I am hanging on for dear life pretending that everything is alright as a mad Polish artist barrels down the street in a van that is carrying all our delicate equipment back to our show venue. He may be drunk. Or high. Or both. I'm not sure. I'm reciting one of the few Hebrew prayers I still remember in my head as I carry on a polite conversation as he almost runs over a group of drunks on the street.
He's driving me back after we played one of the more interesting gigs we've had, an opening for a new art charity on a rooftop bar giving a spectacular view of the Edinburgh castle and the rest of the city. Beautiful models in extravagant outfits as well as art hung all over the space helped create a truly bohemian atmosphere that you can only get during the Edinburgh Fringe. When we finished our set, the fireworks for the Edinburgh Tattoo started going off and we got a perfect view. A good way to start the gigging madness for this month.
And now, tonight is the night. The curtain goes up in a little under five hours. Of course, this being the fringe there is no actual curtain, but it's a very nice phrase to use so I'm sticking with it. Tonight we start our twenty-three night run. The gig served as a warm up of all the songs we've been rehearsing for our show and we played them well, with a positive audience response. Though we always knew we have our act together, last night that our horn section was absolutely fantastic and the band is as tight as it's ever been.
So now it's left to fate. Our online ticket sales, which of course are being checked every day, multiple times, are going pretty well. We know the songs, we know our parts, we've been here before, but there is a nagging feeling of being unprepared, but we are confident that we put on a good show and that we can produce a good performance night after night. Time will tell. In any case, it will likely not involve any more wild van rides.