Notting Hill Steel Band Competition What A Buzz
Saturday evening saw the Notting Hill Carnival vibe truly get going with the Panorma 2010 UK Steel Band Championship at Horniman’s Pleasance Park. This event has been the precursor to the main Carnival for the last 30 years and it truly is a great evenings entertainment.
I couldn’t resist not going take to take in the sweet sounds of the steel pans. I just had to find my way there! Unbelievable the quickest and easiest way to get over there wasn’t by public transport, but by using my good old two feet. A 35 minute brisk walk and by the good grace of god, I made it there without any problems.
What is the first thing you to do to get the party going? Your right…go find a stall selling some lager and of course something to eat. What sort of person would go to a Caribbean event and not go sample some amazing chicken, rice and peas. A wee wander around and I soon found the best food stall…it was the one with the biggest queue. And just watching the guy barbecuing the chicken had my mouth watering…and it was fucking delicious. Simple food cooked to perfection…if only I could get it to taste so good at home.
The great thing about events like this is that you don’t get ripped off with the prices, excellent food and drink at a fair price! You would pay 50% more for something half as good and half the size at Borough Market! The only rip off I came across was the Polish woman selling the balloons…go figure it out!
The UK National Panorama Competition is all about Britain’s top steel bands battling it out for the prestigious ‘Champions of Steel’ title. Last night there was a good crowd of people despite the rather inclement weather conditions. Who cares about rain when the music and vibe is this good. The only thing I was disappointed about was actually watching the steel bands perform live. The best place to watch the show was on the big screen in the park. I don’t know about you but I don’t turn up to an event to watch proceedings on a big screen. I’m there to see it for real…live and straight in front of my face, that’s what it’s all about!
The powers to be need to give these amazing bands a real platform to perform on, along with better viewing accessibility for people to watch the proceedings.
First to perform were the Croydon Steel Orchestra and these young guys and girls put on an amazing show…they truly got the evenings entertainment off to a flying start. I wasn’t too happy with the view, so I went for a wee wander along the road and came across some of the other steel bands rehearsing. This was more like it. I caught a wee bit of Mangrove, and RASPO Steel Orchestra who were incidentally making their first appearance in the competition and very good they were to.
And last, but not least and best of all…I had the pleasure of watching the legendary Ebony Steel Band warming up for there 10 minute performance in front of the judges. These guys and girls are real hot…they produced an amazing sound. I hung around for about an hour listening and watching the 18 time winners…who knows it could be 19 times winners because I still haven’t found out who won it. I wanted to catch the London All Stars performing as they were the group my former wife played in for a number of years when she was younger, but alas I ran out of time. I had a bit of hike to get home and when I have to hit the road home…I have to hit the road home!
This was my first time at a such a big Steel Band competition and I loved every second of it. Great music, great food & drink and an all round fantastic event to attend. The only negative aspect was the viewing area where the public could watch the bands perform, that needs to be addressed! I’m going to keep my eye open for any future steel band events because since I came back from Barbados I had kinda forgotten how sweet a sound they make
“I spoke to a girl from Ebony at Notting Hill Carnival and she confirmed what I guessed…the ’2010 Champions of Steel’ were EBONBY….”
Related posts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy9HB9GiI68
Croydon Steel Orchestra came 5th
but were the winners of Best Band on the Road ,Notting Hill Carnival 2010
Thanks for you comments.
Regards Pansticks