Carnival 2014 in Review

I will do so under the headings, “Pan”, “Kaiso”, “Mas”, “The Political Factor” and “Results”.

PAN

Pan Trinbago had initiated a move to bring back pan in fetes but that fell flat, even though fete promoters initially said they would welcome the return of steel and brass bands to their events.

On the contrary, however, they cited logistics, including arranging transport for a steelband, lighting, sound system etc, as a major reason why most events feature singers as their main form of entertainment.

Even veteran musician Roy Cape had a more realistic approach when he stated that Trinis only pay lip service to our local art-form, and that the onus is on Pan Trinbago to stick with their plan to do what they set out to do.

But that in itself isn’t always the best thing without good sound advice and suggestions, two of which I want to give for future panorama competitions, and especially final night.

The first issue is that there is an ongoing problem with the judging and judging criteria. According to Pan Trinbago rules, 40 points is given for arrangement, 40 more for general performance, ten for tone and another ten points for rhythm. No where is it stated that extra points would be given for crowd reaction but it appears the judges are swayed by such reactions and forget about the mandated criteria for judging.

Given that there are so many regional carnivals, and full pan orchestras world wide, perhaps Pan Trinbago can look to judges associated with that wide pan fraternity to come judge our pan finals.

The next issue is the length of the competition on final night. If 29 medium and large bands took some 11 hours to perform during the semi-final round of competition, it meant that an average of two to three bands would have performed in an hour.

Starting a final at 7 pm with 20 bands would mean that it would take approximately eight hours to complete. Therefore the competition is destined to end at three in the morning anyway.

Added to which Pan Trinbago always has a presentation which takes up another half an hour. I want to suggest that Pan Trinbago seriously look at reducing the amount of bands in the final to seven or eight in each category, so that the final ends at a decent hour.

But I must commend the organisation for looking at ways to generate their own income by way of The Greens and the pool.

However they will have to work harder at stopping the noise from those areas that disturb bands on the stage, as well as from the rhythm sections in the North Stand while bands are on stage. I also want to commend them for treating the media as media professionals in terms of accommodation and amenities.

KAISO

It was good to see other entities getting involved with our culture. Immediately coming to mind is “Live at the Hyatt — Rhythm Nation” a Carnival/Las Vegas style produced by Event Managers Ltd, subsidiary of Media 21, that featured Bunji Garlin, Fay Ann Lyons, Kees Dieffenthaller, Destra, Rupee and David Rudder among others.

The fact that it kept to the advertised two-hour long show was most commendable, something that the managers of calypso tents just couldn’t understand over the years. And it appears soca artistes are not getting it either as concerts held by Kees Dieffenthaller, Machel Montano and Iwer George all went on for five hours and in some cases eight hours. But for those who attended Shurwayne’s concert, they were totally entertained in three hours. He showed how easy it can be done, and much to the delight of attendees.

Michael Osouna aka Sugar Aloes made the news throughout the season but not for his singing; instead he started a national debate when he blanked fellow calypsonian Bodyguard (Roger Mohammed) from singing “False Papers” in the Kalypso Revue tent that he manages, having considered the lyrics contentious.

It is interesting to note that when Aloes was singing under tent manager Jazzy Pantin and Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts), both now deceased, some of his own lyrics were also considered contentions, but he was never denied a place in the tent because of them. He seems to have not considered this; what double standards.

The furore this raised saw Aloes taking himself out of national competition while Bodyguard was taken in at Cro Cro’s People’s Tent (formerly Icons), that opened with the help of the public after, once again, it did not receive funds from the government.

The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) that is celebrating 100 years in calypso, announced plans to introduce a Cool Zone and Pool Deck for Calypso Fiesta.

This did not happen, which did nothing to help change what the show has become, where the calibre of the songs needs a lot to be desired, unlike decades ago when the best of songs for carnival, whether it was political, social commentary, party or humorous, found a place in the semi finals, thus making it a most enjoyable event. Perhaps TUCO can revisit what constitutes a song deserving of a semi-final spot in the kaiso competition. However, on the brighter side of kaiso, Slinger Francisco, the Mighty Sparrow 78, came home for Carnival after falling seriously ill and slipping into a coma in New York last September.

The Birdie was determined to perform at home, and so made it his business to return to do so at quite a number of shows beginning with a great one-hour-long show at De Nu Pub (MCP), that coincided with the start of UTT’s Anthropology of Sparrow Series.

At that show Sparrow sat on a stool for his performance. But in a mere couple weeks he performed on his feet holding on to the back of a chair, and delivering his songs with the gusto that patrons are accustomed to.

MAS

The National Carnival Commission (NCC) commissioned Transport Systems Engineer Rae Furlonge and firm C&H Associates (Director Derek Hamilton) to identify solutions to the congestion associated with the annual parade of the bands.

Critical data gathered by the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) over several years was provided to the CHA Director who suggested an extension of the parade route and that bands move clockwise to and from the Queen’s Park Savannah (QPS). Furlonge predicted a 25 percent reduction in parade congestion if new plan is adopted.

Members of another mas entity, the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Bands Association (TTCBA), and its president Gerard Weekes were unhappy with the new parade route, citing a lack of proper consultation with the bandleaders to assess their needs. He argued that the new route would force masqueraders to parade against the wind, thus making it difficult to move large costumes. They also cited security concerns with a longer route. But after a meeting called by NCBA and facilitated by NCC the route to move clockwise became official.

TTCBA found the route chaotic and therefore met again and rejected the alternative route, and bashed the NCC for its highhanded behaviour.

An intervention by then-Acting PM Prakash Ramadhar reversed the route change, leaving it east to west as wanted by TTCBA and NCDF.

A number of bandleaders were also vex over the decision to start the Junior Carnival Parade at Adam Smith Square instead of Downtown.

The end result was that a number of bands were disqualified from those competitions, for a number of reasons as stated by NCBA president David Lopez, who bandleaders immediately started calling for his removal from office.

The fact is that with proper planning and strict enforcement of parade route rules can make a difference as had been done under the chairmanship of Kenny de Silva in years past.

For a few years he had bands starting their parade simultaneously at Adam Smith Square, Downtown and the QPS thus having a steady flow in all competition areas instead of the very long lulls at some of the venues, but a jam session a the QPS.

The problem is that after Carnival each year, the festival is shelved until about six weeks before the next Carnival when some people will come up with these bright ideas and nothing else behind them, hence the bacchanal in every season. To me it appears that Carnival bodies like the NCC and NCBA need persons at the helm with a better understanding of their portfolios.

THE POLITICAL FACTOR

In a country where Carnival reportedly generates close to $1 billion each year it was announced that $150 million of the $190 million budgeted for Carnival would be used to pay off existing debts. The remainder was reportedly broken down as follows: $4 million for chutney, $7 million for soca monarch, $12 million in prize money for pan, $8 million for TUCO, $9 million for 53 regional carnival bodies, and $2 million for junior pan, soca and chutney soca, as well as prize monies in various junior competitions.

A big source of contention remains the disparity of winners’ prize monies for various competitions – $2m each for the Soca Monarch and the Chutney Soca Monarch while Calypso Monarch and winning steelband with 100 players take home $1m, and Groovy Soca Monarch $500,000. How can that be right?

And to add insult to injury a Minister found nothing wrong with being allowed free entry to Carnival fetes. “So what?” he said, reasoning that he had given so much to the Special Interest Groups (SIG). But the Minister had to be reminded that he was allocating public funds to the SIGs and not his. Then came what may have been the biggest bacchanal for the season when big mas bands Tribe, Yuma, Bliss and Harts decided to parade in their own Socadrome at the Jean Pierre Complex with the blessings of the NCC and the Government. This move evoked shouts of “Segregation!” and “Stoosh!” but the parade went on and effectively killed the spirit of Carnival 2014.

If those bands really wanted to help with the congestion at the QPS, maybe Chaguaramas would have been ideal place for their parade as the masqueraders would have been most aptly dressed for the beach, and then the NCC could have better managed competing bands on the parade route.

RESULTS

A three-way tie for second in Power Soca Monarch, when they actually sang their songs and others shouted over tracks? Destra, Iwer and Mr Killa must feel aggrieved by this. How more unfair can this get?

The results the following night at the Panorama finals also left a band wondering what the judges were thinking. I wish you better luck next year Bp Renegades and Witco Desperadoes.

As for Mr Shak, perhaps the judges thought you delivered too much “Kaiso Bois” they just couldn’t handle it.

And it is about time that a more apt system of judging be introduced for Road March or call the competition Stage March, since that in effect, that is what it is.

Nevertheless congratulations to all the winners who have already gone into the record books regardless of the circumstances.