With a few steel drums and talented musicians, the USC Palmetto Pans brought a fun-filled night to the School of Music on Tuesday.
The Palmetto Pans is a group of USC students who perform steel drum music for the university and greater Columbia community. On Tuesday, the ensemble held its spring concert in the recital hall at the USC School of Music. The Palmetto Pans created an upbeat and lively environment through their choice of tunes.
“We’re doing kind of a variety of styles,” said Allison Schweickert, USC alumna and director of the Palmetto Pans. “We have some traditional calypso music and we also have some nontraditional elements as well.”
The event also featured pannists from River Bluff High School and Satchel Ford Elementary School. For many attending, such as first-year journalism student Hannah Harper, the addition of younger musicians was a highlight of the night.
“I really liked how they incorporated the elementary school and River Bluff High School into the show and how involved the audience was,” Harper said.
The Palmetto Pans didn’t have to work hard to get the audience involved. With popular pieces like “Conga,” “Kiss the Girl” and “All Star,” the audience stayed engaged and entertained for the entire concert. At the end of the program, the Palmetto Pans played the song “Conga Line,” which resulted in about half of the audience forming conga lines and limboing in the recital hall.
“My favorite part was definitely the conga line at the end,” Sarah Watt, first-year environmental studies student, said. “I love the steel band concerts. They’re so fun and full of energy and they’re lots of fun to watch.”
The audience displayed a lot of appreciation towards the pannists. The ending of every piece was always met with a large and prolonged applause. Schweickert says that this is her favorite part about being in the Pans.
“It really validates all of our hard work that we put in throughout the semester,” Schweickert said. “Everybody's always super appreciative and super excited to see us.”
One of the most unique parts about the Palmetto Pans concert is its informal and laid-back environment. The atmosphere created by the t-shirt-wearing pannists helped produce a fun, music-filled environment for the audience.
“We just have so much more freedom,” Jake Patrick, a second-year music education student, said. “It’s just so much more informal than most other styles of music that we have at the school.”
Members of the Palmetto Pan are enrolled in MUSC 130C, and the class is open to all students, regardless of major. While learning an instrument may seem like a daunting task, second-year media arts and studio arts student Kobe Little says that difficulty isn’t an issue.
“It’s not incredibly difficult,” Little said. “You just got to put a little bit of time into it.”