I went to a house warming Saturday and supplying the music was an old time steelband named Sappaphonics; a tenor pan, a double second; a guitar pan, a drummer, and an unobtrusive iron man.
The sound from this aggregate was unbelievable; the choice of music ranged from the 60s to today, and I'm talking calypso, pop, R&B and ballads. Played with an old time steel band strum that made you hold your "craft" and three step the night away.
When they took a break no one cared what the DJ played; we all waited for the steelband. The performance and its effect were the same when they played at Pan in the Countryside in Blanchisseuse. They must have played at least 30 songs, which begs the question: If a bunch of "old" guys can remember 30 songs in one night, why can't modern-day panmen remember one panorama tune after practicing it every night for months. Just goes to show that age is chronological, old is a state of mind.
Gerard Johnson,
via email