Back to the Ball (Panto 2023/24)
Sat in my home from home for 2 months, sub-stage at the Gala Theatre in Durham (Photo: Bryn Batten)
It’s been a bit since a real blog post, and I know i’ve neglected my little corner of the internet a bit lately! Going to try and make more of an effort with that one going forward, but y’know, life gets in the way. Speaking of life getting in the way, thats why it’s taken till mid-february to talk about last years pantomime gig, which as you can easily work out finished nearly 2 months ago. But here we are, my 3rd year at the Gala Theatre in Durham, working with a fine band under the leadership of MD/Arranger/Orchestrator Josh Tarrier. Panto is usually so hectic it passes me (and this blog) by very easily, its over before you’ve had time to really take note of things, so although this post will be rather brief, it’ll give you a few details, especially considering how much of a step forward this run was in drummer terms from previous years.
For the first two seasons I did at Durham (Robin Hood 1st, and Sleeping Beauty last year), it was much the same format, electronic kit (and as much SFX percussion as I could manage to fit in a small area), up on the balcony with the rest of the band, usually crammed in a corner to try and allow enough room for the four of us with all of the equipment. But this time around for Cinderella, much to my joy, things were going to go a bit more techy. For a while I’d been trying to persuade the powers that be at the Gala that the switch to a real kit, set up remotely in another area of the venue would be a huge step forward in both sound quality for them, as well as much nicer to play for the 70 something shows for me. Not only that it would allow (as you will see) much more scope for the toy box of percussion to come out of storage and be put to use. Finally they relented and the monstrosity you see on the photographs was born. Directly under the stage is the ‘trap room‘ which is usually used for any trapdoor mechanisms in a show if needed, and otherwise mostly for storage of equipment, which provided the ideal, out of the way space for me to hide away. The crew kindly curtained off a space (which helped with acoustics both inside for me and the mics, as well as keeping the noise contained a little better) and this would be my home for roughly 4 hours a day, for near enough two months. If you do the maths on that…it’s a lot! To make all of this work takes a lot of technical equipment and know-how, so I must give a ton of credit to production manager Tez, and Sound Operators Connor & Matt for their work maying this all possible. In brief, making sure I could hear (and talk to) the rest of the band who were two floors above on the balcony, and Josh was able to talk directly into the bands ears too via a talkback mic which was invaluable. Not only audio, but the addition of 2 video screens, allowing me to see Josh conducting and cueing during the show, as well as a camera view of the stage for some of the visual cues for jokes and sound effects. They even stuck a camera on me for Josh, so he could see me building a shed every show (and throwing a few drumsticks occasionally!).
The blueprint…
Now in designing such a setup, the first thing I usually need to know is roughly what i’ll need, and try and get the big stuff positioned, then add in the little things where they’ll best fit. So about a week before band call, I was exchanging messages with Josh to get any of his wishes covered, and I mocked up a rough plan of how things were going to look, as there wouldn’t be time to pre-setup the whole lot beforehand. You can see the diagram, and compare to the eventual setup, it’s pretty close!
In basic terms it revolves around a 2 up, 2 down drum kit (in this case my old Yamaha Recording Custom) with 2 snares (Brass Ludwig & Pearl Maple Piccolo). Usual cymbals you’d expect plus a splash and china for a few moments each. Then you add the big percussion stuff, timpani, mark trees, electronics, temple blocks and ships bell, then the small stuff, cowbells, triangle, whistles, horns, tambourines.
Playing wise, pantos are always fun gigs, if nothing else for the variety of styles of playing. In this show we had everything from pop and rock songs through jazz brushes, dance music, ballads and old-time theatre/traditional panto playing which is a particular art in itself. Being able to groove with your feet or one hand and one foot while playing timps or percussion with your other hand is quite the independence exercise (note to drummers - on gigs like this that independence practice really pays off!). Oh and don’t forget you’re doing all of that while reading the dots and watching 2 TV screens at times, who says men can’t multi-task?!
As you can imagine, it was a hell of a setup to navigate around, especially at the start of the run until it started to become routine as we got into the shows. There were some really challenging parts in the pad (in the best possible way!) so lots of coordination and multi tasking going on, as you can probably see on the video below.
All of the percussion and sounds on the gig!
Can’t not share this little jape at my expense, our production manager Tez sneaking into drum-world with a bit of a New Years Eve surprise for me. As you can imagine this footage was much enjoyed among the company. But thats what panto’s about!
There’s not too much more to add really, that was the gig as it was! The shows end up happening so fast that you don’t have time to take it in, but of course have to thank Josh, along with Bryn and Rich in the band, the Gala Crew and to Simon Ferry who depped for a couple of days while I was away on some Daintees gigs.
The guys at work…
This little excerpt from my roundup Instagram/Facebook post at the time sums it up the best!
876 Chimes at Midnight (12 per show 🕰️)
100+ cups of tea
73 Shows
17 Flying Drumsticks
15 Drum mics
8.5hrs of Dance off
6 different whistles
2 Horn bulbs
1 lovely booth under the stage!