Concert goers left the cold, wet and windy weather of DeKalb Sunday for the warm Caribbean breezes found at the Music Building’s Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.

NIU’s Steel Band performed its annual concert for a packed crowd. Many of the selections played were arranged by band co-director Cliff Alexis, including Alicia Keys’ “A Woman’s Worth.”

“Calypsonata” was written by NIU music faculty member Liam Teague and set original calypso-flavored melodies to the sonata form of the classical period.

“My favorite one was ‘Calypsonata’, it reminded me most of those cruises we used to take where we came to love this type of music,” said Mike Bliss, who drove from the Quad Cities with his wife to see their son perform with the group.

Aubrey Granner, a sophomore music education major and member of the steel band, said “Calypsonata” also was his favorite tune from the concert, but for a different reason.

“All of the other songs we’ve been working on for a long time,” Granner said. “We just got this one about a month ago, so we’re just now getting into the groove of it.”

Another selection that stood out was “Survival Suite” by Satanand Sharma. The suite consisted of short melodies based on a West Indian folk tale.

Audience member Theresa Pacheco is from the islands where the “Survival Suite” folk tunes came from.

“When I heard ‘Brown Girl in de Ring’ it brought back so many memories for me,” Pacheco said. “I remember being a little girl in the islands, hearing the pans in the background and seeing the other boys and girls singing and dancing around the dirt ring in the rain.”

Another audience member, Gretta Bell, returns to Trinidad every year to participate in the Carnival and said NIU’s Steel Band sounds authentic.

“If you close your eyes, you’re back in the islands,” Bell said. “They do a very, very good job.”

The band took second place in the 2000 World Steel Band Championships in Trinidad and will be traveling to Seoul, Korea, at the end of this month to perform during the festivities at the World Cup, the worldwide soccer tournament held every four years.

Co-director Al O’Connor told audience members that they already have begun preparing for next year’s concert.

“Next year will be the 30th anniversary of our concert, so we’ll try and bring you something special,” O’Connor said.