I'm a little spent from two days of rehearsals (which are advancing marvelously) but I thought I could sum up the experience of performing at the Closing Ceremonies in a paragraph or two. Here goes...
Empty stadium begins to sprout humans. We eat some catering. Ushered down to the green room. Eat some quiche. Get make-up. Fitted with in-ear monitors. Ushered to holding area. Along the way Ben gives hi-fives to at least 500 people. Excitement builds as we catch glimpses of the packed and bombastic stadium. Ushered into middle of "multis" (the multi-cultural ensemble mentioned in an earlier blog). Mob of "Multis" and us weave, speed-walking, on the stadium floor. Dimmed purple light all around. Flashes of bright light and colour. Look up from stadium floor, take in immensity of the building and its audience. try not to trip. Break from mob, duck into below centre stage. Watch as stage hands haphazardly place gear somewhat into place. Scramble to set drums up properly as song begins and stage rises to viewing position. Play song. Look around. Perform. Smile. Try not to appear small. Song ends. Stage lowers. Ushered across stadium floor into green room. Comment on experience to each other with..."that was SO fast", "wierd", "awesome","huh?" "what just happened" "why wasnt anyone there to tell us to go?" "surreal" "good job everyone"
Apart from that, well, you just had to be there...