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Published: June 20th 2017
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Geo: 55.9503, -3.18761
Friday, August 15, was one of the big days of my European
trip; it is the day that I attended the Royal Military Tattoo and also
participated in a back stage tour.
The morning and afternoon was spent wandering around the
central part of Edinburgh and mostly taking in the sights of the Fringe
Festival. One of these sights was Mr. Alien whose photograph I am attaching.
The Fringe Festival is the largest one of its type in the world, and the
program catalog is nearly 400 pages long with up to twenty events listed on
every two pages. Some acts feature famous by performers such as Scottish folk musician Dougie Maclean, but most of the performances feature the unfamous. Tickets are around 8 to 10 Scottish pounds but there are large numbers of free performances (I haven't figured out
what the catch is with these – maybe the performers are merely seeking
publicity and something to add to their resume}. Out of the thousands of options
I selected a version of Oliver Twist set in post World War II Berlin, a play set
in the trenches of World War I, a comedy/mystery titled "Casting the Runes" based on the “M.R. James classic”- I will have to look this one
up on Wikipedia, and a performance of hakas by New Zealand Maoris (the same who are performing in the Tattoo).
At 6:30 a dozen of us passed through the layers of security outside of Edinburgh Castle. All of were members of the Friends of the Tattoo and paid 25 Scottish pounds (SPDs) for a two hour long tour of the facility. All men were required to wear jackets and ties because the tour ended
at the Officer's Club and there is a dress code. Reluctantly I packed a blazer, dress shirt, necktie, dress slacks, and black shoes for this part of my trip – they would not let me wear casual attire and skip this part of the tour. We spent the time being escorted through the control rooms – video, lighting, and audio – and received lectures on how everything worked.
The best parts of the tour were watching the buses that transported the Scottish armed forces musicians to the castle and unloaded them, and watching the bagpipe and drum bands warming up prior to the tattoo. This was great: we were so close to these pipe bands which numbered 15. If I am able to upload
some of these warm up clips onto YouTube I will post the links. Otherwise enjoy the photographs.
After the tour I found my seat that was in the section that faced the gate into the castle and from where all of the bands and other performers would emerge. The lighting was turned down for dramatic effect which meant that the shutter of my Nikon camera slowed down to let in more light. This often resulted in blurred images which can be hidden by keeping the pictures small.
The focus of the tattoo is the massed pipe bands from numerous units of the Scottish armed forces who marched majestically and played their pipes and drums. The next layer of performers consisted of folks from other parts of the UK who performed indigenous arts such as the Highland dances. Add to this mix invited groups from outside the UK such as the only marching steel drum military band in the world from Trinidad and Tobago, a Zulu troupe
from South Africa who performed war dances set to heavy drumming, and a troupe
Maories from New Zealand who performed hakas (dance like movements intended to
intimidate enemy warriors).
The
two hour long tattoo ended with performance of by the massed musicians and dancers, a fireworks display, and the lone piper who played “After the Battle” from a vantage point high up on the castle.
This was a wonderful show. This was all that I expected. In
fact last November when I purchased the tour ticket and performance ticket I
also purchased another ticket to see the same show on Saturday.
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non-member comment
Thanks for adding pictures