DEPENDING on the direction the wind blew, those in downtown Port of Spain could hear the strains of pan music coming from the Savannah, which held its first show for the Carnival season yesterday—the Panorama semifinals.

Forty-nine steel orchestras took to the stage yesterday competing for the finals of the competition which will be held on Carnival Saturday, February 18. Many of the steelbands paid homage to the late Dr Pat Bishop, with compositions like: "The Archbishop of Pan", "Pan Woman", Aunty Pat and "The Prophet of Pan". Sixteen large bands participated with 18 small and 15 medium bands in the mix.

In the earlier part of the day, before things turned sour for some not even the grey skies that hovered above could cast a shadow on the revelry below, nor could the after lunch rains dampen the party-like atmosphere. When the sun came out, so did the coolers, the women in the short pants and the men decked out in sunglasses and colourful "posse" T-shirts. While women gyrated to DJ music in the Greens—the part of the Savannah dedicated to serious partiers—pan reverberated throughout the North and Grand Stands. As one steelband exited the stage the rhythm sections among the crowd continued the momentum and struck up their own music while waiting for the next steel orchestra to roll onstage.

A very confident vice-president of Pan Trinbago, Bryon Serrette, said he estimated that yesterday's crowd would go down as the largest in the history of a Panorama semifinal. While Pan Trinbago initially gave the assurance that the event would start promptly at 9 a.m., competition began half-an-hour later, with Supernovas kicking off the Small Band category with "Gie dem Tempo".

When the Express caught up with Serrette at midday, he explained that a few minor hiccups related to the new space allotted for the Greens as well as the rains over the past few days resulted in the delayed start of the event.

"All systems were not at a 'go' 100 per cent but we were close enough. With the new formation of the Greens we had one or two little hitches over the night, then we had unseasonable rains for the last few days, that slowed us down a bit; however things are progressing well, we have control of the Greens to ensure that the sideshow doesn't affect the main show," said Serrette.

One of the most noticeable changes to this year's event is that the party area or "limers central" known as the Greens is further north of the stage. This came as a result of problems experienced last year, when DJ music clashed with the steelbands that were performing on stage. This year, bleachers were placed to the front of the Greens, allowing patrons to come forward and listen as their favourite bands took the stage. There were also strategically placed large screens displaying the action taking place on the big stage.

Serrette said he was happy with the change and said patrons from the Greens were, for the most part, supportive of the new arrangement. At several points of the afternoon, however, a house announcer could be heard reminding DJs from the Greens to turn down the music when the bands took the stage.

Several patrons the Express spoke with were happy with the change.

"I am extremely happy and well satisfied, it is our culture to party and enjoy pan, so we have the best of both worlds," said Jenny Dickinson.

A few said they would have preferred being closer to the stage. There were several complaints about the condition of the toilets to the back of the Greens, which many said were neglected and unclean.