11 Tobago steelbands in Panorama semi-finals

NLCB Buccooneers, playing a Seion Gomez arrangement of Madness by Aaron “Voice” St Louis and David Rudder, earned 250 points in the preliminary round of Panorama 2019 to qualify for Sunday’s semi-finals in the large band category.

BP Renegades, with its rendition of Hookin Meh, earned 273 points to top the category at the preliminaries. Shell Invaders placed second with 265 points, also with an arrangement of Hookin Meh. In third place was Massy Trinidad All Stars with 264 points, playing So Long, while Hadco’s Phase II Pan Groove earned 261 points with Party Start, followed by Desperadoes with 260 points, playing Iron Love.

Making it into the Panorama semi-finals in the medium band category were Katzenjammers playing Stranger to earn 261.5 points and NGC Steel Xplosion, playing Sing in The Party to earn 257 points.

Pan Elders topped this category, earning 268.5 points with its rendition of The Will. Curepe Scherzando was a close second with 268 points, playing We Looking For Horn.

The semi-finals in the large and medium bands category will take place at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain on Sunday from 1 pm.

In the small band category, eight Tobago bands qualified to play in the semi-finals on Saturday at Victoria Square, Park Street, Port of Spain from 4 pm. TTEC New East Side Dimension playing Hello to earn 278 points and Uptown Fascinators playing Hulk, to also score 278 points, were among three bands with the highest score in this category. The other band was TT Defence Force.

Our Boys, playing Hulk and earning 271 points, C&B Crown Cordians and Tobago Pan-thers, both playing Sweet Fuh Days, and both earning 270 points, also qualified for the semi-finals. The other Tobago bands who would be competing for a place in the final are Alpha Pan Pioneers, playing Calling Meh (269 points), West Side Symphony, playing Bacchanal (269 points), and Steel Sensations, playing Gie Dem Tempo (264 points).