Fifteen Minutes Before Showtime

Five nights a week the showband lives and performs in the Palace Theatre, a smallish cabaret-like venue on Deck Six aft, which seats about four hundred and fifty people.  I start getting ready about 45 minutes before the show, showering and deciding on my black outfit du jour, sometimes taking the time to put on some makeup to avoid 'glowing in the dark' so to speak, in the spotlights.  

Our call time is at least fifteen minutes before showtime, although sometimes a few of us are there a bit early warming up.   The backstage area isn't connected to the stage where we perform, so when we show up for our call, we are already on stage, behind a curtain.  That space is barely big enough for the entire band, and we live together within that oval created by the back wall and the front curtain for fifteen minutes before every show, twice a night, 5 nights a week.   The horn line always stands for every show, so if the curtain ever closes you can bet we've all put our horns down and are crashed out, sitting or laying on the ground for 5 or 10 minutes, however long the break is.  So here's a picture of our typical night:

Andy arrives about 20 minutes before showtime, but after getting set up backstage he goes out front to do "doors" - welcoming guests as they arrive in the theatre.  Alex arrives first, sitting in his back corner running some bass licks.  John Mason might arrive second, usually with Jon Kratzer, who warms up on trumpet while Mason sits at the piano and accompanies himself while singing random songs in a high voice.  I arrive next, and play through a few warmup exercises, before running through any tricky stuff coming up in that night's show.  About halfway through my noise-making, Alejandro and Tim wander in and sit at the guitar and drums, respectively.  I have to take a break in playing to let them squeeze by me.  I finish warming up and running stuff, and sit down on the floor, back leaning against the bingo machine (covered in a bright blue cloth) that is my constant right-hand man on any night in the theatre.  About the same time I sit down, Alejandro starts strumming a rhythmic groove on guitar, or Alex starts playing a funky bassline.  Tim finds an appropriate drumbeat, and the three of them groove together pretty loudly for about 5 or 10 minutes.  Occasionally the rest of us join in and improv along.  Sometimes its an actual song we all know, sometimes its just a fun groove.  About three minutes to showtime, Andy comes backstage.  The first thing he says is "Oh, shut up" in his British accent, which the trio reluctantly do, followed by, "lets do it, guys." Or, "same crap again, guys" for the second show.  I make sure my music is all ready to go, put my headphones on and adjust the volume, and make sure my spit valve is empty one last time.  There's about a 20 second calm before the storm, then the house lights go down, house music fades out, curtain opens, and we're on.