have
looked for in New York Panorama. Again, it's only the Preliminaries, so a
lot can happen before the champion is chosen.

A couple of final notes: Staffire Flamingoes played last, instead of 13th
as scheduled, due to unspecified "problems." The announcer said they had 50
players, but whoever counted them must have had so much to drink that he was
seeing double! I counted somewhere in the mid thirties, and about ten of
those were in an inflated percussion section. Shades of New York Panorama!
They did no harm, ending up in last place. This does point up the need for
a small bands category. None of the bands with under 70 or so players did
at all well. They just can't compete against the 100 player powerhouses.
But it is just about impossible to start a new band with a lot of players.
So, unless they are going to restrict Panorama to the existing bands, some
thought needs to be given to creating a small band category. Economics may
make this difficult.

Finally, Sforzata had some inspirational sayings on the sides of some of
their racks. One of them said "OUR CHILDREN IS OUR FUTURE". That may be
so, but their children will do better if they are taught proper grammar!

John Schmidt

 REPORT 1
 Steelband Preliminary Results - Saturday

11 February, 2001 09:05 AM
By John Schmidt
schmidj@ix.netcom.com

The table below lists the bands who played in Saturday's round of the
preliminaries. They are listed in the order they were scheduled to perform.
Many bands performed out of order for various reasons, I believe most
involving transport problems. The second column lists the approximate
actual position the band played in. My record keeping may have been
incomplete, and I could find no-one after the results were announced who had
a record of the actual order of appearance.

Scheduled Order, Actual Position, Band, Points, Place

1, 1, Birdsong, 401, 13
2, 2, Belmont 5th Dim., 390, 15
3, 3, Blue Diamonds, 355, 18
4, 5, Motown, 322, 23
5, 12, Humming Birds Pan Groove, 406, 12
6, 4, Tunapuna All Stars, 344, 21
7, 6, Curepe Scherzando, 407, 11
8, 7, Tokyo, 419, 7
9, 8, Fonclaire, 392, 14
10, 9, Exodus, 444, 2
11, 10, Phase II, 433, 3
12, 11, Fascinators Pan Symphony, 363, 17
13, 13, Trinidad All Stars, 452, 1
14, 21, Melodians, 420, 6
15, 14, Harmonites, 385, 16
16, 15, Parry's Pan School, 355, 18
17, 18, Southern All Stars, 321, 24
18, 16, Renegades, 423, 5
19, 17, Laventille Sound Specialists, 411, 9
20, 22, Mt. Moriah Pan Movement, 343, 22
21, 19, Claytones, 319, 25
22, 20, Arima Angel Harps, 417, 8
23, 23, Panatics, 350, 20
24, 24, NuTones, 408, 10
25, 25, Merry Tones, 427, 4

The event started on time at about 1:00 PM, the last band finished at
approximately 12:30 PM. There was a considerable delay after Blue Diamonds
performed as no other band was ready. There were a couple of other delays
in getting bands on stage, but overall the event moved with reasonable
speed, as Panoramas go.

I will let the scores speak for themselves, All Stars seemed to get the
biggest crowd reaction.

Attendance, as expected, was far from overcrowded. The grandstand center
forecourt was probably 3/4 full from the time Exodus played until after
Renegades, then thinned out rapidly. The north stand was only lightly
attended until it started to rain when NuTones was preparing to play.
Someone opened the gate to the drag, and people escaping the rain perhaps
half filled the stand, the biggest crowd there of the day. There was a
fairly good (non-paying) crowd on the drag for much of the day.

Humming Birds Pan Groove certainly had the most bad luck in the 24 hours
preceding their performance. One of their foundation members passed away,
their manager ended up in the hospital with what I understand was a ruptured
appendix, and two of their racks did not make it from the panyard to the
Savannah, delaying the band's appearance on stage. My condolences go out to
members of the band.

My vote for tackiest decorations and most crass commercialization goes to
Southern All Stars, for having all their racks completely plastered with
flyers advertising a sale of Kaleidoscope paint. I know money is hard to
come by for the smaller bands, but there has to be a limit... As usual for
the preliminaries, most bands had no decorations, in fact there were a
number of unpainted newly burnt and tuned background pans visible.

The quality of the sound system was reasonable, but too loud in the
relatively empty stands.

By the way, the top 16 bands will proceed from the Preliminaries to the
Semi-Finals, not counting the defending champions, Desperadoes. We will not
know the full list of bands until after the Tobago preliminaries on Tuesday.

John Schmidt

© 2001: tobagojo@gmail.com - 20010226 - 1m20071228 - 2m20151104 Historic Update: 26 February 2001; Last Update: 04 November 2015 24:00:00 TT Processed by: Jeremy G de Barry

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