Pan Fantasy Steel Orchestra Makes Musical Mark in New York for Panorama 2013

In Pictures

Brooklyn, New York, USA - Canada’s Pan Fantasy Steel Orchestra landed in New York with a music splash as they pleased steelband music lovers who were fortunate enough to catch them as they ran through their tune of choice for the 2013 New York Panorama, Super Blue’s Fantastic Friday - also being played by three other bands in the competition. Under a beautiful summer evening sky on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, just around the corner from New York staple Despers USA Steel Orchestra, Pan Fantasy ran through their paces under the musical direction of drill master Ben Jackson, with arranger Al “Allos” Foster not far off.

Pan Fantasy practices on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on August 30

Against a backdrop of parked vehicles in the same space, decorative paper lanterns softly illuminated the area which was Pan Fantasy’s temporary practice site while in New York, with their own huge truck that had transported the band’s music instruments parked lengthwise directly in front of them. Incidentally this was the same lot at which Despers USA had practiced for last year's competition, and at which they had held their 2012 band launch.

Almost all Pan Fantasy’s players were attired in mainly navy T-shirts as they went through high-energy runs of the song in its entirety, with bass players and other sections in soulful choreographed moves at key junctures. The rhythm section had their own few minutes drilling ‘solo’ as the rest of the band awaited their turn. Arranger Al Foster tells When Steel Talks that Pan Fantasy Steel Orchestra will take the stage on Panorama night with around seventy musicians, captained by Wendy Jones, and playing steelpan instruments manufactured and tuned by Roland Harrigin. More than ninety percent of the orchestra is Harrigin’s handiwork alone – and the pans sound absolutely beautiful.

One could hear ongoing discussion from some of the people who visited the band and stood around listening, expressing their surprise as to how very good Pan Fantasy sounded. Some had not ever heard the orchestra before, because they are from Canada. Several onlookers now expressed their own opinions that the orchestra is indeed a serious contender – based on what they heard on this night, and the fact that the band had been fortunate enough to find themselves playing last in the competition. Not only that, but Pan Fantasy is coming off a music high as reigning champions of the annual Toronto panorama competition, which took place a few weeks ago. They are no strangers to winners row in their own region. And the group is determined to take home the New York panorama championship as well; now that would be history!

This season has not been a hospitable one for New York Pan – in fact, some would call it downright hostile, and more so this year, as steel orchestras have been shut down by NYPD before midnight on several occasions. And on this, the final night before the competition, it was no different. Sonatas was shut down again. Despers USA, (just around the corner from Pan Fantasy) was shuttered by NYPD at 11:50 p.m. And as for CrossFire – well, they found themselves having to end practice at 11:00 p.m. because of a “party” in their pan yard, and not ‘CrossFire’s’ party... Isn’t it interesting how a few venues utilized as panyards, subsequently become a magnet for promoters’ fetes, and sometimes to the detriment of practice – immediately before competition?

Anyway, these unwelcome ‘cessations’ in practice meant that not only now ‘free’ fellow steelpan musicians from these bands came around to hear Pan Fantasy, but also steelpan lovers in general out for their usual Friday night Pan lime, and accustomed to caravanning around all the panyards at this time. The word had obviously gotten around that music was still rocking at this venue – as it would until about 1:45 a.m. when the band called it a night, with many pan lovers on hand quite happy with what they had heard. Now onto New York Panorama 2013!