Last Saturday Grenada was supposed to host the National Steel Pan Bands Showdown, also known as Panorama.
On Friday I had the luck to assist the rehearsal of a small unsupported band in Gouyave, a small fishermen’s village north of St. George. Young students from the village spent months preparing for the event, working hard together to raise the necessary funds to pay for logistics and a considerably expensive tuner from Trinidad.
On Saturday, at 7pm all the bands were ready outside Grenada’s national stadium, doing the last quick rehearsals before getting on stage.
Unfortunately though, the organiser did a very poor job and after more than 3 hours of wait nothing was ready, the stage was declared unsafe and the event had to be cancelled.
Anger and frustrations were palpable among the bands. Things could have turned bad. These kids had spent months preparing for this very event.
But then I witnessed something extraordinary. The band from Gouyave, Pan Ossia responded with the best possible answer, by channeling their anger and their frustration into their music. They played their heart out. The result was the most magical moment and the audience went mad dancing and shouting at the rhythm of the Pan Ossia steel percussions.
I can only take my hat off to the wonderful girls and boys of Gouyave because they created something absolutely special that night.
#panossia #gouyave #grenada #panorama2017