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The Unforgiven
King Cro Cro not
forgetting 'Crown' critics
Peter
Christopher
pchristopher@trinidadexpress.com
Sunday, January
6th 2008
Calypso King:
Cro Cro at the opening of his Icons calypso tent at
Festival Square, Point Fortin, on Friday night.
LAST YEAR, the
coronation of Weston Rawlins, better known as "Cro Cro",
as calypso monarch was met with numerous protests from
his fellow calypsonians, who claimed the "Mighty
Midget's" winning composition "Nobody Ain't Go Know" was
a re-issue of a 1987 Cro Cro song entitled "Suitcase".
That was almost
a year ago. Since then, there has been a general
election and a record-breaking murder toll among a long
list of topics that may have earned the calypsonian's
attention this season. However the unceremonious stone
throwing that followed his fourth ascendance to the
calypso throne remains high in his mind.
At the opening
of his Icons calypso tent at Festival Square, Point
Fortin on Friday night, he showed that he has not yet
forgiven either. "Respect the Four King King," railed
the defending monarch.
He only
vocalised the contentious lyric on stage once, but the
message to his detractors was clear and the modest crowd
of a couple hundred was buzzing. It was Cro Cro at his
vicious best.
Earlier the
tent, now in its fourth year, opened with Arima-based
parang group Rebuscar, reminding patrons that the
Christmas and Parang season had not yet finished. The
group was met with mixed reaction during its half hour
stay on stage with members of the crowd calling for "Kaiso!"
towards the end of its performance, which was also
hampered by a faulty cordless microphone which was
abandoned for the remainder of the show.
Wendell Etienne,
new to the Icons cast, made fun of the early sound
troubles and his shift from the Calypso Revue before
introducing the show's first calypso act Squero at
around 9.15 p.m. Etienne shared MC duties with Derek
"CG" Silman.
The first
notable performance of the night came from a returning
Kurt Allen who said he had not been on the calypso stage
for almost a decade. The 1999 Soca Monarch, had taken a
haircut since his days as Roy Cape's frontline vocalist
and now, donning a brown suit and matching fedora, he
lamented that the modern era lacked the fierce
calypsonians of yesteryear in his rendition of "The Last
Badjohn of Kaiso".
The 1993 Young
King showed little signs of rust as his commanding stage
presence and delivery were superior to the majority of
the cast, deservedly earning him the night's first
encore from the opening night audience.
There was
momentary shock when Police Commissioner Trevor Paul
appeared to be taking the stage. But it turned out to be
look-alike calypsonian Dell who came out decked in full
khaki uniform.
With the
addition of another strong verse or two, the judges may
well take heed of this "Police Commissioner's" plea of
"I don't want to be CoP again" as he addressed the
corruption of police officers and government officials.
He too, was recalled by the audience.
He was followed
by Etienne, whose humourous rendition "Big Wood Jackson"
was well received by the crowd as were the hyperactive
antics of Tempo as he urged his neighbour to give him
"The Bull". Other notable performances were Brigo's
"Voodoo Man" and Steve
Sealy's lively "Celebration Time", a song tailor-made
for Panorama, before Mini Priest's "Back It
Up" closed the first half of the show.
In the second
half, the crowd enjoyed the humourous offerings of Lingo
and Nature who sang "Ah Not Singing Today" and "She Wuk
Meh" respectively, earning encore appearances for both.
Veterans Cardinal, "The Weather Forecast" and Mba "Horse
Plantain" preceded Cro Cro who was the the penultimate
performer.
Opening with
"Thank You Daddy", a heartfelt tribute to his father's
influence in his life, Cro Cro sang that he would place
his father above all other Caribbean heroes including
Brian Lara, Viv Richards and Eugenia Charles.
The formalities
then ended and the fires were lit. In his lyrical
crosshairs were Sugar Aloes, Skatie, Chalkdust, Shadow,
Valentino, Singing Sandra and Bally. Unwilling to back
down, Cro Cro sang "If they want a calypso showdown, I
go be like a scorpion waiting in town", as he slammed
their responses to his fourth monarchy.
Asked afterwards
why he chose to continue his war with his fellow
calysponians instead of sticking to his traditionally
political themes, Cro Cro said: "I deal with the
politics already, I have to deal with the politics of
the culture now; I deal with Panday already, it have
Pandays in the culture, I have to deal with them now.
The same way it have corruption in politics, it have
politics in the culture."
The show closed
at around 12.30 a.m. with Gary Cordner singing his
groovy soca hit "Seduction".
The tent will
move to its Ambassador Hotel, Long Circular Road, base
on Thursday. |
