TCCCCHHHHHH!!!!

Soooooo..... I am not impressed by the attitude I saw displayed at Panorama.

Essentially after all the big lead up with the full white suits (hat/jacket/pants/shoes) and fireworks and months of practice we lost bad bad bad. Shameful bad.

The losing is not the problem, is how we lost and the way that the loss was dealt with that leave me shaking my head.

Simply put we came 6th out of 8 bands. We were the second band to perform on stage for finals and after semi finals we were ranked number 2 so we were in a good position. The rules stated there should be no more than 100 players. In order to avoid total disqualification the manager had to go (on stage) and remove sticks from players. An entire rack was told not to play in addition to players at the back. Obviously, there was an overabundance of players. A total flaunting of the rules.

When yuh get ketch wid yuh pants down , don' blame di person who ketch yuh fuh having eyes in dem head. Is you mek di mistake. Why then do you want to blame the organising body and say that they have it in for you? Why screw up yuh face and mutter about how you hope they check this band an dat band?

(Shakes head) "Tief nevah like fi si tief wid long bag" . The mood was very sour that night. The only consolation was that an underdog took the title. Congratulations to Silver Stars. I still enjoyed the experience and am thankful that I actually got a chance to play, but I am reconsidering who I play with next year.

Las' Lap

Tonight is the final practice before Panorama Finals tomorrow evening. We drew playing position numero dos so I'll get an opportunity to hear some of the other bands this time.

Hopefully there will not be a repeat of Panorama semis. Why you may wonder? Well lets see, the engine room was jamming so hard that the baffle (plastic sound reflecting board) above them, fell on top of the congos and the scratcher player and me. In doing so it cut the string on my left pan so I was playing a single double tenor. Yeah, just a regular day for super chick.

I am definitely looking forward to the competition.
http://www.panonthenet.com/tnt/2009/tunes/festival.htm You can check the link for the song that we're playing. Honestly the pan version is incredibly better.

Right, so I'm leaving. Keep your ears tuned to the web and your eyes to the blogosphere.

Results

We came second. Two points separate us from the leader of the pack.

At this stage every little thing seems crucial.

Panorama Semis

As of this moment I am still waiting to hear the results.

If you follow the man on the street or the commentators on the radio then Exodus took it by storm.

No one can really prepare you for the experience of participating in a panorama. I can safely say though that it is an AWESOME experience!

If you have ever participated in a major street jam say an Independence Day parade or a carnival street parade then you can start to get a feel of the vibe. Hundreds of persons beside/in front/behind/near to each other and you on a rack jumping up and down like a jumbie , a little raised creature on a pedestal.

Its very easy to see why artistes get high of their own egos cause trus' mi. I ain't reach nowhere an all me getting nuff love an hype from fanatics. LOLOL, an dese pan ppl have some diehard supporters. We joke about our little "groupies" but when yuh see ppl man woman child in your jerseys an who have on di batty ridah shorts and who have on di muscle shirt an all dem waan kno seh yuh play wid Exodus?? Craziness. These ppl are there only becuase THE BAND deh deh. Dem doan waan nuttn more dan dat. An dem doh hf to be drunk neida. Dem doan care bout no music from nobaddy else, dem doan care bout where dem live, or which a dem fambly playing where from how long. Dey is X.O fanatics an dem blood run black an white (Exodus colours)

Part of the fun for me was having to push the racks (think trolleys) around the Savannah to reach the judging stage. I have passed there numerous times by car and I am still flabbergasted to realize how far I was walking, and to a judging point no less!! Anyways, it was fun cause intermittently we would stop and the drill master would beat the tock tock/cowbell/pans and we'd all climb back on and start to practise again. An everytime yuh play, is more ppl dat jumping up to yuh song. An more, an more . An den yuh reach near the stage (An by dis time it well dark eh) and yuh hear the radio version of your song being played over and over on the loudspeakers an yuh realize.. "wait, it have more ppl out dere?"

And then, the last push up the stage and you finally see... grandstands front and behind and its a stadium full of ppl welcoming you home.

(Finals are the 21st of this month. I will try an post more highlights as we go along but the best thing really is just buy a ticket an reach)