The Sequin Jacket
In 1995, I got the opportunity to make an amazing journey, both physically and mentally. I was chosen to play the keyboard for an elite Air Force show-band called Tops in Blue. For ten months you eat, sleep and breathe your show. Long days, long nights, little sleep, and extreme conditions all work together to make TIB one of the most challenging, and one of the most rewarding experiences I will ever have.
The first month of the tour is spent at Lackland AFB, the Gateway to the Air Force---so called because all Air Force recruits go there for Basic Military Training. Less well known, but for me just as---if not more--- important, Lackland is the home of Air Force Entertainment, and Tops in Blue. Seven days a week, for 18 hours a day, you rehearse your part in the production until you can do the show in your sleep (not kidding---I fell asleep on stage, during the middle of a performance, and woke up during the middle of the next song; apparently I did okay, because no one ever knew).
Because the cast of TIB is also the road crew, we also spend part of that time learning how to assemble and disassemble the 35,000 pounds of staging, lighting and sound equipment and loading it onto the big rig. I remember the first night we loaded the truck. We had rehearsed all day, and didn't get it all loaded until we had worked all night, and into the next morning. We were up for 27 hours.
Once the show is picture perfect, it goes on the road. This is where the fun begins. Our typical schedule was four or five shows a week, with each at a different location. And our typical day started with getting on the bus at 0600 and taking off for our next destination. We would sleep a little more on the bus, and then critique the show from the previous night.
Once we got to the next venue, we would have a quick meet and greet with the base bigwigs, and start right in with setting up the equipment, which after we got used to it, we could do in something like two and a half hours. Then we would rehearse parts (or all) of the show. Next was the actual performance, followed by a banquet. And then we finished up the night by tearing down all of that equipment and loading the truck, to be in bed hopefully by midnight. Our fastest tear-down was an hour and ten minutes---not bad for over 17 tons of gear.
Keep in mind, that was our *typical* schedule, where the loading doc opened right up the back of the stage, and everything went smoothly. Not all theaters work like this. Some had elevators to get to the stage area. Some had long hallways, and some weren't even theaters---we would literally have to wheel everything in through the front door, and set up wherever we found room.
That's hard to do with a full stage set, including two lighting trusses.
Then there were the overseas trips, where we had to put everything on cargo pallets and do our shows everywhere from Greenland to Panama, and from The Azores to Guam. And all of those had their own little challenges.
On top of all of the labor involved, there was a lot of mental growth as well. I saw the same 36 people, every single day, for 10 months. We worked together. We ate together. We slept together. We faced each other on the bus. We couldn't get away. Trust me, if you don't learn how to resolve issues in that kind of environment, you're not going to make it---and some didn't.
All in all, it was a totally amazing experience. We played at nearly 120 different locations, in 19 different countries. We laughed, and we cried. We said goodbye to good friends when they couldn't keep up, and were left to go back to their lives.
One day, when I have more time, I will share some of the more personal things that happened while I was on tour. The group of guys that swapped deeply personal stories at a small pizza place in Italy. Playing Dungeons and Dragons under the best DM I have ever role-played with. Going to Les Miserables in London. And hearing the roar of 30,000 people as the fireworks went off at the end of "God Bless the USA" on the 4th of July.
The entire experience was incredible.
If any of you ever get the chance to see Tops in Blue perform, go.
I have a lot of photos from the tour, but I can't find the A/C adapter for my scanner. I'll put a few up when I can find it and get things working again...
Goodnight, all.
In 1995, I got the opportunity to make an amazing journey, both physically and mentally. I was chosen to play the keyboard for an elite Air Force show-band called Tops in Blue. For ten months you eat, sleep and breathe your show. Long days, long nights, little sleep, and extreme conditions all work together to make TIB one of the most challenging, and one of the most rewarding experiences I will ever have.
The first month of the tour is spent at Lackland AFB, the Gateway to the Air Force---so called because all Air Force recruits go there for Basic Military Training. Less well known, but for me just as---if not more--- important, Lackland is the home of Air Force Entertainment, and Tops in Blue. Seven days a week, for 18 hours a day, you rehearse your part in the production until you can do the show in your sleep (not kidding---I fell asleep on stage, during the middle of a performance, and woke up during the middle of the next song; apparently I did okay, because no one ever knew).
Because the cast of TIB is also the road crew, we also spend part of that time learning how to assemble and disassemble the 35,000 pounds of staging, lighting and sound equipment and loading it onto the big rig. I remember the first night we loaded the truck. We had rehearsed all day, and didn't get it all loaded until we had worked all night, and into the next morning. We were up for 27 hours.
Once the show is picture perfect, it goes on the road. This is where the fun begins. Our typical schedule was four or five shows a week, with each at a different location. And our typical day started with getting on the bus at 0600 and taking off for our next destination. We would sleep a little more on the bus, and then critique the show from the previous night.
Once we got to the next venue, we would have a quick meet and greet with the base bigwigs, and start right in with setting up the equipment, which after we got used to it, we could do in something like two and a half hours. Then we would rehearse parts (or all) of the show. Next was the actual performance, followed by a banquet. And then we finished up the night by tearing down all of that equipment and loading the truck, to be in bed hopefully by midnight. Our fastest tear-down was an hour and ten minutes---not bad for over 17 tons of gear.
Keep in mind, that was our *typical* schedule, where the loading doc opened right up the back of the stage, and everything went smoothly. Not all theaters work like this. Some had elevators to get to the stage area. Some had long hallways, and some weren't even theaters---we would literally have to wheel everything in through the front door, and set up wherever we found room.
That's hard to do with a full stage set, including two lighting trusses.
Then there were the overseas trips, where we had to put everything on cargo pallets and do our shows everywhere from Greenland to Panama, and from The Azores to Guam. And all of those had their own little challenges.
On top of all of the labor involved, there was a lot of mental growth as well. I saw the same 36 people, every single day, for 10 months. We worked together. We ate together. We slept together. We faced each other on the bus. We couldn't get away. Trust me, if you don't learn how to resolve issues in that kind of environment, you're not going to make it---and some didn't.
All in all, it was a totally amazing experience. We played at nearly 120 different locations, in 19 different countries. We laughed, and we cried. We said goodbye to good friends when they couldn't keep up, and were left to go back to their lives.
One day, when I have more time, I will share some of the more personal things that happened while I was on tour. The group of guys that swapped deeply personal stories at a small pizza place in Italy. Playing Dungeons and Dragons under the best DM I have ever role-played with. Going to Les Miserables in London. And hearing the roar of 30,000 people as the fireworks went off at the end of "God Bless the USA" on the 4th of July.
The entire experience was incredible.
If any of you ever get the chance to see Tops in Blue perform, go.
I have a lot of photos from the tour, but I can't find the A/C adapter for my scanner. I'll put a few up when I can find it and get things working again...
Goodnight, all.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
hope you have a wonderful weekend.
xo annabelle