All Night, All Day

So it's begun!  We opened for our first day of shows in Disneyland today, and it was truly one of the most exciting days I've ever had.  But first, I must tell you how we got there...

Monday night was our infamous ALL NIGHT rehearsal.  While it sounds like cruel and unusual punishment, it actually serves a very practical purpose:  it's the only chance we get to run our sets in the park before opening day, and we have to do it in the middle of the night because no guests are there.  We got picked up by the shuttle bus at 10:15 PM, and our night/morning ended at 7:00 AM or so.  It was probably the most unique experience I've ever had as a musician or performer, and it actually ended up being a blast.

Disneyland is a strange and busy place in the dead of night.  There are workers everywhere cleaning lightbulbs, laying down concrete, moving trash cans, checking sounds systems, etc.  The most mindblowing thing to me is that they actually replant a lot of the flower beds every night.  No wonder their flowers look so fantastic!  Ha, I'm probably not even supposed to be telling you all this, because it's revealing the magic behind Disneyland.  Just promise not to tell ; )  I certainly couldn't take any pictures!

Our wonderful manager and "den mother" Lori had tons of goodies to give us at the start of our all nighter.  Most of the food and drink was intended to keep us awake, so it was all a lot of delicious junk food: M&Ms, candy bars, goldfish, coffee, sodas, and cheez-its.  I haven't eaten that much candy in a REALLY long time, so I had quite the sugar rush.  Miraculously I managed to stay pretty awake and energized for the entire night. It was really surreal to run our sets in the park for the first time, even if it was dark and empty.  There was a certain energy in the air just knowing that in a few more days we would be performing for real.

The band's momentum finally worn down at about 6:00 in the morning during flag retreat rehearsal.  Flag retreat is our patriotic set around the flagpole as security removes and folds the American flag.  It's a pretty cool set when guests are there to enjoy it, but it's somewhat miserable when we're just rehearsing it without an audience.  It doesn't help that I'm on clarinet for the whole set.  We literally watched the sun come up as we played around the flagpole, and by the time we were done, everyone was really spent.

Fortunately we had a couple days of recovery after the all nighter, so everyone was fresh and ready for opening day!  I was almost too excited to sleep all the way until my alarm went off.  We rehearsed for a short time this morning, and then it was off to costuming!  My costume actually fit better than expected- definitely not the most feminine look ever, but not clown pants either!  Have I mentioned our awesome shoes?  They're really nice New Balance walking shoes, and they're super comfortable.  We actually get two pairs, so it's possible I'll take a brand new pair home at the end of the summer.  Score!

Our first was in front of the castle, and everything went pretty well, all things considered.  The biggest hiccup we had was a carrier malfunction in the percussion section, but Mitch (the victim drummer) was a trooper and stayed in character even while his drum was on the ground!  Other than that, it was a really fun performance for everyone!  It was crazy to see how many people showed up to see us.  We were completely surrounded by guests on all sides, so it was fun to interact with everyone during the show.  There were some really adorable kids, including one little shy girl who Ron brought up to take a princess bow.  There were also several APs (Annual Passholders- more Disney lingo for you!) who were super psyched to see the band on opening day.  Most of them had cameras and video cameras, and there are already photos and videos from today popping up on the internet.

In fact, here's a video of our very first tune of our very first set on our very first day.  You should feel special that you get to see this!  It's like you were there too :)  Keep in mind that it may be a little rough around the edges, but it's sure to only improve throughout the rest of the summer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBohEnjYOrs

Did you catch my sweet dance moves?  Betcha didn't know I could do that!  Me neither, until a couple weeks ago!  Additionally, here's a really awesome picture of my taken during my intro.  I'm in the middle of a big heel click!

We had four other sets throughout the day, and it seemed liked our performance gradually improved throughout the day, which is good.  We ended the day with our Earth, Wind, and Fire medley, which is super high energy.  It was so high energy that at one point I ran up to a small kid in the crowd and accidentally scared the crap out of him.  I'll have to either work on friendlier facial expressions, or pick out slightly larger children in the crowd...

I can't even explain in words how amazing this job is.  I get to wake up every day and go play my instrument for huge, enthusiastic crowds.  I get to dance and jump around and act like a fool in a ridiculous uniform all for the sake of making kids happy and excited about music.  I work and live with 20 of the most talented, fun, and generous musicians in the country.  And don't forget that I'm doing it all in beautiful, low-humidity Southern California!  I'm seriously grateful and humbled every day to wake up and remember that this job is a reality.  I only hope I can give as much back as it's given to me.

For any of you musicians out there who have ever felt burnt out, I'm here to report that music does still matter.  I saw it matter to a whole street full of people today who I high-fived.  I saw it matter to a child whose face lit up when I played to him.  It's easy to get cynical and dark in a career where our skills often go unrecognized and under appreciated.  Although every gig can't be perfect (and I've played some that are FAR from it), as Ron says often, we always need to be "striving for perfection."  We can't ever act like it doesn't matter, because then the audience won't think it does either.

Maybe I'm simply the eternal optimist, but everything I've experienced in my short career so far makes me believe that music was the right choice.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our performances, check out photos of me on my facebook.  There's one  photographer who takes a ton of pictures, and I'm trying to tag myself in as many as possible so you can check them out too!

Thanks for reading, and come back soon!  As we like to say around here, have a magical day! :)