Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2019-06-18 14:00
Ok, another anecdote. In August 2017 my band participated in the so-called Princely Tattoo in Liechtenstein. This is a kind of open air festival during which the same show is given on three consecutive days, plus a parade. Each day, we participated in an opening show, presented a 20 minutes marching show and closed off the evening with an all-artists parade. You can see pictures of the 2017 show here: https://www.princely-tattoo.li/fotogalerie.html?galAlbum=11.
We arrived on Wednesday, August 30, and had a walk-through rehearsal on the stage, which is located on a small mountain in castle ruins. That night there was a thunderstorm, ending a period of 30+ degrees (C). The next day was the first day of the tattoo. It started raining and temperatures went to 12 degrees. Since we had to show up three times (including the street parade) during the next days, we tried to keep our uniforms, music and instruments as dry as possible by wearing large see-through ponchos. This helped a little but it was really raining a lot. The next day, weather became worse: more rain and temperatures dropping to 8 degrees. Liechtenstein is located in the middle of the Alps, and we could see the snow line getting lower and lower. Several participants cancelled their show (like a roller-skate show) because there was more than two centimeters of water on the stage. The ponchos were abandoned because they looked bad, and everything got soaked anyway. Large brass had to pour out litres of water during the show, music had to be reprinted in a local print shop, uniforms had to be put on while still wet. My clarinet got so wet during show that sometimes the register vent didn't work because water was covering the hole. In the surrounding Alps, land slides happened, blocking some of the roads. Third day, the same (but now 6 degrees).
For Liechtenstein, this summer week ended up as the coldest and wettest since early 1900's. Compliments for the audience, 100% present while completely sold out: not only the artists, but also the audience had no roof or cover and umbrellas were not allowed (!).
Back home, it appeared that two saxophones suffered from pads falling off, and two clarinets had developed leaks. A third clarinet had to be completely repadded.
Given that about 15 clarinets and 8 saxophones were exposed to excessive rain during several days, this seems little damage. Three or four of the clarinets were Vito's (plastic), including mine, the rest was wood.
Regards,
Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands
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The Clarinet BBoard
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