Abu Dhabi Diary, Part 1

This is the first of a series of posts that I’ll be writing about my time playing the new year in at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. I’ll be writing each installment as and when I get the chance to present them nicely but first off I thought I’d mention how I started playing with this group:

The Shades

The first gig I ever did with them I didn’t even have to play a note. About 4 years ago my good pal and sax player at college, Neil, asked if I fancied recording a promotional DVD for a group he played with. That’s how I ended up in this situation:

Thanks Neil!!! (On the left) 🙂

They guys had already recorded all the audio in the studio so it was a simple job of miming.

However, anyone who knows me will know how much I hate seeing badly mimed instruments on TV or in movies so whilst the camera crew were taking shots of the other side of the band Neil was teaching me and cramming the trumpet lines into my head. The whole evening was a good laugh and the band were great fun. A month later I got a call to do a proper gig with them and I’ve been their regular trumpet players since.

The Abu Dhabi Gig Brief

Chris Poole (aka boss man) and the Shades have been going out and playing new years gigs in Dubai for a few years now but they’ve been going as a smaller version of the band. This year they went with a 3-piece horn section, 3 backing singers and a percussionist on top of their regular line up.

It’s the first time I’d been round that side of the world and the furthest from the UK that I’ve played so far but I was looking forward to the gig. All I knew was that we were playing at the Emirates Palace Hotel for new years, were staying at a 5 star hotel and that Shakira was playing on the other side of the palace. Not to forget that we had about 20 dancers going out there to perform with us. Cool hey?!

The Journey

Knowing very little about what was going on or how these things have worked in the past I wasn’t entirely sure how we were going to get a lorry full of equipment to Abu Dhabi. I knew that my trumpet was exactly the right size to go on the plane (per. the specifications in the MU handbook) but baring in mind that my trumpet was the smallest instrument in the band I had no idea what anyone else was doing.

As the guys began to arrive I saw Andy (keys player) who told me that he and Chris had already taken the kit, PA, lights and desk out there already. “Job Done” I thought… and then Matt McCloud arrived….
Matt and his 30,000 pieces of percussion.

That along with Andy’s keyboard (which weighed more than a family) and the guitars it seemed that we had little problem. We Spent the better part of 2 hours in our fast track queue which had been opened especially for us, my favorite part were the pompous couples who thought they’d spotted a cheeky way to skip their queue, joined ours and then realize their big mistake.

Chris handled the situation well though. Personally I would have loved to see him explain that the guy who had booked us for the gig was the same guy who owns Etihad (the airline we were flying with) and then walk down the check in desk pointing at the staff saying; “Fired, Fired…. Fired….. … … Fired.” 😛

A threat of having to pay £1600 extra for our gear, 2 hours and 4 security checks later we were through to the flight. But explain this to me: You aren’t allowed to take a bottle of water on the plane with you. Neil had to throw away his tiny screw drivers in his sax case and they even made half the band remover their shoes to check for “sharps”. Fair enough for the tight security. But when lunchtime comes on the plane, why do they give you metal knives and forks anyway??!

Six and a half hours later we arrived in Adu Dhabi. And what a greeting …..

to be continued