Starlift wins 26th Senior Panorama competition
EL DORADO Starlift Steel Orchestra has now won the Senior Panorama compe- tition 26 times, and while some people may say that’s a lot, band captain Roddy Dowers says that each win is usually new for many members.
Dowers explained to SEARCHLIGHT that each year the band welcomes new members and as a re- sult when Starlift wins, the experience of winning for the first time as part of the band is new for the people who just joined.
“Some people might seem to think we are fed up winning… but, we have a band, and young people keep coming in.
“It keeps the fire alive because for quite a bit of them, it’s the first time. We have a lot of wins, but the band is so young that we have people who just start experiencing the winning vibe,” Dowers said.
On Thursday, July 3, 2025 at Carnival City Victoria Park, El Dorado Starlift Steel Orchestra out- played four other bands to take the Senior Panorama title. The song of choice was “Jerking up their waist” by “D’Rebels”. The 60-mem- ber strong senior side had as arranger and musical director, Dante Pantin. The pans were tuned by Mario Joseph.
“The wins are not for us. It’s for the young people.
We worked really hard and we feel good about this win,”
Dowers said, while noting that the band practiced every day for about five weeks, and placed a lot of focus on the young players.
The captain noted also that the band has always focused on the young players as management is always proud to see juniors graduating from their train- ing programme to become members of the senior side.
“That has always been
a drive for us, to see them coming through the system. They play junior and then they come to the senior
pan side,” Dowers, who has been captain for 14 of the band’s 26 wins, explained.
In second place in the competition was Epic
Steel Orchestra.The group did “Soca Battlefield” by Delroy “Fireman” Hooper. The musical arranger was Johnny Pompey, while the band’s captain is Akheron Sam.They had a side of
35 members, beating pans that were tuned by Ross Thomas.
The 35- member Sym- phonix Steel Orchestra played “Too much Iron” from Alston “Becket” Cyrus and came in third. Their musical arranger was Jomoro Francis, captained by Arike Browne, and had the pans tuned by Ross Thomas.
The other pan sides in the duel were Leaf Steel Orchestra and Genesis Steel Orchestra.
The 26-member Leaf Steel Orchestra did “Loving Can’t Done” from “Touch” and were led by captain, Kesslon Wilson who is also the bands arranger. The tuner for this band was Ross Thomas.
Genesis Steel Orchestra did “Musical Ride” by “Johnny Rebel” and had as arranger Delano Bristol.
The Captain was Kyandra Patterson, while the band had 20 members. Their tuner was Delano Bristol.
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