BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE spirit of Carnival had visited Port Zante last night (Nov. 17), as an exciting line-up of new calypsos by seasoned performers seemed to have possessed the large crowd of attendees that signalled their appreciation for the mixture of shrewd political lyrics and comedy to the art form.
The event was the launching of this year’s Carnival Calypso Tents, which was held at the back of the National Museum on Port Zante.
Hundreds of calypso lovers were present to listen and witness what some of the calypsonians have to offer for Sugar Mas 42.
Carnival Chairman Sylvester Anthony welcomed the large crowd to the launch, apologised for the lateness of it and promised this would be the last year that the tents would start this late.
He then declared the Calypso Season open.
The first calypsonian to take the stage was Lord Matt of Proud Sounds Calypso Tent whose rendition was dubbed ‘Fix up de Country’, which called on the government to put things in order so that the country could move forward.
He was followed by three other calypsonians from Proud Sounds, which included Rock-a-Fella who performed a political tune named ‘Full Confidence’.
‘Full Confidence’ is an attack on the two former Labour Party Ministers, Sam Condor and Dr. Timothy Harris, who have since established their own political party and had merged with the People’s Action Movement and the Concerned Citizens Movement to form the Unity Construct.
Following the four calypsonians from Proud Sounds, their counterparts from the Legends Tent took to the stage and featured Allamulu, Jungle Lion, Astro and Lord Felix who brought the biggest response from the crowd with a tune called ‘I want to go to Dubai’.
Lord Felix, who is of Caucasian decent, sang about his desire of moving to Dubai after he heard how the city in the United Arab Emirates had great financial promises, but stated that after a scam he had tried to return home but was told they had already sold his citizenship.
He held members of the audience in awe and they called for an encore.
The Proud Sounds Tent then took centre stage once more and featured veterans such as Isoursop, who sang a song named ‘One Song’, which is an attack on the reigning Calypso Monarch Konris Maynard and the Labour Party. A line in the song states: “We singing one song, because the one son man change he mouth.”
He was followed by Quantash and Lord Kut, with the latter putting on a lively performance of two songs; one being ‘O Galla Galla’ which speaks to a politician visiting an alienated town, and while speaking to the residence their only response was ‘O GallaGalla’. At first members of the audience were confused as to what the song was depicting, but by the end of the selection they grasped the message.
His second song was a lively one called ‘My Final Wish’,k which speaks to a prisoner on death row who is making his final request before heading to the gallows.
The Legends Calypso Tent then brought curtains down on evening’s proceedings with crowd favourite Hot Rod singing his popular ‘Wuk in Tung’ song.
Dressed in a T-shirt, football shorts and loafer, Hot Rod performed the song with varying tongue movements to the amazement of the crowd and stated that he is yet to practice the ‘Cat Killer’ song with the band, but promised the tune would feature as the tents progress.
Hot Rod was followed by Lady Diva who sang a political piece called ‘Government Smoothie’ that encouraged individuals to vote for a Unity Government.
Rudder, the First Runner up in last year’s Calypso Monarch Competition, sang a tune called ‘Reparation Time’, which highlights the Caribbean’s efforts to lobby for reparations.
Rudder was followed by former Calypso Monarch King Socrates who performed a song dubbed ‘Spinners Wicket’; a political piece on the role of propagandist in the current political climate.
Much to the crowd’s disappointment was the absence of one of the Federation’s most witty calypsonians, Unexpected, who it is said might be at the next outing of the tents
The MCs for the Launch were S.B from the Legends Calypso Tent and Calypso Reggie from the Proud Sounds, who sang a song called ‘Election ah Come’. In the song, Calypso Reggie focuses on a number of nationwide activities that suggest elections are imminent and even touched on his recent run-in with the law.
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