Behind the Scenes – My Day at the Rehearsal for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Melbourne, Australia

A few weeks ago, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to go behind the scenes and see the whole cast of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Melbourne rehearsing, only three days before they were to perform the first of five shows. The media wanted to use me in their television presentations and newspapers, and so I was filmed A LOT, in return I was given complete freedom to watch all the different bands practice for a whole day! I went down to the Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, not yet knowing that I was going to meet some awesome people and bands!

I arrived at the racecourse at about 8:00am and had breakfast with all the performers of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I met the actual Producer and the Music Producer of the Edinburgh Tattoo in Scotland and for this tour. Both men were really nice and I particularly enjoyed meeting the Music Producer, Stevie Small. He ended up taking me into the middle of the whole massed bands while they were performing and then gave me tips on the way they were playing and the formations of the bands.

In the distance I could hear Top Secret Drum Corps practicing and what I didn’t realise at this moment, was that later that day I would be meeting them in person!

I had only ever seen Top Secret on the internet and so could hardly believe I was so close to them in real life! They were much cooler than I could have ever imagined and the best bit… their boss Erik, asked if I would like join in and play with the Corps! With no hesitation at all, I said yes! They taught me a part of one of their performance pieces and we played it together, it was the best afternoon I’ve ever had, by far! See a video of me playing with Top Secret on the DrummingMad Facebook page.

After we played Erik presented me with a pair of their Top Secret drum sticks to keep! The media made a short film of me with Top Secret Drum Corps, and its great to have this to look back on. You can see the video on the The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Facebook page.

At the end of the day I was totally exhausted from all the walking… but it was so worth it!

The end result of all the rehearsals was a spectacular show at Etihad Stadium. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have been given some fantastic seats to watch the show on the Saturday night. I was right in the middle looking straight at the replica of Edinburgh Castle. The performance was awesome and I would like to congratulate everyone who performed.

I would also like to send a special thank you to everyone who helped me get down to Melbourne and see the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, especially the Promoter Bruce and his team (especially Amanda) who gave me this awesome opportunity and made this experience totally amazing.

The best part would have definitely been meeting Top Secret Drum Corps! It was a once in a lifetime experience, I’ll never forget it!

Did you go to the Tattoo while it was in Australia? Or have you seen it in Scotland or somewhere else? I’d love to hear about your Tattoo experiences! Let me know in the comments below.

Photos courtesy of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Melbourne 2016.

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