War Wound

The weekend starts. Work begins.

I’m not really moaning about it, having a weekend full of gigs is great but I am starting to forget what should happen for normal people on a Saturday mornings. I’m sure it shouldn’t involve getting up before 7am.

This weekend is packed full of my “summer job” of playing Indian weddings. After about 5 years for playing these gigs I’ve started to get recognized by wedding guests in the Indian community. It’s quite strange but as a result I’ve been given the honorary title of Cauc-Indian (that’s a caucasian-indian). At least I think that’s what they shout at me :). I’ve risen through the ranks of being a lowly newby to choosing the charts and directing the band. This wasn’t my first thought when I was working to be a professional but the gigs are a-plenty and the band are good and tight these days.

This is me last year in my Battle Gear . . . with a Horse (?):

This morning started of like any other but unlike most other gigs I wasn’t driving 🙂 – Good times!! Today I was left in the capable hands of my Cauc-Indian commrad Dan Watson. A man who drives a tiny Go-Cart type car which has an unstable roof, near flat battery, manual fuel pump (needed to start the engine) and my very favorite feature… flower stickers on the bonnet and sides. He swears that he just didn’t take them off when he bought it but I think he likes them. (As do I.)

As we drove to the gig Dan gave me his new arrangement that he’d been working on. I memorized this particular piece the week before but now it was in a nice new key for me to re-remember.

If you’re unaware of the genre that is Indian Wedding music the band is made up of 2 Dohl drums and a horn section; usually trumpet, sax and trombone. We have lots of charts we play from memory as we walk. Usually trailed by 20 to 200 dancing indian families behind us. Sometimes this includes a horse, a sword spinner, professional dancers, Rolls Royce’s , Aston Martin’s, Ferrari’s, Strech-Limo’s, Limo’s, Stretch-Hummers etc.

The music isn’t too hard to play but it can be like trying to sprint a marathon. The volume that we play has to be so loud that playing for more than 15 minutes leaves you in a state. Not to mention the various hazards to watch out for. These include; coins being tossed in the air and at your instruments, camera men, guests and dancers who get in your way and sometimes even rouge fire works. Last week a horse bolted past me less than a meter away as I was playing. That was worrying.

I guess it’s fair to say that the gigs can cause a little bother to civilians too. To be honest if a bunch of horns and drums started playing outside my house as early as 7am I would call the police. Which is exactly what happened a earlier this month. It’s only the 5th time in nearly 5 years so it’s only once a year statistically speaking. And we might stop the occasional flow of traffic my marching down a road in rush hour to the tuneful accompaniment of car horns and abuse, but again… it’s not really that bad… not really… that bad??

Todays gig ran smoothly; Horse, Groom, Dancing Family, DONE!!!

It wasn’t until we finished that I felt something was missing. As I looked town to see only two of my three valve caps on my trumpet my heart sank. In the 10 minutes of walking this procession from their hotel to the reception I’d lost it!! You know how it feels when you lose something really important to you? Your stomach lurches, you get the anxiety sweats and you start thinking “you idiot, where did I lose it.” I retraced my steps with my sympathetic horn section with no luck. It’s safe to say I was completely bummed out. I didn’t know if or how I could get the part replaced as it’s a pretty unique horn in the UK, how long it would take to get from America, how much it would cost, how unprofessional I’d look in my upcoming gigs with an incomplete instrument. Gutted. . .

Until I found that dirty, scratched and battered heavy-weight valve cap sitting in the road on the way back to the car. It was still in good shape for saying 100 Indians, a horse and a stretch Rolls Royce had trampled it into the pavement. But I still found it… so I win 🙂

Weekend: 1 gig down, 2 more to go.