The Tiger Journals
#3: Worse than Christmas
20th
November 2004
You know that
feeling at Christmas time, when the day is almost upon you and you haven’t even
started the Chrissy shopping yet? That ‘rabbit in the headlights’ sort of
feeling can happen in the last week before a big event, too. All of a sudden,
the sleeps are being counted in single digits, and reality bites.
….This is really
happening, isn’t it?
The week leading
up to the reunion shows is a headlong dash into bedlam. Of course, there are
last minute setbacks with equipment transport, delays with printing, and all the
little hiccups that we band members leave up to the admin people to freak out
over. We, of course, have our own set of fears and insecurities to overcome
before show time. James (our drummer) flies in from the other side of the
continent on Sunday the 21st of November. We hit the rehearsal
studio on the Monday for six hours to run the sets, iron out any obvious bugs,
and squeeze in a quick photo shoot. The rhythm section (James and Don on drums
and bass, respectively) then spend Tuesday ironing out grooves and fills while
the rest of us review our own parts. Yes, we are that picky! Wednesday sees the
stage gear and extra production being loaded in to the venue, where we proceed
with dress rehearsals and more photos. Thursday sees more of the same, with
production being fine tuned for both the show and the live recording.
Tons of very
expensive equipment and a lot of very talented people will be working like a
well-oiled machine to make all the right things happen at just the right time
from now right up until we walk out on stage. This will be my last journal entry
before the gigs. Wish me luck.
See you for the
post mortem!
Graham
