It was clear last Sunday that all 14 Large Band semi-finalists had determined to up their game in one of the keenest pan showdowns in decades. Everybody improved on their scores, and in many cases, margins closed.
Playing last, after midnight, BP Renegades, with a scintillating Duvone Stewart arrangement of Black Stalin’s 1991 hit Feeling to Party entered the proceedings with a slender 1.5-point lead over Republic Bank Exodus which had scored 266.5 in the panyard preliminaries last week.
Sunday’s results however reflected a widened four-point gap between the top two bands. After the two bands performed, there was clear crowd support for what they had heard, in the form of standing ovations in the Grand Stand and boisterous revelry in the North Stand – though the crowd there had dwindled substantially by the time BP Renegades took to the stage.
More than once, stage announcers called for order in the bulging North Stand and warning that the entire event could have been shut down if patrons did not “clear the aisles.”
On at least two occasions, as well, bands began their performances over the sound of music emerging from the nearby Greens. For the most part, though, performers and deejays on the Greens complied with the stipulation to mute their activities while steelbands played.
The keenness of the competition at the preliminaries had belied a 17-point differential between BP Renegade’s ranking and RBC Redemption Sound Setters’ score of 251. On Sunday, the margin grew to a 17-point gap between the top performer and RBC Redemption Sounds which remained in cellar position and is now out of the rest of the competition.
Additionally, going into Sunday’s semi-final round, the top five were all multiple Panorama winners. BP Renegades with 11 wins, Republic Bank Exodus with four, Massy Trinidad All Stars (second in the preliminary round) with 10, HADCO Phase II Pan Groove seven and Proman Starlift three.
Super-achiever, Desperadoes with a record 12 Panorama wins, went into Sunday’s encounter in 12th place. The band has also had a record of remarkable Panorama turnarounds. There was some evidence that a reversal is in process as they came in tied in ninth position with 262 points – a 10-point increase over the band’s preliminary tally.
Additionally, with six of the 14 bands playing pre-2023 favourites, the semis appeared at times to be a contest between old and new pan-appropriate music.
Exodus and Proman Starlift dug deep with 1976 hits – Tourist Leggo (Exodus) and Sparrow’s Witch Doctor (Starlift).
Other bands that ventured into the musical archives were Shell Invaders, Heritage Petroleum, and Buccooneers, all playing Black Stalin’s Bun Dem. In fact, the calypso great who died on December 28, was the most played performer on the evening – four times overall when you add Renegades’ selection.
Likewise, among the bands playing current hits, three of them offered different arrangements of Voices’ Long Live Soca – NLCB Fonclaire, Desperadoes, and RBC Redemption Sound Setters. They, ironically, played in positions one, two and four on Sunday – with a break for Skiffle playing a tidy Kendall Williams/Marc Brooks/Odie Franklin arrangement of Bun Dem.
There had been concerns about All Stars’ musical interpretation of Stage on Fire in the preliminaries, and a semi-final re-jig was apparent, notwithstanding the band’s third place standing following the preliminary round. They however slid one place downward, albeit with marginal adjustments to the arrangement.
It was also clear that despite Renegade’s precision delivery at the panyard last Wednesday, Stewart held additional aces up his hyperactive sleeves. So too with most of the other arrangers and some may have noted Carlton “Zanda” Alexander’s additional work with Desperadoes following a disappointing preliminary placing.
The typically unpredictable Len “Boogsie” Sharpe also clearly re-directed some of Phase II Pan Groove’s energy on We Come out to Party, leading to its placement swap with All Stars at the top five.
Despite Amrit Samaroo’s energetic interpretation of Jubilation for Supernovas and a resulting improvement in the score – from 254 to 261 - the band was relegated to a 12th place tie with Proman Starlift.
The first note was struck by NLCB Fonclaire at 6.45 pm after the band had begun occupying the stage even before the last Medium Band, Pamberi, had properly mobilised to exit. By 12.15 am Monday, it was all over.
As has been the case in times past, room for both ascent and descent was available on the Savannah Big Stage. This year was no exception.