Rallying Call

This time next year the region will be abuzz with the activities connected to Cricket World Cup 2007. In the continued thrust towards public education, there was a concert and exhibition held at Pigeon Island. The local organizing committee sought to use the opportunity of having a huge crowd in one place to disseminate the message. Cable & Wireless seems to have wrested their way back to supremacy in the cricket world and they had the signage and presence to prove it.
A number of things were perhaps responsible for the low turn out at the event and these become even more important when the show is free. Nonetheless, the artistes on the show ensured that those present had a good time. Diamond Steel Orchestra took care of the early warm up. They were positioned in a welcoming spot and ensured that upon arrival you were put in the mood. Che Campeche used their spot onstage to deal with the all important issue of ambush marketing. Lion I and Sally Elwin each did one song followed by a 12 minute medley by Invader and then 2005 Calypso Monarch Walleigh did three numbers. Nicole David was introduced with quite a bit of theatrics then it seemed anti-climatic when she hit the stage and she was hoarse. She gave a very good account of herself though while battling the flu. She went through her set in fine form and reminded the patrons at intervals that St Lucia will be on show come next year.
David Rudder was the last to take the stage, an artiste now synonymous with cricket, he did not disappoint. Backed by Wayne Bruno and the Rapid Response, he begun with strains of Trini to de bone, playing on the first line of that song “welcome welcome one and all to the land of fete”. Very early in the set he did Rally and a tribute to former West Indies player Omari Banks in one he called Bankie’s Son, then went on to other big numbers like Bahai Girl, Calypso, Mad Man’s Rant, Dust In Dey Face, Haiti, The Hammer, High Mas and the like. In typical Rudder style he delivered the hits effortlessly and without much fuss much to the delight of those present and particularly those close to the stage. While to many it was just a concert, the fact that he ended on the Banana Death Song should reiterate that we all need to play our part indeed. Many of our islands are similar and what will set us apart is our people, bananas are dead and we depend heavily on tourism to bring us foreign exchange and for some people, tourism is their daily bread. Let us play our part before and beyond 2007, the world is watching!