Calypso season launched with show at Heritage Square

The 2013 Calypso season was formally launched at Heritage Square last Friday, with twenty artistes, representing four locally-based calypso tents, taking to the stage and setting things up for another season.{{more}}

Anne Miller, president of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Calypso Association, said that she was overall pleased with how the proceedings went.

She was particularly pleased with the crowd’s response to some of the newcomers to the calypso art form.

“So, the crowd was really supportive, whether you were a seasoned artiste or a younger artiste, which was very good,” Miller told SEARCHLIGHT.

She explained that many were of the perception that the Calypso Association was responsible for calypsonians alone, but it was the umbrella body for soca and ragga soca as well.

And with this, the Calypso Association president said that she was pleased how the various components of Carnival — mas, calypso and soca combined on stage together to give patrons a good performance, which was the event’s primary objective.

She lauded the performance of soca and ragga soca artiste Raeon “Maddzart” Primus, who brought the show to a close.

“So we are really happy that we had a mixture,” she said.

Many persons had been enquiring about the absence of steel pan from the activity, but according to Miller, while the organizers of last Friday’s event would have liked to include this component, lack of space was the issue.

“Because of the taxi-stand being allocated there, it is a problem,” she explained.

“Pan is not as simple to just come and set up like that,” Miller said.

But while Miller said that some things went well last Friday, she expressed some concerns as well.

One such was that many of the performing artistes performed with the use of a recording of their music.

“Which doesn’t show a true reflection of what comes out against what’s backed up (band),” Miller said.

She also contended that when most people hear pre-recorded music providing the back-up music, it had the potential to deter patrons.

Meanwhile, patrons will soon be able to catch some of the performances in the individual calypso tents.

It is expected that the P’tani calypso tent will start things off when it launches tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Community Centre in the Marriaqua Valley; the Upstage Experience gets underway on May 15; Graduates on May 25; and On Tour will kick start its 2013 season on May 30.

It is expected that the Dynamites tent of New York will stage its preliminary judging on May 31.(DD)