Bards of Dynamite Calypso Tent will on May 31 face the judges as they compete with their colleagues based in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) for an opportunity to ultimately try and dethrone reigning Calypso Monarch, Lornette “Fya Empress” Nedd and drive away with a car, this year’s top prize.
Judges from SVG will again travel to New York to decide which of the nation’s calypsonians there, if any, should be among the 20 competing in the National Calypso Semi-Finals in Kingstown.
The show will be held in Brooklyn at Café Omar, at 1744 Nostrand Avenue — at Nostrand Avenue and Clarendon Road.
The calypsonians who will perform are Dennis Bowman, Delahanty “Singing Della” Isle, Franklyn “Super Dex” Richards, Errol “De Man Age” Rose, Earl “Exposer” Isles, Paul “I-Madd” Scrubb, Kenroy “Jakie” Jack, David “Chang I” Morgan, Tyrone “Fabulous T” Pierre, John “The Truth” Dougan, Francis “Stryker” Brown, Marvin “Bobb MC” Bobb, Delano “Detector” Joseph, Carlos “Rejector” Providence, Gregory “Brother Dan” Olive, Ramon “Jose Juan” Diaz, and Anthony “Ras X” Soleyn.
They will be backed by the band Lambert and the Matadors.
Special guest artistes will be Winston Soso, and Scorcher.
President of the Dynamite Calypso Tent, Aisnley Primus, said patrons will get “a high level of calypso that they have come to expect over the years from the Dynamite Calypso Tent.
“The judges will have a hard time deciding because of the high level. The fans will leave Café Omar on May 31 very pleased,” he further said in a press release.
Primus further said Dynamite Calypso Tent is an important link between St. Vincent and the Grenadines and its diaspora.
“It is one of the most concrete and productive examples of a concrete link between SVG and Vincentians living abroad in North America. The Tent serves as a messenger in many ways to spread the good and positive vibes about Vincentian culture.”
He said the tent is growing strongly from its Brooklyn base to other places. It has embraced calypsonians from Canada and from different places in the United States, such as Philadelphia and Boston.
During its 13-year existence, the Dynamite Calypso Tent has been making outstanding contributions to SVG’s carnival.
Its members include former Calypso Monarchs and winners of various competitions.
Members of the tent have been consistently selected to the National Calypso Monarch Finals in SVG.
Moreover, no other Caribbean diaspora community in North America has accomplished the task of organizing a calypso tent that is organically linked to Carnival in their home country in the Caribbean, the release further said.
The Tent recently elected a new executive whose members are Ainsley Primus, president; Gideon “Jam One” Lewis, vice-president; Maxwell Haywood, public relations officer; Gailene Windsor, treasurer; Racquel Richardson, secretary; and committee members Dennis Bowman, John “The Truth” Dougan, Paul “I-Madd” Scrubb, and Tyrone Pierre.