Large bands first at the pan finals

I have been making some suggestions for the past ten years to members of the leadership of the governing body, regarding the downward spiral in attendance at the Panorama Finals show, which seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Any primary school student, if given the opportunity to solve the equation, would arrive at the obvious conclusion that 20 bands will require no less than eight hours to complete their performances.

I have heard many patrons complaining that they’ve paid money to go to a show but have had to leave without hearing the bands they paid to hear, perform.

This is very unfair because it’s like paying for a gourmet meal and then being served finger-food. It is not satisfying, hence the reason for the rapid decline in attendance at the Panorama Finals show.

In addition, there is almost a sense of being held hostage at the event, while patrons endure long hours waiting to hear their favourite band perform.

Prime time is always reserved for your main act which in this case is the large band category.

The bands should not be playing to a sparse audience during the wee hours of the morning. It is unfair to the musicians, the audience and the sponsors. I know for a fact that some sponsors feel cheated out of the advertising they expect to realise from sponsorship, simply because the audience is greatly depleted when their band finally performs.

It might be too late for implementation to have the medium and large band categories perform on separate nights. However, I would strongly recommend that the large bands be allowed to play first, beginning with this year’s Panorama Finals show on Saturday. Patrons would then leave the Panorama event with a heightened sense of satisfaction in getting their money’s worth.

If there is insistence on having both medium and large bands perform on the same night, obviously one category will suffer and it should not be the large band category as it is the category that the vast majority of patrons pay to hear.

This is just one of the areas in which the Panorama as a major cultural event needs to be reformed.

Ray Holman via email