Panyard

Trinidad & Tobago is the home of the Steelpan, and carnival time we have the Panorama competition where all the steelpan bands across the country compete. Every band has a panyard where they practice for Panorama. The panyards are always a nice visit, nearly every night they are open to the public where they are there practicing for the competition. Listening to them live is always a great experience, and quite amazing when you realize you are listening to this beautiful music coming from tuned oil drums.
I passed in to the panyard of PCS Nitrogen Silver Stars tonight, just to take in some of the music and energy, always a great vibe, not too packed, and the crowd, and players alike, were quite a mix of all ages and backgrounds. There were quite a bit of younger players this year, which always makes me happy to see, keeping the culture alive. This is really one of the few things that I really love and enjoy around carnival time, it is really something you should experience live. For me, Panorama can be a bit overwhelming, but the panyard is the perfect place to get my fix of live steelpan each year.
And a side note, I met up with some old neighbors of mine that moved away about 18 years ago, they just happened to be there when I showed up, and they arrived that very morning. It was an added bonus to the night.