Andrew Giddings' Diary - October 2002

Hello dear friends,

Who would have thought that October would be upon us so quickly? After another year of touring I now find myself in the heart of the English countryside with time to reflect and relax. Actually, relaxing is hard work in itself when you're not used to it.

Anyway, what a fun time we had in Italy with the L'Orchestra del Teatro Regio!

We flew into Verona where we were met by the Itullians (Italian fan club) president Aldo Tagliaferro, who was looking decidedly stressed but relieved that we had made it without delays and with all our excess baggage. Aldo coordinated the orchestra and the venues and did so splendidly. After a brief visit to our hotel in Parma we were whisked away in our convoy of gleaming Volvos to meet the orchestra and rehearse.

Volvo Volvo Volvo. I love Volvos. I wonder if I can get a Volvo endorsement - my T5 has done 97,000 miles and............

What happened? Did I black out?

So, Parma is a great city for a city, and the Teatro Regio was in the centre surrounded by piazzas and churches and all manner of great coffee outlets.

After a quick stroll it was time to meet our stagemates for the next three nights. The girls and boys in the orchestra greeted us with excitement as did Ian's flutemate Andrea Griminelli who was performing solo as well as with us and the orchestra. After rehearsal we were treated to a huge dinner at the hotel, thank you again Aldo.

The next day was quite sunny and ideal for scouting out the town for a few hours before more rehearsal and the concert that evening. The difference between our orchestral outings and the Tull gig is the sheer terror of walking out onto a stage that is fully lit and full of real musicians with sheet music in front of them, and that you can see every member of the audience as if they were in your living room.

I guess I'm used to the Tull stage with all it's familiar cables and lights and places to trip up, and when you don't have those comforting props it makes for a pretty nervy experience. I think we pulled it off however - even though there was a tense moment when Snr. Griminelli missed out a passage of music leaving myself and the conductor Danilo Rossi to rapidly change tack and go with him.

We were lucky though to have the same orchestra for both the Parma and Cesena concerts and I watched with envy and admiration as they effortlessly sawed and tootled their way through the sheet music, often making notes for themselves as they played. My neighbours on stage, the Cellists, were turning the pages with their bows between bars, and didn't once complain about my keyboard amplifier being almost under their feet. The next day it was off to Cesena.

A two hour drive brought us to Cesena where the venue was significantly different to the Teatro in as much as it seemed to be a sportshall of some kind that had been fitted with some acoustic panels, that didn't really work! During rehearsals we had some issues with monitoring each other in a wash of echo and confusion that unfortunately plagued us during the concert aswell. It was a great show all the same - Snr. Griminelli played correctly the missing passage of the previous evening, and I didn't! Grrrrrrr! Apologies to all who
noticed :-)

Another huge dinner rounded off our visit, so equally huge Thank Yous to Aldo, Giorgio, Alberto, Sergio for their expert organization/driving/dinners. Also a special thanks to Francesca the Cellist who got the whole orchestra to sign my poster :-)

Back home then as I languish in my robe I spare a thought for my buddy Kit Morgan who accompanied us on our Italian trip and the guys who are currently in rehearsal for the 'Rubbing Elbows' tourette. I will indeed be sorry not to see you all this time around but I know you'll enjoy the guys and I'm sure you'll look after them like you do me :-)

Will you look at the time? I have to get out of my robe and get some work done in the studio. Take care one and all, and next time I see you I'll be rested and ready for action, albeit a little older!

Volvo Volvo Volvo Volvo Volvo. Volvo.

Bye for now,
Andrew