Cool Gig Last Night

[Dave Heim]

I got a call to play a Musician's Union trust fund gig last night.  It was a 'concert in the park' sort of thing with a forty-piece band.

I covered drumset, two other guys handled tymps and mallets.  Most of the evening was devoted to patriotic numbers (Stars & Stripes; Victory at Sea; National Emblem March; Civil War Suite; Duty, Honor, Country) and pops tunes (Disney Medley, Gershwin, Cole Porter).  In the middle of the concert we did a few jazz numbers with bass, piano, drums and a vocalist.  

The last of the jazz section featured the entire band on a big-band chart of Bill Bailey.  What a kick, playing drumset behind forty pieces!  

It was a tad nerve-wrackng, though.  We quickly ran down the show only once during rehearsal earlier in the afternoon, so for most of us it was essentially sight-reading.  What a riot!

[Chip Donaho]

Awesome, I haven't done any of that music for years. I'm playing a gig backing country singers with a 40 piece orchestra. I'm looking forward to it. You must have had a blast....    8)

[William Leslie]

Great going Dave, that must have been a real trip. It's been along time since I had the chance to sit in with that size of a band. That's one to mark in your book of times to remember. Is this something they do every year or was it a one and done thing?

[Dave Heim]

It's an annual thing.  Lots of fun.  Draws a good crowd.