And you think your concert venue has challenges..

AltoRuth

AltoRuth

Hi All,

Just saw this on the Community Band Forum and have copied it here.

Startling Band Experience

Posted by: "Leslie B" musician12858@aol.com musician12858

Mon May 25, 2009 2:37 pm (PDT)



Hey Everyone,

I wanted to relay an experience that just occured with one of my bands on Saturday. We are a large community Sousa Band that was performing at Longwood Gardens, one of the premier gardens in the world, located in a Philadelphia suburb. We were in the open air theater on a beautiful, warm night. We began our first piece, National Emblem. Behind the stage, some fountains went on, which can be quite lovely. I glanced over and thought how nice that must look to the audience.

As we started the second strain, suddenly a fountain a IN THE CENTER OF THE STAGE went off with a huge gush!!! The hole was right beneath our four bass clarinets!!! They lept off their seats and it took a moment for the rest of us (including the conductor) to realize what was happening. The fountain went off again.....and again......and again....and again!! I have no idea how many times it shot up. This was not a mere trickle, but full force going up about 15 feet and a very large circumference. The horns, flutes,and nearby clarinets all tried to run out of harm's way. It was happening so fast and frequent that people barely had time to retrieve music and other belongings in the water's path.

Apparently the fountain had recently been "updated" to an all electric, computerized version. The stage crew were going mad trying to get it to stop. Finally someone pulled the master plug and it ceased. They quickly brought out towels and the people who had been drenched tried to dry off. Amazingly the bass clarinets seemed to be okay - at least that night. After about a 15 minute delay, the show went on to the audience's delight. I have no idea if pictures or video of this were taken. It truly was a memorable experience and we were thankful no one was hurt and it seems we will only have to air dry a ton of music.

Leslie Burnick - Upper Darby Sousa Band Concertmaster

 
That would not be pleasant. They're really lucky no one was injured.
 
Gandalfe said:
Unbelievable. And a pointer to a community band forum I didn't know about to boot. Thanks Ruth!

Turns out I've been a member of that forum for years and just haven't visited in years. Oops. :oops:
Click to expand...

Tsk, tsk! :emoji_relaxed: Actually, I only go to the site if I want to post something, but I receive a daily email containing all of the posts for the preceding 24 hrs. Since the number of posts per day is quite modest, I find this a very convenient way to keep up.

Regards, Ruth
 
I was thinking Wipeout would have been appropriate.
 
In the early 90s, we played an outdoor jazz festival in south Florida. It rained all day. The bandstand was covered, but the audience wasn't, so they mostly sat with umbrellas or huddled in the tarp-covered vendor area. We musicians listened from our cars parked just behind the bandstand.

Dick Hyman did a one-hour solo set. He played only tunes about rain.
 
I love these replies!! Certainly provided me some smiles and you guys are certainly a big part of why I keep reading here! Thanks.

I would have liked to see what you would have done with a request posted on the aforementioned community band forum for suggestions for some concert band music to be played at mile 25 of a marathon race. :emoji_smile:

Regards, Ruth
 
Theme from "Marathon Man"
"On The Road Again"
"King of the Road"

There are lots of road tunes...
 
Chariot Race from Ben Hur
 
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