Concert in the Park

June 27, 2010 at 7:39 AM

This was no ordinary concert. It was a reproduction of the Beach Boy's "Pet Sounds" album. On a typical hot and humid Houston summer day, we arrived at Discovery Green to set up and begin sound checks. The strings were envious of the brass. They could leave their instruments out in the sun without fear of damage. We juggled to keep our instruments in the shade as much as possible until the sun dipped below the horizon.

There was a tense moment when a breeze picked up and knocked over a few music stands on the risers, right on top of the viola section. Duct tape was soon brought out to tape the stands securely on the risers as well as the binders on said stands to prevent further mishap. No violas were injured during the concert.

It was a fun concert to play. During the course of the evening, one of the cellist stood up and danced on stage, I was caught on tape playing my viola cello-style to the tune of "Barbara Ann" (a noning number), and I got a good photo-op taking a picture of the bari-sax above me from below the risers. We even had a dog bark on queue to truly reproduce the album.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on June 28, 2010 at 3:39 PM

Sounds like fun!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on June 29, 2010 at 2:38 AM

Outdoor gigs can be fun or crazy, depending on the weather. I've found that the best tool to keep sheet music from blowing away is a clothesline clip. I know that duct tape works for almost all purposes, except when you need to turn a page.

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