Orange Sky represents
No rock music in India, says band official
Story Created: Jan 16, 2011 at 10:46 PM ECT
Story Updated: Jan 16, 2011 at 10:46 PM ECT
LOCAL rock/reggae band Orange Sky, which came under fire from Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley in Parliament on Friday, is receiving a favourable response during its Government-sponsored tour of India, according to the band's publicist, Nigel Telesford.
Rowley charged that the band members were included in the trip to India as part of a "pay-back" for their involvement in the People's Partnership general election campaign in 2010.
According to Rowley: "The Minister of Tourism (Dr Rupert Griffith) going on a trip halfway around the world, carrying with him for a 45-minute programme where he will speak for ten minutes and Orange Sky will play for nine minutes... he's in India at the most expensive hotel in India, Orange Sky is being repaid now for their involvement in the last election."
Rowley continued, "If you are going to go to India... to sell Trinidad and Tobago's culture, no soca, no steel pan, no calypso, no tambrin, no tassa, you send a rock band! So we gone to rock India at the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars to play rock music in New Delhi and will bring tourists to Trinidad and Tobago, that is the Government's policy."
But according to a posting on entertainment website overtimett.com, Telesford stated that Orange Sky performed "a 50-minute set, which included both the Trinbagonian National Anthem and the Indian (National) Anthem, Kumar Sanu's 'Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye' and Mahatma Ghandi's favourite song, 'Ragu Pati Ragava' with an upbeat soca twist".
He stated that the band also performed several classic calypso hits by Sparrow, the late Kitchener and David Rudder, all accompanied by live steel pan music from Derron Ellies, and that "no rock music was played at all".
"Trinidad and Tobago was portrayed as a twin-island paradise that welcomes investment and tourism from this part of the world, especially because of our rich East Indian heritage and sizeable East Indian population. The formal presentation was well-received and garnered thunderous applause, in addition to nods and smiles of appreciation," the website posting stated.
"The first presentation by the Tourism Development Company (TDC) in Mumbai was four hours long and featured lengthy addresses from Tourism Minister Rupert Griffith; TDC president Ernest Littles and other Directors of Culture.
"The audience was comprised of many of the country's top travel agents, the Indian Minister of Tourism, Kumari Selja, many of India's hotel chain owners and other entrepreneurs and potential investors.
"The band has a long-standing and mutually-beneficial relationship with the Tourism Development Company, who also funded their first US tour under [Howard Chin Lee and] the PNM (People's National Movement) regime in 2005," the website added.