The following diary charts the experience of the members of The Band of the Royal Air Force College as they prepare and take part in the Edinburgh Tattoo in Australia.
Please read from the bottom!
The diary is written and compiled by Sgt Dave Bowmar with images by SAC Liegh-Ann Palmer and Cpl Nicola Juden .
07 February 2010
So this was it, the final show of an admittedly short run. An end of term feeling permeates the cast. The weather worries have eased although a light rain still falls as we make our way to the Sydney Football Stadium one last time. We have met some old friends and made a great many new ones from all over the globe. Particular highlights of the show have been the Trinidad and Tobago Military Steel Band, the New Zealand Army Band, the colourful Military Band Of The Chinese People's Liberation Army and of course our old friends the Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland, but the real surprise has been the His Majesty The King's Guard And Drill Team, NorwayThe precision of their drill has to be seen to be believed and is especially impressive when you consider that they are all conscripts aged eighteen to twenty. The last show runs exactly as planned with perhaps an extra something it being the end of the run. The stands are packed for the fourth time in a row with cheering Australians. The warmth of our reception in Australia has been second to none. We have been constantly stopped in the street and told how much they enjoyed the performance or how much they are looking forward to the next.
Thanks go to many people for making this trip possible for us from Prue Miller in the media office for the special passes which made the photos you see below possible, to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo staff who set up the whole project. However, the man who helped us the most on a day to day basis was Cmdr Ted Wynberg of the Australian Navy. As our liaison officer he did more than anyone to make things like the photo shoot happen for us and we would like to thank him for his efforts on our behalf. It has been a privilege to be a part of this spectacular show in such a wonderful setting and we hope to be back again in the future.
06 February 2010
This was the big night. Millions of Australians would tune in to watch the live broadcast and every seat in the house was sold. So naturally the tropical rain storm started in the early morning and continued all day. The cast arrived at the Stadium just as the rain was at its hardest. With no chance of the show being cancelled we looked forward to a very wet experience. However by some miracle the rain stopped only minutes before the performance began with RAF Swing Wings pre show entertainment being the only casualty. Perhaps a little because of the reprieve the show went almost perfectly for the cameras. The culmination of weeks of rehearsal at home and in Sydney and years of preparation by the organizers was a near perfect performance for the cameras. The trip is drawing to a close with the final performance tomorrow night and our thoughts are turning to plans for our two days off in Sydney and then home.
05 February 2010
The Band left early to have some photographs taken in Sydney's Botanical Gardens. While waiting for the Bus an Australian pulled over and got out of his car to congratulate us at length on the first performance! This was typical of the reception we had all the morning as we tried to get our publicity pictures taken!
We returned to the university before lunch with some great pictures in the bag and spent the afternoon relaxing before the second performance. A few of us took the chance to play a little cricket but this just seemed to upset the rain Gods, with the heavens opening almost straight away and we were treated to one of the most spectacular storms as the thunder rolled around Sydney in a continuous rumble.
However, the sky's cleared once again and the Band departed for the second performance under cloudy but at least rain free skies. This show was the rehearsal for the live broadcast tomorrow night when the whole of Australia would be watching! A brief shower just before the start reminded us of the ever present threat of torrential rain but the show started dry for the first time.
The crowd were ecstatic once again and the few little changes made since the first performance were assimilated. It seems strange that we are already half way through the performances, with only two shows left before we get some well earned rest and recuperation before flying home.
04 February 2010
So here it is the first performance. As the Band arrives at the Stadium one and a half hours before the performance starts, the crowds are already gathering. Twenty-eight thousand are expected. The largest live audience I and most of the band have played in front of. RAF Swing Wing entertain the crowds before the main show starts. They play exceptionally well and are very well received by an excited audience.
The show begins in earnest, and in true Edinburgh fashion the heavens open! For ten minutes the rain hammers into the Stadium soaking the audience, fanfare teams and the Massed Pipes and Drums to the skin.
However, the 'shower' was short lived and by the time the show got into its stride the weather had cleared and the evening was warm but very humid. The show was very well received by the now very damp crowd and went exceptionally well.
03 February 2010
At last a morning free with just the two dress rehearsals in the evening the band gets its first lie-in since arriving in Australia. The entire cast departed early in a hot and sticky afternoon for the last rehearsals before the real thing starts on Thursday.
We arrived at the Sydney Cricket ground to find a day/night one day game just starting! Absolute heaven for cricket fans with a few famous names like Kalis and Jaques playing for Queensland against New South Wales. Still the business of the day starts all too soon with the fanfare team and horns taking part in the last rehearsal of the opening. Everything is really dropping into place now with just a few small changes to add the final polish.
This last practice goes well with every thing running smoothly and at the end the Massed Bands and Pipes return to the arena for a short 'wet weather' rehearsal of the finale.
RAF Swing Wing are the first to take the stage in the full dress rehearsal after a lengthy sound check they practice the short 'playing in the crowd' segment that will start every show.
The rain threatens to make an appearance once again as the Band dons its tropical white uniforms and prepares to take to the arena in full parade order for the first time. In the event just a few drops of rain fall and all goes well. The Bands then leave for the University in the Knowledge that the practicing is over and the next time they march out it will be in front of 28,000 paying guests, the largest audience many of the band have ever seen!
02 February 2010
The rehearsals swung in to top gear this morning with two complete run throughs of the entire show beginning at 0700 and finishing just in time for lunch. This is the first chance we get to take a breath and meet some of the other acts. These include our friends from Edinburgh last year the Top Secret Drum Corps who are as brilliant as ever and some new friends like the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Steel Orchestra the worlds only marching military steel band.
They are superb putting on the most amazing show shot through with the irrepressible joy of life seen only in the Caribbean. (Click on there name to see them on UTube.) The show also includes bands from Russia, Norway, dancers from the USA and a huge Band from China as well as the Bands from Britain and of course Australia. All the acts bring their own special style to the show and as this is the first time they are all together we start to get a feel of the vast scale of the show.
In these morning performances we are beyond the musical changes. We concentrate on the logistics of getting on and off the arena, not as easy as you might think getting a ten file band through a gate only big enough for five at most while still looking smart! However the combined experience of Drum Major Steve Maher and the Drum Majors of the Guards and Royal Marines comes up with a complex arrangement of 'threes and twos' which unfolds like a road map getting everyone through quickly and above all smartly.
The rehearsals went smoothly with the usual dressing (keeping the lines straight) issues being addressed so that all was ready for the first full show rehearsals in the evening.
The first of the two evening rehearsal went well but there was still a lot of tidying up to do and with dress rehearsal tomorrow things were starting to get just a little fraught! This was not helped by the torrential rain which all but washed out the second and last run through of the day. The rain started about half way through the show and only stopped for a short while during the Trinidad and Tobago Military Steel Band was on the arena! As they came of one of them said 'look we've stopped the rain for you!' but this proved to be premature as it returned with force soaking the Massed Bands. We got through it well and returned to the University soaked to the skin but glad to get warm!
On a personal note, we took over or dressing room today which is in the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) looking out on to the pitch. As a cricket fan of long standing I found this a real treat after years of radio and television coverage of the Ashes from here it was great to see it for real.
01 February 2010
Another early start for the Massed Military Bands as they rehears the music for the finale with the Massed Pipes and Drums. Last minute edits are made and a comprehensive run through of everything we are going to play takes from 07:45 to 10:00 when the Massed Bands take short break to change venues for the Massed Military Bands and finale drill rehearsal at 10:30.
The Massed Bands Drill Display is rehearsed first with just a few changes from last night and then we move on to the finale. There is a lot of music still to work through with the added difficulty of getting the bands together in four languages as the Norwegians, Chinese and Russians join us for the big finish. Lunch brings to an end the rehearsals for this morning as the temperature climbs towards the thirties.
In the evening the Massed Bands returned to the Sydney Football Stadium to work on the finale with the Massed Pipes and Drums. The Fanfare team also got their first chance to take their positions on the 'Castle' ramparts. At this point we are really getting down to the nitty-gritty ahead of tomorrows first full run through were we will meet the other acts for the first time.
Sunday 31 Jan 2010
The Band arrived in Australia only 36 hours ago and rehearsals have already started in earnest. Last night Royal Air Force Swing Wing spent a couple of hours in the Sydney Football Stadium practicing and sound checking for their pre-Tattoo performances.
This morning the Massed Bands assembled at the Sydney University to run through the music and drill for the Massed Bands Display and Grand Finale. Getting 200 bandsmen to march and play as one is no mean feat but by lunch time everyone new what was expected. There followed an address from the Australian creative director and Major General Euan Loudon the Tattoo’s new Chief Executive and Producer after which it become far to hot to march and the Bands took the afternoon to prepare for their first visit to the Sydney Football Stadium.
In the evening all the Bands boarded coaches for the short trip to the Stadium. It is always an impressive sight walking out into a spectacular area such as the Sydney Football Stadium undoubtedly is, but to emerge from the tunnel to be greeted by an enormous and convincing replica of Edinburgh Castle is astounding sight.
The Massed Bands from the United Kingdom and Australia spent an hour in the far cooler evening air ironing out the kinks in the display with the usual attention to positioning and dressing which always forms the major part of these early rehearsals. Towards the end of the hour things really began to come together as the individual Bands got used to operating as one huge massed band.
With nearly 200 musicians in the group it requires a degree of precision far beyond the norm to keep everyone exactly in line from the person in the centre to the person 3 bands away on the flank and it is a tribute to the professionalism of all concerned that things came together so well. Following this initial rehearsal in the venue the bands returned to the accommodation for well earned rest before practice begins again early next morning.