Mighty Sparrow Surprise Guest for Snowflakes Tribute to Greats

Author

Stephen Weir

Release Date

Thursday, December 20, 2018

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If you saw the advertisement for the giant Snowflakes Tribute to the Greats concert in last week’s Caribbean Camera, did you catch organizer Wendy Jone’s drift when she mentions special guest star in the ad? No? Well, the cat is now out of the bag, the special guest is the world’s most famous Calypso singer: The Mighty Sparrow and an afternoon show has been added to accommodate the demand for tickets!

It has been a long long time since the Mighty Sparrow was last in Toronto. He did make an appearance in 2014 at the Caribbean Tales Film Festival screening of the biopic The Glamour Boyz but he did not sing. That will all change January 26 thanks to Patricia Ward (Sparrow’s Canadian based daughter) and Pan Fantasy’s Wendy Jones for making it all happen.

“We have invited him to come and perform many times,” Wendy Jones told the Caribbean Camera. “ Last year he didn’t think the timing was right, and he was having some mild health problems too. He said we should talk again. Later, after successfully performing in London with Calypso Rose, we renewed the conversation. He said he is feeling great and would be happy to sing in Scarborough.”

“By the time the deal was done, we had already booked the annual evening Snowflakes on Steel into the 650 seat P.C. Ho Theatre - Chinese Cultural Centre in Scarborough for Saturday January 26th, “ she continued. “Rather than blow-up the programme we decided to add Sparrow to the bill, extending the length of the show.”

The annual Pan show – organized by Pan Fantasy and Earl LaPierre’s AfroPan Steelband - is usually sold-out, even without a guest of the Mighty Sparrow’s calibre. So to make sure everyone gets to see the same show, a 1pm afternoon performance, with the identical line-up (including the Mighty Sparrow) has now been added.

The line-up for Snowflakes on Steel includes Pan Fantasy, AfroPan, Gemoni Pan Grove, Panatics Steelpan Network, and Worship in Steel.
Each band will perform a 20 minute set and there will be singers and dancers performing in between! MC for both the afternoon and evening show will be A Different Booklist’s owner Ms. Itah Sadu.

“We invited Worship in Steel to be our guest band. They are from the Kingdom Covenant Church in Mississauga, and people want to hear them play!” explained Wendy Jones. “The Panatics Steelpan Network is made up of the older, senior members of the Panatics.”

“ This is a real showcase for our culture. People have always enjoyed Snowflake because it is such a good precursor to the Trinidad Carnival.This is a winter warm-up.”

$35 advance tickets are available now from the bands taking part as well as through Ticket Gateway , M&A Discount Store and the downtown Bathurst Street A Different Booklist. There will be $40 tickets at the door for both the afternoon and evening shows.

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