Eliz­a­beth Gon­za­les 

To­ba­go Cor­re­spon­dent

To­ba­go’s steel­pan spir­it was in full swing Wednes­day night as the is­land’s two large bands took cen­tre stage in the Pan Trin­ba­go Large Con­ven­tion­al Bands Pre­lim­i­nar­ies in To­ba­go.

Judg­ing in the pa­n­yards be­gan just af­ter 8 pm, with the NL­CB Buc­cooneers Steel Or­ches­tra de­liv­er­ing a high-en­er­gy per­for­mance of Dotish, arranged by Seion Gomez.

Fol­low­ing them, RBC Re­demp­tion Sound Set­ters cap­ti­vat­ed the au­di­ence with Flag Woman, arranged by Michael To­by. Both bands brought en­er­gy and pre­ci­sion, hop­ing to im­press the judges and se­cure a spot in the next round.

Judges as­sessed each per­for­mance based on arrange­ment, tone, rhythm, and over­all pre­sen­ta­tion.

In 2024, nei­ther of the is­land’s large bands se­cured a spot in the top 11 at the fi­nal com­pe­ti­tion, al­though they were both fi­nal­ists. 

With their vi­brant per­for­mances, how­ev­er, Buc­cooneers and Re­demp­tion Sound Set­ters are push­ing even hard­er this year to make it to the fi­nal round again.

In the of­fi­cial re­sults for the pre­lim­i­nary round re­leased by Pan Trin­ba­go yes­ter­day, Buc­cooneers Steel Or­ches­tra and Re­demp­tion Sound Set­ters both tied for tenth and sixth place, re­spec­tive­ly, scor­ing 269 and 271 with oth­er bands.

Lead­ing the charge in­to the se­mi-fi­nals is Re­pub­lic Bank Ex­o­dus, who se­cured the top spot with 276 points for their per­for­mance of Too Own Way. Close be­hind is First Cit­i­zens Su­per­novas Steel Or­ches­tra, who claimed sec­ond place with 275 points, play­ing Co­coa Tea.

BP Rene­gades Steel Or­ches­tra and T&TEC Trop­i­cal An­gel Harps Steel Or­ches­tra tied for third with 273 points, per­form­ing Bet Meh and Co­coa Tea, re­spec­tive­ly.

Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra fol­lowed in fifth with 272 points, al­so play­ing Bet Meh.

In the Medi­um Con­ven­tion­al Bands Pre­lim­i­nar­ies, Katzen­jam­mers Steel Or­ches­tra leads the pack head­ing in­to the semi­fi­nals, se­cur­ing the top spot with 276 points for their per­for­mance of Ly­ing Ex­cus­es. In sec­ond place, NGC Cou­va Joy­lan­ders Steel Or­ches­tra earned 273 points with Cut The Bush, while Pam­beri Steel Or­ches­tra fol­lowed in third with 270 points, play­ing Too Own Way.

The semi­fi­nals are set for Feb­ru­ary 16 at the Queen’s Park Sa­van­nah. 

Full Pre­lim­i­nary Re­sults (Large Con­ven­tion­al):

1. Re­pub­lic Bank Ex­o­dus—Too Own Way (*276 points) 

2 First Cit­i­zens Su­per­novas Steel Or­ches­tra – Co­coa Tea (*275 points) 

3 BP Rene­gades Steel Or­ches­tra—Bet Meh (*273 points) 

3 T&TEC Trop­i­cal An­gel Harps Steel Or­ches­tra – Co­coa Tea (*273 points) 

5 Massy Trinidad All Stars Steel Or­ches­tra—Bet Meh (*272 points) 

6 Phase II Pan Groove – Pan and So­ca (*271 points) 

6 NL­CB Fon­claire—Too Own Way (*271 points) 

6 Her­itage Pe­tro­le­um Skif­fle Steel Or­ches­tra – Retro (*271 points) 

6 RBC Re­demp­tion Sound Set­ters Steel Or­ches­tra – Flag Woman (*271 points) 

10 Nu­trien Sil­ver Stars Steel Or­ches­tra—Too Own Way (*269 points) 

10 Shell In­vaders Steel Or­ches­tra—Bless­ing (*269 points) 

10 Her­itage Pe­tro­le­um Siparia Del­tones Steel Or­ches­tra—Bet Meh (*269 points) 

10 NL­CB Buc­ca­neers Steel Or­ches­tra – Dotish (*269 points) 

14 Pro­man Star­lift Steel Or­ches­tra—DIN­GO­LAY (*268 points*)  

15*Des­per­a­does Steel Or­ches­tra* – Co­coa Tea (*266 points*)

Full Pre­lim­i­nary Re­sults (Medi­um bands):

1. Katzen­jam­mers Steel Or­ches­tra – Ly­ing Ex­cus­es (*276 points*)  

2. NGC Cou­va Joy­lan­ders Steel Or­ches­tra – Cut The Bush (*273 points*)  

3. Pam­beri Steel Or­ches­tra – Too Own Way (*270 points*)  

4. Pan El­ders Steel Or­ches­tra – Mh Lover (*269 points*)  

5. Dix­ieland Steel Or­ches­tra – Long Time (*267 points*)  

6. NGC La Brea Nightin­gales – Flag Woman (*266 points*)  

7. Courts Sound Spe­cial­ists of Laven­tille – Jump and Wave (*264 points*)  

8. Ari­ma An­gel Harps Steel Or­ches­tra – Firey (*263 points*)  

9. Sforza­ta Steel Or­ches­tra – Some­body (*262 points*)  

10. San­gre Grande Cordettes Steel Or­ches­tra – Wine On Some­thing (*261 points*)  

11. Curepe Scherzan­do Steel Or­ches­tra – Come With It (*257 points*)  

11. San City Steel Sym­pho­ny – Wet Me Down (*257 points*)  

13. Moods Steel Or­ches­tra – Nah De Dut (*256 points*)  

14. Pan­de­mo­ni­um Steel Or­ches­tra – Go­lo (*255 points*)  

14. Trinidad Val­ley Harps – Fallin (*255 points*)  

14. NGC Steel Xplo­sion Steel Or­ches­tra – Sum­intra (*255 points*)  

17. Val­ley Harps Steel Or­ches­tra – No No We Eh Go­ing Home (*253 points*)  

17. Pow­er Stars Steel Or­ches­tra – En­er­gy Killers (*253 points*)  

19. Fi­nesse Steel Or­ches­tra – Ly­ing Ex­cus­es (*252 points*)  

20. Tor­na­does Steel Or­ches­tra – We Just Can’t Go On Like This (*250 points*)  

21. An­til­lean All Stars – Ah Feel­ing To Rock (*241 points*)