‘Revellers’ wins Band of the Year title again

TRINI Revellers made it two in a row when they won the 2005 Carnival “Band of the Year” title yesterday with their presentation “Conquest of the Indies.” Revellers won the title last year with “Arabian Nights.” During a news conference at the National Carnival Commission’s (NCC) offices at the Queen’s Park Savannah, the band was declared first place winner in the large band categories of the Harold Saldenha, Lil Hart and George Bailey awards. The last award is the band of the year award. Masquerade’s “Lion Kingdom” and Legacy’s “We Not Giving Up” placed second and third respectively in those categories.

In announcing the results, NCC chief judge Teddy Villaroel praised the bands and described the entire competition as “hard work.” In explaining the judging criteria, Villaroel said bands must cross at least four venues in Port-of-Spain to be considered for the major titles. The Savannah and downtown Port-of-Spain are the only two compulsory venues. Speaking with reporters afterwards, Revellers bandleader Dave Cameron promised that the band would come with something spectacular in 2006 that would outshine “Conquest of the Indies” and “Arabian Nights.” He agreed with band Public Relations Officers Enrico Rajah that “anything we do is a story” and each costume designed by Revellers had a story to tell. Rajah explained that Cameron and co-bandleader Jeff Gillette wanted to come back to the Caribbean for Carnival 2005 and “Conquest of the Indies” was the best choice.

Asked why this theme was chosen, Rajah replied, “To show that we can appreciate our culture and history like any other part of the world.” He said the hardest part of putting the band together was the research and Revellers received invaluable assistance from St Mary’s College’s history department. Rajah said while the band was a little disappointed that Masquerade copped the Downtown title, they sent their congratulations to that band’s members. Both Cameron and Rajah praised their entire supporting cast for the band’s victory. Rajah said some 2,500 persons played with Revellers this year. Cameron added that while this was an increase from 2004, Revellers tried not to let the band become too large because it made management all the more difficult.