By Mario Russel
After 2 years of lockdowns, Carnival 2023 is dubbed “The Mother of all Carnivals” but for many, it is a disappointment.
It is just ole- talk by those in authority and there is nothing new under the sun. Patrons are still complaining that they did not get their money’s worth in the fetes. At some major events, frustrating lines to get in. Promoters are saying they are hit by low ticket sales. Some of the upcoming shows are cancelled due to early signs of losses. Bandleaders on the other hand are unhappy with the Carnival preparations. The calypso tents are having a poor turnout. Patrons were stranded in Tobago after the Panorama finals resulting in chaos to return to work.
Soca Monarch the platform to bring out new and upcoming artists is cancelled because of the high cost to have the event along with its dwindling crowds. It is the same reason, Machel’s Montano 40th Concert was moved from Monday to Friday with the hope of putting new life into his event. The fees for artists have even gone up yet there are incidents of lack of professionalism on stage. It seems that Carnival is all about controversy and bacchanal.
The cost to attend these events has skyrocketed. There is an increase in expenses and for many, it is out of their reach. Let us not forget that in recent months everything in the grocery has gone up and as much as we Trinis love to party we still have to watch our dollars. In 2022, the profits of many organizations have gone down leading to cutbacks in staff bonuses and salaries. Therefore it seems obvious there will be a decline in attendance for Carnival events.
Even for returning residents who put renewed enthusiasm into the Carnival. The cost of airline tickets has gone so high that many prefer to stay in their country and watch the carnival shows on YouTube or pay US 25 dollars to see the show on pay-per-view.
The driving force behind the carnival is always the music. If the music is good the people will party. There have been close to a thousand new releases all trying to gain airplay in two months. Obviously, this is impossible and preference is always given to the big names. For a new artist to make it he must have an outstanding song.
Many complain that soca music has reached a stage where they are only singing about instructions. At a party the songs are all about do this and do that, give me a wave, putting yuh hand up, wine etc. There is a lack of arrangement and constructive lyrics. For Panorama, there were a limited number of songs the bands could play and many resorted to older hits. The three most popular 2023 songs that played for Panorama were Voice- Long Live Soca, Olatunji -Engine Room and Mical Teja -Hall of Fame
In the eighties and nineties, the focus of artists was to take soca music to the Billboard Charts. General Grant sang about that. The artist and producers at that time were trying to get the music to go international. Three songs that got international appeal were Hot Hot Hot by Arrow, Turn Me On by Kevin Lytle and Who Let The Dogs Out by Anslem Douglas. From that time to now, there is not a soca song to go international. It seems we have lost that vision and artists are satisfied only to please Caribbean Audiences. The soca music industry is now focused on crowd wildness and participation. Many of the songs take a lot of listening in order to be appreciated. The so-called radio mafia has to keep pounding it in your head for you to like it.
Despite this, we strongly believe that the talent is still there waiting to be harnessed. Artists need to go deep within to bring out their creative genius. Although the music turned out to be pleasing to the people, they need to produce songs that will have an international appeal. The great Byron Lee once said, “soca music is too fast and it needs to slow down”. We just have to look around and see that the music that is creating an impact globally is the slow Afro-Beats riddims. In some ways, it is similar to soca.
Carnival is T&T’s biggest marketing tool, it is what attracts thousands of visitors to our land. However, there is competition all around and every town and country is jumping on board and having its own Carnival. They are bringing new ideas to the festival while T&T is taking things for granted. Can you imagine that in the birthplace of the steelpan, there is no place where visitors can go to learn about Its history? Even the calypsonians do not have a home to feature the works of Stalin, Melody, Shadow, Ras Shorty I, Kitchener and so many great others.
We have been taught to believe that anything foreign is better. At Carnival time we need to feature international artists in order to attract a larger audience to shows. Moving forward we must raise our level of thinking and know what we want to achieve. Over the years, Carnival has gone through so many changes some for the better and others for the worst. Although we want to believe our Carnival is the Greatest Show On Earth and 2023 is the Mother of all Carnivals, lets us not fool ourselves that what we have today can gradually slip under our fingers.
