MACHEL AND THE ‘MOTHER OF ALL MAS’

THEY said it would be the mother of all Carnivals.

They said there would be rich creativity, innovative productions, and huge numbers of enthusiastic visitors.

They promised unbounded excitement, energy, ingenuity.

They lied.

Apart from steelband – which has returned to competition with masterful performances – the first Trinidad and Tobago Carnival in three years is a predictable jumble of humdrum.

Pan is saving the day.

The quality of music from younger and younger players, arrangers and tuners, even with age-old songs (Short Shirt’s 1976 Tourist Leggo for example), showcase our reservoir of genius.

That such skills constantly emerge from troubled communities alerts us that youths could be put to purposeful activities.

T&T may have long lost the opportunity to commercially market steelband, but in the land of its birth, pan is melodious and inventive.

But that’s where the flair and brilliance of Carnival 2023 ends.

Admittedly, the street parades are still to take place, but who expects the spirit and style of Peter Minshall, Wayne Berkeley, George Bailey and others of Carnival’s golden era?

The Red Cross kiddies mas, though, was a standout.

As for calypso, even with the lack of commercial appeal, many practitioners are back with clichéd race-baiting lyrics and recycled melodies.

The vermin of the art-form is still gaining applause from the remaining few who demand that society leave-calypso-alone.

Those who approve of calypso’s vulgar free-for-all should consider, as one example, Oma Panday being vilified simply for being the wife of the then-Prime Minister.

With some obvious exceptions, soca is now generally synthesiser-fuelled cookie-cutter jump-on-demand refrain, a sharp decline from the musicality of the 1980s and 1990s.

And, of course, chutney is still merrily serenading rum and horn.

In that climate of mediocrity, some have damned Machel Montano, who is interweaving his talent as an artiste with shrewdness as an entrepreneur.

In our free enterprise system, Machel is entitled to fill Carnival Friday with quality entertainment, after the steady decline and inevitable collapse of International Soca Monarch.

Montano has not squeezed out the Soca Monarch show, as some are senselessly arguing.

The competition fell on its own weight as a result of the absence of innovation, which led to a steady decline in patron appeal and commercial support.

In its early years, the show, a product of patriot William Munroe, wooed more than 25,000 eager patrons who were energised by the artistic competition, imagination and aura of the event.

It was the ultimate pre-Carnival happening.

But the organisers, who were bankrolled by taxpayers, never felt compelled to revamp and rejuvenate the show.

International Soca Monarch collapsed in the same way as the neighbourhood bakery or hardware that refuses to be competitive by enhancing its product and service.

Montano, bolstered by his marketing-driven mother Elizabeth, is the most commercially-oriented local artiste since Sparrow of the 1960s and 1970s.

T&T must stand behind Machel’s gallant bid to internationalise soca and make it a Grammy category.

As for Carnival visitors, they are mainly returning nationals, some on their annual trek to roots, others escaping the current brutal cold in several North American cities.

Citizens of the developed world have been properly advised to “reconsider travel to Trinidad and Tobago due to crime.”

Those who take the risk find a crumbling capital city.

But this year’s middling Carnival should be no surprise.

After all, it is taking place in a land where everyday matters – like renewing a vehicle’s licence – are burdensome, as institutions collapse.

Carnival 2023 is a symbol of the faltering state of Trinidad and Tobago.

They said it would be the mother of all Carnivals.