MRB concert

Melbourne Rainbow Band – Unplucked

Well my first formal concert with the “band” went really great.
We had our last practice Thursday night and there was some apprehension in the air. In weeks prior to the concert more and more faces I had never seen before started to show up at Will Sampson Hall to practice. I found it a little strange that people whom hadn’t been in a single practice in months would show up right before the big event and jump in the festivities. The band is very welcoming and open to all people so I guess part time participants are part of it. The more people that come and actually play helped cover up the spots where I’m not playing.

The day of the event, Saturday Nov. 1, 2008 was a fairly busy day for me. I had to pick up my rental car, a dark green Saab 900 S, for my little camping/trip on Sunday. So most of the morning was doing things to get ready to hit the road. (More about that trip in the next blog) Around 2 pm I needed to iron a shirt and get ready for the concert which started at 7pm. The band members had to be at the hall, Gasworks in Port Melbourne, at 3:30pm and I was driving the rental over and needed to pick up a friend before. Upon my arrival I was surprised to see so many people working to get every little detail right. I had never been involved in the staging of such a large performance and it was very interesting to see all the details. Like specific placement of the spot light, the sconces bright enough to read music by but not too bright to over take the other light effects. Did some one tape down all the cords so the band members aren’t tripping over them. Who’s going to bring out the keyboard for the big piano solo in the 3rd song (turned out to be yours truly but more that later.)

After getting everything perfectly set we had a few minutes for pizza dinner before changing into our MRB blue polo shirts. At 6:45 we were all fed, dressed and tuned up ready to put on a show. Michael and Jock volunteered to work the door for us and I had a few minutes to chat with them before the big event.

As we walked on stage I could feel a little nervousness in my stomach. The audience of about 100 people were seated and applauding our arrival. The band was in a single file line for perfect placement and professionalism. As we walked onto the stage there was a feeling of excitement in the air. We were finally at the point we had practiced for so much. I took my seat on the left side of our maestro and right in the front. All of a sudden I could feel the heat from the lights on my forehead and thought CRAP I didn’t put on sun screen! ( funny what runs through your head at certain moments) Our first number was “Hounds of Spring” an upbeat fun song that was perfect to entice the audience and settle the nerves in the band. The audience roared with applause and we went right into our next piece. After that there was a little break and our emcee for the night, (One of Melbourne own GAY radio station, Joy 97.4 DJs and yes you can stream it on the web too) welcomed the crowd and thanked our sponsors. Our next number, a piano concerto by Stofachovich ( I know I spelled his name wrong but just think some old European dead guy), needed a keyboard moved up front into place. Andrew (another saxophonist) and I walk off stage to get it. When going from the bright lights of the stage into the dark corners of the curtains. I couldn’t see anything and walked right into a microphone that was to be used later. Using my head quite effectively, I knocked it over and you could hear a crash in the whole auditorium. THANK God the mic wasn’t on. So there was no feed back or anyone hearing me swear. Some one else fixed the mic while Andrew and I placed the keyboard into the tapped off spot on the stage. Now I have settled my nerves by playing a few pieces and knocking stuff over. All that was left to do was to play the music and enjoy the serenity it brings to my soul. We had 3 more pieces before the intermission. At which point the band walked off stage and a huge sigh of relief could be felt. We had nailed the first half and the second half was going to be even more fun.



We were allowed about 10 minutes to say hi to our friends and family before all 45 of us crammed into the dressing room to do a costume change for the second half. Our new outfits consisted of black slacks, white dress shirts with orange handkerchief in our pockets and a yellow bandanna around our necks. This was to align us with our theme for the evening, “Unplucked”. A reference to the fact that the band is all horns and percussion, with only a base as a string instrument. The logo of the advertisement featured a duck. There was one drunken night after practice when we were throwing around movie and book titles changing everything to the “duck”… Like The duck flew over the cuckoo’s nest, first duck, night mare on duck street…. You get the idea. I’m not sure where the duck thing started but it ended at Gasworks that night.

In the 2nd half we played songs like the Typewriter, Misty and a Ray Charles medley and an operetta song Granada. This was sung by one of the band members, Eric. He’s a German guy that was the conductor of the band for 5 years and but is moving Italy to peruse a more lucrative singing and music career. We received a standing ovation at the end and gave in to the crowd’s desire for more by playing Pirates of the Caribbean as our encore. I had played parts of all of the 11 songs where I could keep up and almost entirely played 2 pieces.

Everyone was in a good mood from the fabulous performance and the foyer was all a buzz with people congratulating band members. Lots of hugs and kisses were given and then all that was left was to pack up and hit a bar! I had volunteered to clean up and jumped right in. There was a lot more stuff to pack up then a regular practice. Flags and banners, scones for the music stands, and numerous cords. Right down to the lighting up in the ceiling and the risers the percussion instruments where on in the back. Everyone that could pitched in and surprisingly this only took about 1 hour to get everything put away. Since I was driving the rental, had early morning road trip and the DUI laws here are VERY strict. I decide to skip the after hours drinking event ( I know this shocks some of you) and headed home around 11pm to do my final tasks before the trip.

I a few days I’ll have worked out another blog entry with all of my adventures along the Great Ocean Road. So stay tuned for more….

Happy 3rd Birthday Ava Hanson, Happy Birthday to daddy, Eric Hanson too. More b'days to come with the next blog too