My Story: London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony (Part 1)

If you saw the Olympic Opening Ceremony on Friday (27th July) night, I was one of the drummers in the spectacular Industrial Revolution 'Pandemonium' sequence which turned England's green and pleasant land into a dark 'satanic' landscape.

In fact from this...

..to this!

This was the culmination of months of rehearsals, blood sweat and tears. Well, actually no blood from me (although some of the cast did hurt themselves in rehearsals) but plenty of sweat and I'll admit a couple of tears here and there when we got to the final week and started to see how this great spectacle would work out including the parts that would tug at a few heart strings.

My story started in September 2011 when I read that drummers were needed for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I am a drummer and have been playing since I was 16. In my new found 'freedom' of self employment I decided to apply and on 15th September received the date for my first audition - 5th November. I remember being particularly excited about the audition but also secretive - the last thing I wanted to do was to tell people I applied and then didn't get it. The audition was also a generic audition so hopeful dancers, actors and drummers would be thrust together competing for places. We knew that not everyone would be successful and I didn't know whether I would be a drummer. My target was to be involved in the opening ceremony in some way. 
I arrived at Three Mills studio in Bromley-by-Bow, East London pretty early, 7.45am for a 8.30 start but I wasn't the first, there were plenty of other eager beavers out there. That said, I received the 002 number.

Once the first hundred were seated we were asked to move to the rear of the studio and were introduced to Steve Boyd, an incredibly likeable bearded American who talked us through the floor grid where we were standing. For mass choreography, people need to know their place. We did some exercises designed to get us to find certain grid points and we were charged with teaching the next hundred through the door. When we had our quota of 200 - it was time to crack on. We went through a number of exercises which involved walking in time in lines, learning routines and even dancing. Toward the end, we lined up in front of 'judges' performing a routine. Before my go, I practised furiously on the side concentrating on my moves and telling myself how important this next minute could be in terms of winning the spot to be involved in a once in a lifetime experience. 
I thought I did ok and then right before leaving we were asked if we were drummers or roller skaters etc. I joined the drummer line, gave my name, told them I'd been playing for 22 years, went home and waited.      

The wait was less than 10 hours! On the same day I received a congratulatory e-mail inviting me back to Three Mills on 20th November for a 'role specific' audition but with no further details. On the 19th, I received another e-mail confirming this was for drumming. 

The drumming audition involved us moving around different rooms, listening to click tracks and banging buckets or using our mouths to create beats with the click track being dropped out of audio for moments which was designed to see if we could keep time. At times drummers were split into groups from very experienced to very inexperienced and by the end of it I felt I had done really well. It was also nice to hear the people around me say they missed me when I had moved because I had been helping them. On the way out of the final room I saw Danny Boyle and I shamelessly 'broke rank', walked over to him, shook his hand and told him it was great to meet him. His response was one of surprise as he thanked me for my time. What a guy! 


The last activity was a group photo for a chosen few. As I was picked I hoped this was a good sign and that I might have made the cut. While we were being organised Steve Boyd was laughing to himself saying "you don't know what this is for but it's gonna blow your minds on 27th July".

I can now reveal that the photo became the print for the placard bearing ladies leading the teams out. The photo on the right shows my friend Charlotte find her face on the dress. Unfortunately my mug was not on the final dress. Boo.

So that was the audition process. I would need to wait until January to find out whether I had been selected. 

And then on 16th January 2012 it arrived - my e-mail (below).

Next: 
Part 2 - First Rehearsals 

http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening_29.html
Part 3 - Final Rehearsals and the big night
http://travelhappinesslife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-story-london-2012-olympic-opening_30.html