Dynamite Calypso Tent ignites in New York

by Maxwell Haywood Fri, Jun 04, 2010

With an impressive line-up of Calypsonians, the Dynamite Calypso Tent last weekend completed its round of the preliminary judging for St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) National Calypso Monarch competition.{{more}}

Hot on the heels of a successful launch of Vincy Mas in Brooklyn several weeks ago, the Tent lived up to its legacy of offering genuine calypso to the world last Friday night, May 28, 2010, at the Café Omar in Brooklyn.

After the singing of the national anthem, statements were made by Franklin “Superdex” Richards, president of the Dynamite Calypso Tent , and also by Hassan Kennedy, president of SVG’s Calypso Association.

Then 16 Vincentian calypsonians, backed by the reputable Lambert and the Matadors band, delivered their offerings for Vincy Mas 2010, with generally favorable responses from the calypso fans, which turned out in relatively high numbers to witness this impressive line-up of Vincentian calypsonians based in North America.

The first calypsonian to hit the stage was Groovy D who, with lots of emotion, sang his song titled “Haiti will rise”, in which he paid tribute to the people of Haiti and underscored the strength and capacity of human beings to overcome the toughest of times. He was received well by the fans.

Jose Juan recalled the legacies of carnival in his song “Mas long ago”. His effort was also appreciated by the fans. Fabulous T, the man who is known for putting lots of energy into his performance, was apparently restrained while on stage doing his song called “Don’t stop it”, yet the clarity of his performance was well above par for the competition. When it was Jakie’s turn, he did a good job illustrating “Why he can’t wait.” The audience loved it all the way.

Then it was the turn of D Man Age who showed his versatility by choosing to sing a non-political song called “My fans”, in which he paid tribute to his fans for supporting him for about three decades in the calypso arena. He, too, was well received by many fans. With the audience paying close attention, Rejector, in his song titled “For granted no more”, belted out a stern warning to the powers that be that Vincentians would not allow themselves to be taken for granted any longer.

Dennis Bowman in a very cunning manner had the fans thinking about his sarcastic calypso when he artfully highlighted reasons for a particular Vincentian political activist having the desire for “Something go to me head”. Keeping it the Vincy way, Puffy followed up with a song called “I love ah Vincy woman”. Super Dex, in no uncertain patriotic terms, made the case for a united Vincentian people in his song called “All ah we ah Vincy”.

Exposer kept the Dynamite light shining by delivering a very crafty and clever calypso called “Shut your mouth” in which he highlighted the nature of the responses of political leaders to criticism. Brother Don represented himself well with his song “My Granny”. And the Reverend, who followed, delivered another crafty song called “Miss Calypso”. In his song titled “Never me again”, Bob MC reminded and warned everyone to never neglect their family because their life could be ruined in the process. Stryker, the champion of the New Song Competition of the launch of Vincy Mas in New York several weeks ago, was in the calypso mood and lamented the situations that make him want a “Piece of Mind”. Ras X followed with “101.1 Vincy”, and D Truth ended the competition with his foxy song titled “Wishful thinking”.

Guest appearances were made by Scorcher, Winston Soso, and Val Adams from Grenada. During the night, both Scorcher and Winston Soso were honored by the Dynamite Calypso Tent. Adding more energy to the programme for the night were DJs Jam One and Ellis, and MCs Benneth Straker and Soca Jones. Andrew Chance and Maxwell Haywood provided live commentary via 91.9FM in New York and Nice Radio in SVG. Supporting all this activity were sponsors Standard Shippers, and Blak Shuga Graphix.

Judges Earl Paynter, Daniel Hall, and Kenelm Beache travelled from SVG to select calypsonians from the Dynamite Tent. Who will they select? Only the judges know!