I don't have an official bucket list but if I did 'playing drums at Wembley' or 'playing football at Wembley' would have been on it. Last Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to play a (kind of) drum on the pitch at Wembley in front of 80,000 people during the opening ceremony of the Champions League Final. What do you mean you didn't see it? Ah that's right, ITV & Sky decided to show 3 second clips here and there while the pundits talked...and talked...and talked. Throughout Europe however, our continental friends saw the result of our endeavors and the biggest, most expensive opening ceremony to a Champions League that UEFA have produced. For me it was an amazing and special experience. To be on the pitch at Wembley is exciting enough but to be there performing with 80,000 packed inside was incredible. It's been an amazing year and I find it hard to reconcile that in the space of 10 months I have played at the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony and now Wembley.
Many people ask me how I get to do these things. The reality is that I simply applied to be part of the Olympics opening ceremony back in September 2011 and became part of the opening ceremony with thousands of others. However the spirit & legacy of the 'Pandemonium Drummers' (http://www.pandemoniumdrummers.co.uk) has lived on and the group have continued to perform time and time again for festivals, awards ceremonies and supporting charities. With some very influential people involved in the group and the ability to muster a significant number of 'big event' experienced individuals when needed, the group were offered the opportunity to take part in the Champions League opening ceremony. So when I'm asked how I get to do these things I simply tell people to take the opportunities that life offers, be prepared to do things for free and then when you are involved, be committed and work hard.
As the plans were put into place regarding recruitment for the event I received an e-mail from one of the organisers asking me if I would like to be one of twenty drum 'leaders' for the event. I was thrilled and felt honoured so my reply of "yes" was not a surprise. There was a lot of mystery and secrecy as to what our instrument would be and what we would be doing. Our only previous experience was the Olympics where we had dressed up in 'Industrial revolution' clobber and drummed on plastic/metal bins.
We would be working again with drum 'legend' Mike Dolbear who trained us for the Olympics. I remember sending Mike a tweet saying I hoped whatever we would be banging was 'macho'. During a drum leaders workshop in Enfield on 23rd March Mike pulled me aside to show me what we would be drumming...medievel shields! The picture on his iphone actually had a Barcelona badge on it (as everyone assumed they would get to the final) and I was sworn to secrecy.
Soon after the twenty drum leaders were offered the opportunity to 'drum' on the track being prepared. Again, I said yes. On 17th April I met up with Mike and three other leaders, Tom, Steve and Alex for the recordings. Armed with all manner of sticks, we tested which sounded better on the shield. The shield itself was light and incredibly durable, apparently the same material as police riot shields. Also attached to the inside of the shields were a plastic tube and a wooden block to give some different sounds. The recording was interesting and although I never learned to read drum music (my drum teacher said it would slow my progress), I had a go on the track which seemed to be quite complex. I was in awe of Alex, Steve and Tom and must admit I felt a little inferior.
The following Saturday the drum 'leaders' convened with Mike in a dance studio in Fulham. It was great to see some familiar faces from the Olympics and we practiced a number of rhythms which we would be teaching our groups over the following weeks. This was not like the Olympics though. Instead of 150 hours of rehearsal we had approximately 35 hours and as it became evident - more complex movements to learn and perfect.
The following Saturday was the first practice for everyone. Neil Goulder, the man who made all this possible had recruited 380 drummers, mainly from the Pandemonium group. The venue was 'The Hive', Barnet FC's new training ground and evidently their new stadium. We had the run of a full size astro turf pitch. Upon arrival us leaders received an orange hi-vis vest. I was delighted that I would look like a bin-man for a month.
I was team leader three and with the first hour I realised that I had a team made up of women...and that teams 1 and 2 were also 100% women. Our costumes were done first and as we were getting kitted out in red I knew we'd be Bayern Munich but I was puzzled as to why Bayern would be all female. As soon as we were outside I had a word with the creative team who realised this wasn't what was planned and we swapped half our group with an all male group. I now had a mixed team and was delighted that some of my Olympic buddies were in my team too. My job was to keep the troops happy and be the link between the creatives. One of the main frustrations for the drummers were that we had no in ear monitors until we got Wembley. Even with a P.A. set up, being able to hear depended on the volume (and residents didn't stop complaining about noise) and wind direction. Then there was the problem of being taught movements while people were having costume fittings. It was a fairly frustrating afternoon for all although unsurprisingly the rhythms were learnt quickly.
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| The Finale to our endeavors - Saturday 25th May 2013 |
Many people ask me how I get to do these things. The reality is that I simply applied to be part of the Olympics opening ceremony back in September 2011 and became part of the opening ceremony with thousands of others. However the spirit & legacy of the 'Pandemonium Drummers' (http://www.pandemoniumdrummers.co.uk) has lived on and the group have continued to perform time and time again for festivals, awards ceremonies and supporting charities. With some very influential people involved in the group and the ability to muster a significant number of 'big event' experienced individuals when needed, the group were offered the opportunity to take part in the Champions League opening ceremony. So when I'm asked how I get to do these things I simply tell people to take the opportunities that life offers, be prepared to do things for free and then when you are involved, be committed and work hard.
As the plans were put into place regarding recruitment for the event I received an e-mail from one of the organisers asking me if I would like to be one of twenty drum 'leaders' for the event. I was thrilled and felt honoured so my reply of "yes" was not a surprise. There was a lot of mystery and secrecy as to what our instrument would be and what we would be doing. Our only previous experience was the Olympics where we had dressed up in 'Industrial revolution' clobber and drummed on plastic/metal bins.
We would be working again with drum 'legend' Mike Dolbear who trained us for the Olympics. I remember sending Mike a tweet saying I hoped whatever we would be banging was 'macho'. During a drum leaders workshop in Enfield on 23rd March Mike pulled me aside to show me what we would be drumming...medievel shields! The picture on his iphone actually had a Barcelona badge on it (as everyone assumed they would get to the final) and I was sworn to secrecy. 
The following Saturday the drum 'leaders' convened with Mike in a dance studio in Fulham. It was great to see some familiar faces from the Olympics and we practiced a number of rhythms which we would be teaching our groups over the following weeks. This was not like the Olympics though. Instead of 150 hours of rehearsal we had approximately 35 hours and as it became evident - more complex movements to learn and perfect.
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| A Dortmund view of Bayern. Mike & creatives on left. |
The big test would come with the choreography. Initially the creatives tried speaking to everyone rather than use us leaders. This led to difficulties when we tried to move people ourselves in fact I had an individual tell me "He told me to do this so I'm doing this" which didn't help. Our groups were asking about the music too which was a fair question. Through these trials and tribulations I tried to plod on positively and at the end of the day thanked each one of my group individually... the ladies got a kiss, of course. In our leaders meeting with Mike at the end of the day we were able to raise many of the issues. Mike then confided in us, telling us that:
a) The composer for the music had been sacked and a new guy was on the case. (So much for my recording!)
b) Due to the costs of the shields and in ear monitors, Uefa were trying to halve the numbers. He had fought them and won.
c) Some of the creatives were last minute additions so were really trying to get their heads around it on that first day.
The biggest problem of the first day was that we had 90 no- shows, many of whom didn't offer a reason for not attending. This in turn led to frustrations with the troops. Absences would continue to plague the rehearsals.
During week two of 'The 'Hive' rehearsals we me some other cast members, namely the flag bearers, battlers and archers. This was my most frustrating week as I could see where things were going wrong, I knew the answer but I felt none of the creatives were listening. The big problem was the number 40. In order to make lines of 40 split into a 10, a 20 and a 10 you must have 40 people. In order for the lines to match up vertically...you must have 40 people. I counted to 40 at least twenty times that day. I wasn't the only leader that was frustrated though. The same issues were of course plaguing Dortmund. But the other issue of course was absences.
On a more positive note we could see how this ceremony might be shaping up. The costumes for the non-drummers were brilliant including proper chainmail!
Our final week at the Hive was a much more positive experience. We had finally sorted the problem of the lines of 40 and were much closer to what it might look like. We worked a lot on the battle where we all charged each other, and then got involved what seemed to be a morris dancers routine smashing shields and clicking sticks. All we needed were bells around our wrists and ankles. The biggest thrill for me was to know that I would be one of the team pulling the enormous Bayern flag across the pitch. We practiced that a few times.
That was the end of our rehearsals at The Hive which was probably just as well. Apparently we had been ordered off the premises from 1pm due to the level of complaints!
In exactly one week we would be doing this for real. Our only rehearsals now would be Wednesday and Friday at Wembley with severe restrictions on time allowed on pitch. We were far from ready. How would it all pan out?
Part II here
http://stephendcook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/a-captains-tale-champions-league-final_2.html
a) The composer for the music had been sacked and a new guy was on the case. (So much for my recording!)
b) Due to the costs of the shields and in ear monitors, Uefa were trying to halve the numbers. He had fought them and won.
c) Some of the creatives were last minute additions so were really trying to get their heads around it on that first day.
The biggest problem of the first day was that we had 90 no- shows, many of whom didn't offer a reason for not attending. This in turn led to frustrations with the troops. Absences would continue to plague the rehearsals.
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| Welcome to the British Summer! |
During week two of 'The 'Hive' rehearsals we me some other cast members, namely the flag bearers, battlers and archers. This was my most frustrating week as I could see where things were going wrong, I knew the answer but I felt none of the creatives were listening. The big problem was the number 40. In order to make lines of 40 split into a 10, a 20 and a 10 you must have 40 people. In order for the lines to match up vertically...you must have 40 people. I counted to 40 at least twenty times that day. I wasn't the only leader that was frustrated though. The same issues were of course plaguing Dortmund. But the other issue of course was absences.
Our final week at the Hive was a much more positive experience. We had finally sorted the problem of the lines of 40 and were much closer to what it might look like. We worked a lot on the battle where we all charged each other, and then got involved what seemed to be a morris dancers routine smashing shields and clicking sticks. All we needed were bells around our wrists and ankles. The biggest thrill for me was to know that I would be one of the team pulling the enormous Bayern flag across the pitch. We practiced that a few times.
That was the end of our rehearsals at The Hive which was probably just as well. Apparently we had been ordered off the premises from 1pm due to the level of complaints!
In exactly one week we would be doing this for real. Our only rehearsals now would be Wednesday and Friday at Wembley with severe restrictions on time allowed on pitch. We were far from ready. How would it all pan out?
Part II here
http://stephendcook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/a-captains-tale-champions-league-final_2.html
Brings it all back!
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Thanks Paul - did you see the rest?
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