This Carnival thing has become confusing. Five years ago the then Government bulldozed down the Grand Stand in the Queen's Park Savannah and put mas out in the street. We were informed it was for the good of Carnival. Remember those days, when we used to find out what government planned for us "by the way" or when someone noticed that a "tall tall" building, or church, was going up somewhere or when the King of Spain would arrive and you would be told that this was for the good of the country and would bring in so much revenue? Remember those days? Because, like a lot of people want to go back to them.
There's comfort in irresponsible chaos. In the knowledge that the people in charge like to fete and drink like everybody else, no matter that the hospitals struggle to function and the education system stinks and crime is out of control and farmers cannot get title to land and thousands of people waste three and four hours in endless traffic jams with their bored, runny-nosed, wheezing children. No matter, my dear, we feting down the place this weekend with the minister of this and the mistress of that and "we go go down the road happy like pappy," talking big and driving air-conditioned car bought with the overtime money. The Government go take care-a-we! We deserve it because Eric say so.
So it is confusing that we have a new stand which looks very similar to the Grand Stand, and another North Stand, and a big stage, bigger than the last one they say, so more place to wine and play yourself, right in the middle of the "Big Yard" where Minshall used to send his people to prance and gallery and that it is the new government, the one which does not think it has a right to be in power, the one from the country, the East Indian looking one, more in tune, one would think, with tassa and chutney and Hosay, that has taken the mas back home, back into the house from which it was ungraciously ejected by the bungling PNM.
Something similar happened some years ago to the calypso tents. There must have been about 100 cars sedately parked in front of the tent on Wrightson Road last Saturday night, two weeks from Carnival.
I used to live just opposite and can vividly remember the massive traffic jams that tent used to cause in its heyday. Over the years, that whole culture was destroyed, in part by PNM governments, in part by the inefficiency of the tent management. From being someone who used to enjoy the tents, especially the one on upper Henry Street, near the General Hospital, where after evening rounds I would go for an hour or so to listen to Cro Cro and Cardinal and perhaps a glimpse of Shadow himself, I stopped going completely about ten years ago.
Who wants to go to an event scheduled to start at 8 pm which begins 45 minutes late, without any explanation, had an interminable intermission, ended two hours late and consisted of wretched calypsoes with no bite to them because the PNM government was paying the salaries so no one could sing against the ministers, who all sat down in the front rows and clapped themselves, and when one expressed dismay, to be told "yuh eh understand the culture." Not me. My culture is class. And you can wine with class and sing with class.
Then there is the unfortunate Panorama influence on pan. Yes, Panorama is wonderful but the Minister of Culture is only repeating what many thoughtful pan lovers have been saying over the years. Panorama is destroying pan music. The old-time community band spirit, the backyards and families and friendships from which pan emerged is already gone. The players now follow charismatic leaders who want to win so concentrate on one song, the Panorama tune, to the virtual exclusion of anything else. One sees the effect of this on J'Ouvert morning when some of the big bands sound like they are beating with half the complement of players.
It is heartbreaking to go into what was a bustling, exciting pan-yard before Panorama, to find that, having been ejected from the competition, there is scarcely anyone there now. Only racks and racks of unplayed bass drums and a few dejected old-timers sucking on a Carib in a corner and steupsing sadly from time to time. Pan badly needs another Carnival event for those who do not get through to the Panorama final. And pan requires, nay, demands an annual competition where the big bands are allowed to play themselves, do whatever they want, try out something, even if it fails; improvise, come up with new sounds, new arrangements for any musical gendre and see where the pan can reach. Panorama has made bands play two types of music by two types of players, a Panorama side and tune, and a concert side and arrangement for too many years. Time to move on.