Judges caught in pan jam

BP Renegades in full flight.
BP Renegades in full flight.

GARY CARDINEZ

The preliminary round for large bands (North) for Panorama was nothing short of sensational. It resulted in Port of Spain being gridlocked on Tuesday evening as thousands of pan lovers traversed the streets.

There was as much jamming outside on the streets as there was in the panyards.

It was like a pilgrimage from panyard to panyard with people walking to beat the traffic, but they caused as much traffic by walking in the streets.

The situation could not be helped as the police did not and could not have prepared for such a large turnout of people for the judging. This one was totally misread by the authorities.

Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly was caught in the jam but she and the judges had a police escort which made things just a bit easier.

The action started at Starlift down in Mucurapo and from the time you tried to enter Christopher Samuel Drive, it was difficult. That was a sign of things to come. MHTL Starlift played a Keith Salcedo arrangement of Voice’s Alive and Well and after the final note there was a hustle in the direction of Hadco Phase II Pan Groove.

Down in the Hamilton Street village, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe and his players anxiously awaited the judges. After the official greetings between Boogsie and Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore, it was down to business.

Phase II’s rendition of “Boogsie’s" arrangement of Swappi and Ultimate Rejects’ Party Start drew a loud roar from the supporters. The human train then started off to the Queen’s Park Oval where Shell Invaders’ management, sponsor’s personnel and loyal supporters gathered.

Getting to the Oval proved difficult even though there was a police escort. Once inside, the judges heard Farmer Nappy live with Hookin Meh. Nappy took the crowd to a level which only the players could have topped.

And when they started Arddin Herbert’s arrangement of the song and the crowd went wild. There was singing and dancing by both the players and the audience. Invaders proved that they are ready to take on all comers this year.

Getting down Tragarete Road to Nutrien Silver Stars, a few blocks away was even harder than the first two bands. The police escort really had to work to get the judges there.

Professor Liam Teague and his musical director Marcus Ash stood quietly in front of the band before the judges walked into the yard. Getting into Silver Stars yard is a nightmare as it is a very narrow entrance.

Once the judges were seated the players took the count from arranger Teague and it was show time.

There is always an energy and excitement coming from this band of young players and every note and nuance in the music was heard quite clearly. Teague used the spirit of Soca Baptist in SuperBlue’s Rag Storm perfectly. When the band was finished Nutrien’s managing director Ian Welch seemed very pleased with the performance.

The gridlock intensified as the judges made their way a little further down Tragarete Road to Desperadoes panyard. There were four lanes, (two for parking) and one in each direction (east to west) with the judges heading east the police had to stop cars from going west. It was frightening to see the amount of people gathered outside and inside Desperadoes’ panyard.

It took a while to get into the yard and have the judges by their table but once that was done Desperadoes went straight into Carlton “Zanda” Alexander’s arrangement of Nailah Blackman’s Iron Love. “Zanda” had the players excited and they executed as planned thereby getting massive applause from the audience.

The journey continued to Charlotte Street to bp Renegades. This was not so easy it proved to be the most difficult part of the ride for the evening. From as far as Oxford and Pembroke Streets there was heavy traffic.

When the police got Charlotte it was a case of take the jam until they got in front of Charford Court.

This time around the judges had to walk through a mass of people to get to their position and it proved to be very difficult. People gathered on Charlotte Street as if it was blocked to vehicular traffic.

Inside, Duvone Stewart and Renegades were ready to make their statement and that they did with Stewart’s arrangement of Farmer Nappy’s Hookin Meh. The performance was very reminiscent of last year and it was obvious that Renegades are in repeat mode.

The final band of the night was Massy Trinidad All Stars on Duke Street but getting there proved to be an enormous task. No matter what the police escort did it was impossible to get to Duke Street via Piccadilly Street. They just had to wait in line like everybody else.

People gathered across the East Dry River from All Stars’ panyard as a vantage point and that caused even more gridlock. After weaving their way through the crowded yard the judges took their seats and All Stars went through the paces of Leon Smooth Edwards’ arrangement of Nadia Batson’s So Long. The arrangement and performance were in keeping with All Stars’ winning formula. Players dancing and singing and creating something very visual.

Throughout the performance supporters were also singing and jumping up. At the end, there was a collective roar of approval from the crowd. Included in the excitement was Massy’s CEO Gervae Warner who could be seen enjoying himself in front of the band.

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"Judges caught in pan jam"

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