Leeds Pan Central at Beechwood Primary School

Midweek! You'd think we'd be safe, but no! Yet another gig. Let's face it I love the pressure. [Not sure who else does!]

We were going to be [provisionally] me, Natalie, Wanda, Katie and YiBai.

In the event we were [actually] me, Natalie, Bart, Debs and Trish. Lol! C'est la vie!

I love a gig where they already have their own pans. I love the gigs where kids clap along and sing along to the tunes. And, at the end, dance along!

Bart played kit; Trish, with one hour's notice, brought her own single second; Natalie played the school's double guitars; Debs [who arrived from Abu Dabi the day before!] mostly played soprano, except when it was tune too far and gave the thing to me in order to take on the double basses.

Foxwood Panyard playing Leeds Carnival Monday at Cafe Bliss Carnival Village

It is five years since Foxwood's services were no longer required at Leeds Carnival itself. In 2013 Rhiannon and I, and 2012 Sophie and I went down to march pan de neck - dressed as Greeks! -with Nostalgia at London Carnival.

Then Annette decided we should be back in Leeds, and with her untiring support, Foxwood Steel popped up at the side of Chapeltown Road in Savile Park which we did in a sunny 2013 and a rainy 2014. 

We thought we would get moved on but the Carnival-goers just took us for part of Carnival proper. Perhaps we should have kept the name, Foxwood Steel Bandits! Then in 2015 Hilary and George and Mexican rescued us, and put us on at Rhythms now Café Bliss Carnival Village.

Here's some shots of setting up.

And then again this year. Now we don't just use our own private steelband but we are able to plan, to practise and to take community band, East Steel, and some older Sparrows [well those not at work or at LeedsFest] as well as ourselves.

First on Bank Holiday Monday is Leeds Pan Central. We are me [Victoria], Bex, Vicky, Amy, Wanda, Charlotte, Joyce, Lynn, Anne, George, Sheeks, Chloe, Georgia G2, Sophie. Maddie.

Second and third sets today go to Carnival Foxwood and Sparrow. Now we are me [Victoria], Bex, Vicky, Gary, Gig, Georgia, Sophie, Amy, Charlotte, Wanda, Chloe, George, and, towards the end, a rare sighting of Claudia! [whose very mother it was who got us back into Leeds carnival]. Yay. Guest Jermaine on shaker. And a surprised Tamanna finds herself also playing along on one number [still in her motor memory]. [Still in our set!]

Perhaps the best moment was when the DJ [who was himself black] discussed aloud, at some length, and into the microphone, that steel pannistes could be black, they could be white [to quote Johnny. We felt so welcome after all these years. And just as well as there would only be Jermaine and Claudia today! And then Mexican asked the audience to applaud and they did, and they did, and they did. We hit the Red Stripes after that.

Three Foxwood Panyard Steelbands play Leeds Cafe Bliss Carnival Village Sunday

First up it is Leeds Pan Central - a combo today mostly of Foxwood Steel and East Steel. We are
me [Victoria], Vicky, Wanda, George, Lynn, Sophie, Sheeks, Ash, Emma, George,











This is Mexican's Cafe Bliss and Rhythms fifth Carnival Village, neatly nestled at the side of Chapeltown Road, just up from Savile Park where Foxwood Steel popped up in 2013 [sunny] and 2014 [rainy].


Before Hilary and George rescued us.






At 4pm East Steel played on their own.

Now we are me [Victoria], Vicky, Sophie, Lynn, Joyce, Anne, Maddie. Here's Ash arriving to drum for us.





Trying to keep the sets as different as possible, we massacre The Flood.  Moving on.

At six thirty three of us change shirts to be Foxwood Steel, and now we are me [Victoria], Vicky, Sophie, Gary, Here's Sophie actually changing vest!











Out of a potential eight Foxwood  drummers, we only have Sheeks, who is doing her best to get out of it. I contact John, Jermaine and Byron, am about to message Theo when Jermaine agrees, telling me he is not very good. He and Sheeks spend the set trying to get each other to drum. We have the odd disaster, but they are both great.

Foxwood is Gazza, me, Sheeks, Vicky, Sophie, Wanda, Jermaine, Chloe, Gig and Patrick, who wore his matching Red Stripe shirt. 



There was a sort of Battle of the Gazebos into Bags later, then I got a lift home with Sheeks. I don't know what everyone is complaining about, but I had had a few cans!

Leeds Pan Central play NUT Strike, Leeds

As a member of the NUT I voted to strike against the government's mistreatment of school students and teachers, and thus of society in general. This not being a political blog is all you get here. Back to the steelbands.

Leeds Pan Central is whoever we can get from Foxwood, Sparrows and East Steel. We were me [Victoria] [NUT], Georgia [maternity leave], Charlotte [NUT], Wanda [NUT], Katie[took a day off], Chloe [student], Georgia G2 [students], Lynn [PT], YiBai [shift worker], Holly [shift worker], Emma [shift worker], Pippa [NUT], Fehmina [on her way to work!] - not too bad a turn out really.

We also had three of Wanda's colleagues/friends as percussionists plus various people we pulled out the crowd, including Fred, last worked with at Quarry Mount, Diane, and Patrick [who, being 6 months old was more visual than aural. But you gotta start somewhere].

We made it onto the tele on three different News programmes, three different clips. Now that's an improvement on our usual 9 seconds, blink and we are gone. We played You'll Never Walk Alone as our last song, and the crowd sang along. Then Rick came down for the van and the loading while I failed miserably to make the march; got to City Varieties though for the speeches.

Leeds Pan Central play NUT Strike

Well, there's two good reasons for teachers and education workers to have one union.

1. The education system of the UK is in very very dire straits. It is ruining the present and future lives of a whole generation of UK school students who are losing this one chance, their only chance to explore themselves through the protection and informed support of our educationalists.

It started with an idea on the back of an envelope from Andrew Adonis and Tony Blair; it was warmly received and endorsed by Ed Balls, and then by Gove and Morgan. I accuse these five people of extreme abuse of power, in complete disproportion to their educational knowledge. And this generation of schoolkids has been asked to learn only the chosen and partial facts that uninformed ministers choose for them. If all teachers and other education workers went on strike at the same time, we would make the point much more forcibly, and achieve our aims without prolonged disruption.

2. Leeds Pan Central would be a bigger band on these very important occasions.

Anyway, as it turned out, we had a good turn out. From Foxwood Steel there were me, Charlotte, Katie, YiBai, Holly, Georgia G1, and later, Fehmina [blissfully unaware we had a gig, and on her way to work]; from East Steel we had Pippa, Wanda, Lynn,  Emma, Chloe; from Sparrows Georgia G2.

Wanda brought the Oultonettes percussionists, and other old friends [eg Fred] appeared and shook a tambourine or two. We got more than our usual 3 seconds on the tele. Yay.


A good way to deliver a serious message.

Leeds Pan Central Rock the Co-operative Academy

Well the days are long gone that you could call for the kids you want, jump in the minibus and go downtown. You can't even book them in advance not unless it's the Town Hall, and even then I usually only now get them for the show itself, not the morning rehearsal.

My latest letter to the paper [on sister blog]:

http://victoriajaquissmusiceducator.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/music-raises-exam-results-good-but-not.html]


enumerates, and not for the first time, all the great great benefits that music, playing music, playing well enough to play in public, confers on a human being. . . . . . .

Well, cutting this long one short, we are me [Victoria], Yi Bai, Georgia and Joyce. Next up is Chloe [flute player and singer] who has played four times in her life so far, and never the songs we are about to take on. Then the three amazing Czech boys from the Co-operative Academy [Primrose High School as was]. I checked out the Czechs the day before; yes, Nicolas can drum calypso; yes Adrian can change chords by ear, and on the day here is Timi, who with some heavy guidance can hit the bass note on cue. And then, just as you thought this was a already proper band, I spot Gavin before he spots me!
It was a trip down Memory Lane. There's Richard, Nadia, Jacky, Marie, Diane for a start.

The whole show is about what makes Britain great, and it's its many different cultures. The break-your-heart act was the Slovenian choir with the girl lead/soloist [with Timi accompanying on piano! Now that's what I call live music]. Because I don't which school students, if any have parental permission to be on this blog, we tried pics with players leaning at silly angles, or turned round.

Leeds Pan Central open up Rhythms Carnival Village Leeds Bank Holiday Monday.

 Sophie Bex
 

Well we would never had fitted onto the stage anyway, but overnight it had flooded, so while Marcus and Connor sweep away the wet, we put up the gazebo and cunningly attach a nice piece of waterproof sheeting. Attaching it from the gazebo to Marcus's van. Put Ash to stand under where when it dipped. Joking! Actually looking at the photo below, perhaps not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning we play to revellers returning from J'ouvert, to cooks and djs setting up their stalls along Chapeltown Road, to individual troupe members as they walked up from the West Indian centre to the Potternewton Park. It was bit rainy but the sound carried, amplified by concrete and gazebo. And maybe that pans can be loud.

 

 

Joyce and Adele braved us two days running. Pippa, back from her holiday made it over. The rest of us were me, Bex, Vicky, Yi Bai, Wanda, Sophie and Ash. We were ace. We have a repertoire of well over twenty songs that we are common to all three bands, and, give or take a couple that at least one band was sight-reading, we played from these.

Pippa Sophie
 

After four years of being excluded from Leeds Carnival Proper, it was great that Hilary, George and Mexican gave us this opportunity, and I was pleased to be able to include all our players in this event.



Enjoy the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

Yi Bai

 

Lynn

 

 

Anne Joyce Adele

 

Marcus Connor