Field in Fife
Within a few minutes (about 3) of my arrival following the nine hour journey I was hurdled into an estate car and driven with the rest of the band about 50 miles to a posh golf club on the edge of Edinburgh where Scotlands finest TV stars past and present and media celeb types were celebrating the launch of a new show and wedding anniversary in a sort of combined charity event. The band in question are “The Soul Kings” the leading party entertainment group with the big afro wigs, the white suits and the coolest soul tunes who set every dancefloor alight.
www.thesoulkings.com
Well I was introduced as “he’s with the band” and made myself useful catering to the bands every need (ensuring they had fresh iced water available) and carrying the massive wigs to the dressing room out of the sight of the partygoers.
The following night we repeated the whole thing except drove about 75 miles to the gig arriving at the biggest Marquee (since McCartney married Heather Mills in Ireland) I have ever seen laid out in lavish curtainage with a dancefloor, stage and bar which would shame most 5 star hotels all set up in a suburban garden on the edge of the village. For the guests entertainment and comfort there was a cast of hundreds including 3 people just to operate the lights, 2 for the P.A. system about 50 assorted waiters and waitresses and a whole raft of “organisers” with ear pieces and clip boards who were checking the schedule minute by minute to ensure every moment could be stage managed perfectly for the happy couple.
One detail that tickled me was that the speeches took place before the wedding meal as this has become the latest thing and ensures that the best man cannot get “bluttered” (a Scottish vernacular phrase encompassing inebriation). Well let’s just say it all went without a hitch and my “with the band” persona meant that I was looked after and even given a plate of Scottish beef as the rest of the wedding guests were eating except mine was eaten backstage. After the band succeeded within seconds to fill the dancefloor there was an hour and a half of Soul Kings song and banter and we left the venue to the biggest firework display this side of the Olympics for the happy couple….surreal.
As the days passed me and Alan got the ukuleles out (not a euphemism) and on one occasion when accused by the wives of messing about too much justified the time by calling it “a rehearsal”. The contrast between the £100,000 wedding and the final performance of the rehearsed item in the field with basic percussion and a ukulele was the most surreal experience of all. Listen out for the skill in incorporating a hotel bell into ELO’s epic classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvwX2ZDYb_A
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