Most Unusual Places for a Performance, Rehearsal or just Playing ?

[stitch]

I worked for the UK Atomic Energy Authority

Me too; well, not for exactly, but we had offices/labs on one of its sites. Still have the donkey jacket!

 

[Targa]

Me too; well, not for exactly, but we had offices/labs on one of its sites. Still have the donkey jacket!

That's kicked a memory cell into life, I vaguely recall helping them out with some software they were having trouble with back around '78.

 

[rhysonsax]

It's all gone a bit nuclear here.

Back in 2016 our function band was booked to play a wedding - they are always nice but this one was outside our home patch of Hampshire and Surrey as the event was being held in the Carnglaze Caverns, a former slate mine near Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

The underground venue in the Rum Store was very atmospheric and dark, with a floor that is far from level, yellow hard hats on the wall, five species of bat to look out for and moisture dripping from the rocky ceiling. The band got a gazebo to keep most of the dripping water out of our electrical gear, so that cover was grabbed by the guitarist, bass player and keyboard player and the horn players were out front.





Being so far from home we stayed overnight sharing rooms at a nearby golf course. I thought my snoring was bad but I lost the battle of the epic snorers by a mile.

Rhys

 

[Veggie Dave]

the event was being held in the Carnglaze Caverns, a former slate mine near Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

That's so cool!

 

[rhysonsax]

That's so cool!

It certainly wasn't warm.

Rhys

 

[Sue]

I always enjoy the 40's weekends and we usually play at Tanfield Heritage Railway. I love how the visitors get into character and I could post loads of great costumes but here's a couple of the band and a couple of great characters. The lady with the tab also does a really funny cookery presentation. It's always bloody freezing in the shed despite any sunshine.

 

[rhysonsax]

I always enjoy the 40's weekends and we usually play at Tanfield Heritage Railway. I love how the visitors get into character and I could post loads of great costumes but here's a couple of the band and a couple of great characters. The lady with the tab also does a really funny cookery presentation. It's always bloody freezing in the shed despite any sunshine. View attachment 18939View attachment 18940View attachment 18941View attachment 18942

Great pictures and that looks like a fun event.

Rhys

 

[Dr G]

I always enjoy the 40's weekends and we usually play at Tanfield Heritage Railway. I love how the visitors get into character and I could post loads of great costumes but here's a couple of the band ..View attachment 18941

Nice to see a full band - and more! That's an odd setup tho'. Do you always configure the sections like that? I don't see, for instance, how the altos can hear the trumpets, or the tenors hear the trombones. Sections are normally stacked so similar parts can best hear, intonate, and blend.

 

[Sue]

Nice to see a full band - and more! That's an odd setup tho'. Do you always configure the sections like that? I don't see, for instance, how the altos can hear the trumpets, or the tenors hear the trombones. Sections are normally stacked so similar parts can best hear, intonate, and blend.

No, it's like that because of the shed and the trains. The visitors like the room to dance so lots of space allocated to them We are given that area as there is a power supply so we have to fit in as best we can. When space allows we have the rhythm section on the side with saxes front, trombones behind us, and trumpets standing at the back. We usually only have 5 saxes and 4 of each brass however this is such a popular event we have a few extras. We have been rehearsing for the 2021 event which was due to be on 2/3rd October but the venue has sadly cancelled again this year.

 

[Dr G]

No, it's like that because of the shed and the trains. The visitors like the room to dance so lots of space allocated to them We are given that area as there is a power supply so we have to fit in as best we can. When space allows we have the rhythm section on the side with saxes front, trombones behind us, and trumpets standing at the back. We usually only have 5 saxes and 4 of each brass however this is such a popular event we have a few extras. We have been rehearsing for the 2021 event which was due to be on 2/3rd October but the venue has sadly cancelled again this year.

Thanks for the response. I, too, have been in setups where the band had to accommodate the stage - and hated not hearing the usual cues for balance and intonation.

It is great fun to play social dances. Congrats on having the opportunity, and kudos for keeping big bands alive!

 

[ESJohn]

The last few posts have been interesting. Our rehearsal at the MAPS museum had strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion. We had a decent sized area in which to set up.
The strings were in the front from left to right. Woodwinds and brass behind them. I was in the last row to the extreme left (alto), the tenors were to our right. No baris or sops. Clarinets and oboes were in front of us. Brass was to the right with the percussion directly behind them.
I've yet to be involved in any live public performance. Our last lawn concert was cancelled due to rain. There weren't any concerts after March of 2020 up until this summer and they have all been outdoors. Ohio has exploded with the Delta variant so I am fearful of cancellations with the holiday season approaching.

 

[mizmar]

coldest places in the universe

For all the (ex) physicists and engineers
"38 picoKelvin"

Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded

Physicists in Germany have produced the coldest temperature ever recorded – a chilly 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The strange experiment involved dropping a quantum gas, and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to an almost complete standstill.

newatlas.com

 

[Dr G]

For all the (ex) physicists and engineers
"38 picoKelvin"

Quantum gas free fall experiment creates coldest temperature ever recorded

Physicists in Germany have produced the coldest temperature ever recorded – a chilly 38 trillionths of a degree above absolute zero. The strange experiment involved dropping a quantum gas, and switching a magnetic field on and off to bring its atoms to an almost complete standstill.

newatlas.com

But it feels like ambient.

Thanks for sharing the news.

 

[ESJohn]

Playing in a gazebo at an outdoor festival isn't very unusual, but here I am playing in my first in-person live performance (along with the rest of the band and orchestra). The last time I did anything like that was in 1973 while in the high school marching band. The festival was yesterday.
We played a nice variety of tunes including contemporary, patriotic, film and television scores and others. The audience of maybe 50, among festival goers of several hundred that were present, seemed to really enjoy themselves. When we played a polka medley, one couple got up and danced and the applause at the end was, I think, genuine. Our audience was at least 50 plus in age.
I got lost several times in the music but managed to find the end before it arrived. And I almost joined in with a clarinet solo at the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue. Luckily I caught on before I blew a note. We also had a violin string snap in the middle of the performance. Our director stopped everything and fixed it so the concert could continue. I thought it was a nice thing to do for the violin player.
Once again, I found myself at the corner of the last row. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something!

 

[Jeanette]

Had a great opportunity to play under concord today at Manchester Airport, raising money for the blue light charity.

Jx

 

[rhysonsax]

View attachment 19308

Had a great opportunity to play under concord today at Manchester Airport, raising money for the blue light charity.

Jx

Great picture.

It looks like Concorde is staring forlornly out at the runway and dreaming of times past. Did she shed any tears on the conductor's head ?

Rhys

 

[Jeanette]

Great picture.

It looks like Concorde is staring forlornly out at the runway and dreaming of times past. Did she shed any tears on the conductor's head ?

Rhys

No she was very dignified

 

[nigeld]

Great picture.

It looks like Concorde is staring forlornly out at the runway and dreaming of times past. Did she shed any tears on the conductor's head ?

Rhys

Good thing Concorde didn’t nod her head in time, or the conductor could have been in trouble.

 

[Nick Wyver]

I don't see, for instance, how the altos can hear the trumpets, or the tenors hear the trombones.

If they were playing in the next county you'd still hear the buggers.

I spent too many years playing in a dance band where all I could hear was the brass. Not my own playing or the rest of the sax section - just the brass.

 

[Tenor Viol]

That would be this...