Air ofvictory in Renegades’ panyard

JOAN RAMPERSAD

THERE was an air of anticipated victory at the Renegades panyard last Thursday night during BPTT’s annual Panyard Lime.

Several times during the course of the night announcer Wendell Etienne, arranger Duvone Stewart and reigning Soca Monarch Voice (Aaron St Louis) alluded to an impending BP Renegades’ victory at the National Steelband Panorama competition in 2018. And each time they did, guests roared with approval. The band is playing Voice’s Year For Love.

Norman Christie, regional president of BPTT, and the company’s management and staff hosted the event, which saw a number of high-profile visitors. Among them, past BPTT chairman Robert Riley, former prime minister Basdeo Panday and his wife Oma Panday, Ministers Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Shamfa Cudjoe, and Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, former Senate president Danny Montano and his wife Rosemonde, retired banker Richard Young and former Miss Universe Wendy Fitzwilliam.

Guests feasted on local delicacies while being entertained first by the Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra, which played its 2018 song of choice, Sokah.

Time out was then taken to cut a cake to mark the band’s 70th anniversary, and then guests danced to the music of the stage side, which played tunes such as Hello, Give It To Ya, All Ah We is One Family, Government Boots, Golo, We Can Make it if We Try, Play One, Bun Dem and Black Man Feeling to Party, when Stewart took the microphone to sing his prediction for the outcome of this year’s Panorama competition. This hyped up the crowd, as the band continued with My Pussin’, Fever and Rainorama.

Voice raised the level of energy as he sang his 2018 hit Year For Love, as well as Far From Finished and Cheers to Life, with Stewart soloing, much to the delight of the crowd, before Voice sang his current offering one more time.

Then came BPTT Renegades, who did their Panorama tune both at a slow pace, then the tempo at which they are expected to play in the Panorama finals on Carnival Saturday night.