Panorama

So, today was competition day; six steel bands competing in London, prior to the Notting Hill Carnival. I went along and played my cowbell!!! It was an amazing experience, full of memorable moments - not least when we thought we wouldn’t be able to get our two carnival floats into the park for our slot, as they had changed the access points and it now involved two very tight turns. We had to un-hitch and push/pull in manually through a very tight space. Not to be beaten, our band of 92 pulled together and we made it to the arena- just! I had the job of holding the pans on the float and adding weight to the back as required!
It really is a mammoth task- loading, unloading and loading hundreds of heavy instruments, including 89 bass pans (full size oil drums), and taking apart, rebuilding and taking apart again several pan racks. Exhausting any day, but particularly in today’s 33 degree heat. But we did it! And the band sounded fantastic!!!
#savannahgrass