De Big Show promotes itself as “the most ‘celebrated’ calypso tent in Barbados, offering a spectacular mix of traditional calypso and the sweet soca sounds during the annual Crop Over Season” from both young and old calypsonians accompanied by a top brass band.
But they also have to project a level of sound that patrons can enjoy the messages from the calypsonians to the fullest.
It did not happen when they raised the curtain for the 2024 season under the name the Barbados Public Workers Cooperative Credit Union De Big Show at the Sea Rocks Dome, Maxwell Coast Road, Christ Church on Saturday night.
The audience’s ability to hear and understand the lyrics of the calypsonians was affected. It is okay to hear a punchline. I would not be presumptuous to say it is solely an engineering problem because some singers shouted and rushed their lyrics also. The beauty of the calypso is lodged in enunciation.
When the emcee Ishiaka McNeil asked the audience if they were enjoying the tent, the response was that they could not hear the lyrics; not from only one singer but from all who went before.
“You got to bring back all . . . band too loud?” asked McNeil in response to a suggestion from the floor at which point four acts had already performed – Pompey doing Come Wid A Song, Mary E performing Soca Love Affair, Bit Bit with Put On A Show and Tae singing Big Circus.
There was improvement in lyrical quality with Betty B rendering Stress Free and Skung Yung’s 50 Years Of Crop Over.
Serenader’s Shoemaker Rasp seems to have a dual edge to the lyrics and proves evasive to comprehension, while the delivery of Generation Gap performed by iWeb, Mighty Grynner and Bit Bit was lost amidst the loud sound of the band – once again.
Another observation in this tent report is the emcee’s quick response to allow an encore based on the reaction of a single person in the audience, especially one who had a loud and intrusive voice.
To use a 2024 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup analogy, the De Big Show’s opening under the lights had very few maximums even though an enthusiastic crowd seemed to be rooting for them.
The second half of the show included Skung Yung with From The Heart, Mary E doing It’s All In The Name, Natahlee with This Is We Festival, Mikey’s Obsession, Biggie Irie with Wining, Classic doing Likes – which got him an authentic extra performance, Betty with Encore; Chrystal rendering Proposal, iWeb with Village Ram, Mighty Grynner with Mash Up De Road
while Mistah Dale finished the night with his 2024 release Play. (JS)
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