Pan Fusion a success

THE First Citizens Pan Fusion has become one of the highly anticipated events on the Crop Over calendar. The production, which took place at the picturesque Ilaro Court, was used to pay tribute to late musician Adrian ‘Boo’ Husbands. His wife Anthea and son Kyle were on hand to enjoy the festivities.

In the ‘Chimborazo – A Tribute to Boo’ section of the programme, highly regarded musician Nicholas Brancker was joined by his friends, which included vocal talents like Biggie Irie and Tamara Marshall. Former Coalishun band members Adrian Clarke and Terencia ‘TC’ Coward also delivered hits like ‘Who the Hell is Kim’ and ‘Ting Tong’ in this section. Brancker was reminiscent in his tone as he recapped fun moments with his school and band mate. The musician implored, “It is important that we as a nation make sure that all of those little cubicles of creativity are encouraged because we never know which one it is that is going to carry us forward. We can’t feel that we know, we have to let them do whatever they do and get to the point where they are actually manifesting their dreams.”

Those who made up the band were the ‘who’s who’ of the Barbadian music scene. It comprised stalwarts like Ian Alleyne and Mikey Hulseimeir. It was augmented by the younger instrumentalist trio GP Horns. They delivered some of the tracks that the late tent manager had the privilege of playing on. This included a medley of soca tunes with some popular tracks like ‘Ragga Ragga’ and ‘Something’s Happening’ by RPB, also ‘Iron Bazodee’ by Square One. This piece also included some old school songs, which drew the crowd to the designated dance area.

The next segment saw David ‘ZigE’ Walcott and his band, Azúcar Orchestra, creating a Pan Yard vibe on the grounds. He too reflected on the times he spent with Boo. The pannist shared, “I have a lot of respect and love for Boo.” He credited him with being the catalyst for forging relationships between older and younger musicians.

In his set, the orchestra was joined by the extremely entertaining Dane Gulstone from the Neal and Massy All Stars out of Trinidad. He was dynamic as he moved around the stage and at one point even delivering a song selection with only one hand. Another highlight of this section was RPB joining the star-studded band, which included members of top bands Masala and Two Mile Hill. He had the audience rocking with ‘Boat Ride’.

Lil Rick was next and on his entrance to the stage, he sought to test the skills of the orchestra, challenging them to play some dub tracks, which they expertly did. This was the prelude of a DJ set where he kept the audience jamming in the after-party session, which closed out the event. (ST)