The Leeward Islands Calypso Competition Subcommittee in Anguilla, now observing its 20th Anniversary and led by its Chairman, Mr. Joseph Vanterpool, made two revelations at a press conference on Tuesday this week.
The first was that, though not actually an observance of the above anniversary, there will be performances by the highly-rated 17 Plus Band at the competition – the climaxing event of the Anguilla Summer Festival on Saturday, August 6, at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre. The band was formed in 1985 when its regional musicians were relatively young men but now, grownup, they have retained their original name.
Having extensively toured the Caribbean, and also given performances in Columbia and the United States, the band is coming to Anguilla with several descriptions. One is that it is “a multi-dimensional performance band which has rocked the Caribbean and changed the sound of Calypso and Soca music”. A second description is that 17 Plus “is a Legendary Soca/Calpyso Band from the United States Virgin Islands known for dazzling and exciting its audiences with its electrifying performances”.
According to Mr. Keithley Lake, a member of the above subcommittee, he was approached at carnival village last year by Fredo Mike, a representative of 17 Plus, saying the band wanted to perform in 2016 in Anguilla – a request that has now been followed up and accepted. According to Mr. Lake, he stressed then that the band would be expected to perform exceptionally well in comparison with Onion Band whose performances had rocked the crowd at the 2015 Leeward Islands’ Calypso Competition in Anguilla.
The second revelation, at the press conference, was that during the intermission of the competition, two well-known calypsonians will not only perform for the audience, but are likely to have a personal spar off – poking humour at each other, much to the delight of the spectators. The special guest artistes will be “De Bear” whose real name is Keithroy Morson of Antigua, and King Konris (Maynard) now a parliamentarian in St. Kitts. He sits in the Federal Parliament of St-Kitts-Nevis as a member of the Opposition Labour Party, but is still somewhat involved in the performing arts.
During the press conference, Mr. Vanterpool, Chairman of the Leeward Islands Calypso Subcommittee, said the eight participating islands competing in the show are Anguilla, Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, the United States Virgin Islands, St, Maarten, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands. He stated that the All Star Band – a composition of various regional musicians – would provide the back-up music for the competing calypsonians, while the visiting 17 Plus Band would render the regular musical performances.
The competition is being sponsored by FLOW Anguilla which previously operated as Cable & Wireless and LIME and provided sponsorship over the past fifteen years. This is according to Ms. Jade Reymond, Commercial Manager with FLOW Anguilla, who could not now say the amount of the 2016 sponsorship.
Meanwhile, Mr. John Benjamin, Chairman of the Anguilla Summer Festival Committee, commended the Leeward Islands Calypso Competition Subcommittee on its 20th Anniversary. He commented that it was one of the various subcommittees which had always functioned very well on its own without causing him stress or strain.
