TOT & Soca Village Continue To Shine

THE dynamic collaboration between Take Over Tent and Soca Village International continues to produce fruitful results and the patrons are already loving what they are seeing and hearing thus far.

This year, the two tents are collaborating under the theme “Celebrating Kaiso 56 Years Strong”, reflecting the longevity of both tents in the calypso art form: TOT being around for 34 years while Soca Village International has been around for 22.

The joint tents held their first show last Wednesday evening at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) to an almost packed house. Performing on the night was a mix of seasoned and novice artistes who all gave spirited performances.

On the card were Weatherman (“My Hero”, “De Key”), Nilker (“One Band”, “Passport on Sale”), Achiever (“Vision”, “Anou Cheri”), Black Pearl (“Death on the Road”, “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”), Kisha (“No Shame”), Walleigh (“Shoes”, “Common Sense”), TK the Boss (“Nation’s Cry”, “Coconut Milk”), Ambi (“Mwen Faché), Seebo and Versatile (“Cha Handle Me”), Invader (“No Games”, “Migraine”), Bronxx and Jay (“Move We Body”) and Diggles (“Granny Motto”).

The pleas for encores from the audience were many and the artistes all obliged, especially the new artistes who came in for high praise from the fans. But Walleigh, Ambi, Invader and Nilker definitely stole the night.

This all seems to come as no surprise to Business Manager of Take Over Tent & Soca Village, Cecil Charles, who said the tents have come a long way in perfecting their musical magic.

“These two tents have done a lot for the calypso art form over the years by producing some of the top artistes in all genres,” Charles told The VOICE. “TOT has always been a tent that has provided all the avenues to bring in people like Ricky T, Walleigh, Ambi, and so on.”

The tent’s first show was held a week later due to the recently-held general elections that took place two days before the original tent date, which Charles described as challenging since general elections are not usually held during the calypso season.

“It affected us somewhat because we had to postpone a few rehearsals because our backup band, Wézon, is made up of guys from the Police Band who had national duties to perform. Also, some of our artistes missed rehearsals because they performed at various campaign events,” Charles explained.

Charles said that in light of the election results, many artistes had to re-compose their songs to make them relevant. He added that it is gratifying to be able to attract new artistes each year, many of whom might not gravitate to calypso, but soca music instead. The tent’s overall job is to be supportive to all artistes, he noted.

“We try to make our artistes feel as comfortable as possible by directing them to do hardcore calypso,” Charles said. “But I guess it might be a situation where they do realize that to be in the limelight right now they have to do a lot of groovy and power soca. After Carnival would have ended, it’s really the soca artistes who are invited to perform at events.”

TOT & Soca Village was the last tent to host their opening show this season. The tent will host two shows before staging their quarterfinals round next Wednesday. This evening, the tent will host its Pre-Father’s Day show at the NCC.

With powerhouses like the reigning soca monarch (Ricky T), reigning calypso monarch (Walleigh), the first and only female soca monarch ever (Black Pearl) and multiple-calypso monarch, Ashanti, in its camp, Charles said TOT & Soca Village intends to deliver a total package of quality music this season. In fact, calypso monarch, Walleigh, is on his way to a three-peat this year.

Charles said the recently-formed Calypso Management Committee (CMC) has been working very closely with the tents by providing the necessary support. Part of the CMC’s overall objective is taking care of the major expenses the tents usually have to battle for. With sponsorship down generally, he said the umbrella body takes the headache away from tents that now get more time to focus on the music side of things.

Meanwhile, TOT & Soca Village has compiled a calendar of activities that runs beyond the Carnival season, including partnering with communities by having its artistes perform for free for some fundraisers.