I can't describe in words how
exciting, inspiring, and overwhelming it
was to see nearly 50 steelbands in one
place (all of which are way bigger than
the biggest bands back home!) Also to
see such support for steelband... it's
unbelievable how many people showed up
to hear the bands! The morning had a
fairly orderly crowd with plenty of
sitting space on the drag's bleachers,
and enough room that bands could move on
and off the drag without too much
trouble. By the time Renegades formed up
in the street, there was standing room
only, and that wasn't even on the drag!
I was in heaven walking around all
day hearing steelband after steelband.
It was a great thing to be able to
compare things between the bands: age
and gender make-up of the bands, tunes
of choice, tempos, stylistic choices,
pan tone and especially instrumentation!
It was great to see what different
choices bands make in terms of bass
instruments (6, 9, 12, or those that
I've never seen before: 4, 7, and 10
bass); lead layouts, front line
instrumentation, and the wide variety of
engine room instruments! My friends and
I were talking about engine room back
home being thought of as a fairly set
instrumentation, but really it seems as
though you can put just about any
percussion instrument in the line up.
Now for the competition part:
Starlift was second to last to play, and
thus was seemingly miles from the
Savannah when we started. Everything
seemed to be pretty chaotic: it seemed
like my rack was never close enough to
hear the arranger calling out sections;
we had to move racks for police and
other cars that decided they needed to
drive through our ranks; the process of
pushing racks seemed more stressful than
I had found with my prelims experiences.
It started to come together as we took
the stage, with a more orderly process
of which racks move when. Once we made
it to the stage, it seemed to all come
together. People were in great spirits,
everything was orderly... It was such a
rush getting on stage and looking out at
the Grand and North Stands (which were
not as packed as they were before). I
also have to say I was so excited to see
my girlfriend holding the banner out
ahead of the band! I loved that she
could take part in the night, and I
think she did a great job! The moment
that I really was able to relax and get
in the right mindset was when I stepped
out of the moment and appreciated the
fact that I could be sitting at home in
Indiana right now, in the cold snow and
ice, and hoping to catch the videos of
prelims on the internet. Instead I was
in Trinidad, on stage, with my
girlfriend holding my band's banner and
my teachers colleagues there to support
me. I had a band full of new friends, a
tune that I loved, and was about to play
to make it to the big stage. I kept
myself upbeat and ready to perform by
reminding myself, "I could be back
home..."
Everyone was taking in the moment,
taking pictures and dancing to our song
as it played for the crowd. All of a
sudden the music stopped and the
announcer began introducing us. I
expected to have more jitters, but I
felt surprisingly calm in retrospect!
People told me I might not remember much
from the performance: definitely the
count off and the end, but who knows
about the rest. I remember ever note of
that song... I remember dancing with the
cameras right over my pan and I remember
the band jumping up together. I remember
the look on my rack mate's faces when we
had breaks in the part to jump up
together and feeling that no matter what
the judges decided, this was an awesome
performance.
Once the tune was finished, it felt
like we had really accomplished
something. Once we got off stage and put
our instruments down, someone told me
they were about to announce the results.
The significance of what we had just
done really hit me in that moment. As
the bands were called off from 15th
place, I kept waiting to hear Starlift.
They announced the 11th place and there
was this huge rush of excitement with
our players! The band made it to 9th
place, and I have to say I am very proud
of that. It's no secret that we were
likely the smallest of the large bands
that competed, and many people had
already written Starlift off before we
even had a chance to play. I knew that
the band would really surprise people if
we executed the piece correctly. We have
lots of work to do, but I think we can
be proud of what we accomplished last
night!
Now I want to say that I was pretty
shocked at some of the results of last
night's large band category. I won't get
into details, but I was a little upset
that a certain band I support didn't
make it. I wasn't able to hear their
stage performance, but I thought they
sounded fantastic on the drag (I might
be biased, but still...) In any case, I
want to give my condolences to the bands
that didn't make it, and congratulate
those that did!
I never thought I would see so much
pan in one day in my entire life! Semis
was such an incredible experience, I
will definitely remember yesterday for
the rest of my life! This week I will be
very busy with Playboyz, Starlift,
getting last minute excursions before my
friends leave, and with a couple
meetings and such in there. I will do my
best to update everyone though!