With the dress rehearsal completed, we all moved back behind the drawbridge again, and waited for the start of the Preview performance, which was open to the public at half the price of a normal ticket, and what was essentially our first live performance. Some of us discovered the joys of a well-kept secret from the first-timers - a catering caravan hidden away in the depths of the Castle. One £2 cheeseburger and a cup of coffee later, we pronounced ourselves ready for anything those blasted cannons could throw at us.

We were wrong. When the cannons went off again after the fanfare announcing the start of the show, we all still just about browned our carefully whitened spats, and to top it all, we discovered the joys of burning wadding falling onto a group of close-packed people. With great stoicism, we ventured forth over the drawbridge, once again miraculously managing to avoid the bollards, and were confronted by a full house. What an experience, especially hearing 8500 people cheering and clapping. We managed to pull it off without anything going disastrously wrong, and retired to the barracks after the show excited about having started the performances, and looking forward to some much-needed "free time" during the day, given the intensity and time spent on rehearsing the show in the days before.

Performances were held over a three-week period from 2 - 24 August 2002, with nightly shows starting at 21h00, two shows on Saturdays, and Sundays off. The programme lasted around 90 minutes, with the pipe bands coming on immediately after the fanfare and performing a marching and static display for around 10-15 minutes. For the static display, the drummers formed into one of the patented huddled masses at which they are so good (they were supposed to march into a crown formation, but couldn't), while the pipers formed a '50' above an 'E II R' in honour of the Golden Jubilee. A medley and a single piece were played into and during the formation, which then reformed into the massed band and left the arena.

Five (of six, on a rotation basis) 'lucky' bands played for the highland dancers around the midpoint of the show, with five pipers and a side drummer from each joining with the Highland Division brass band and running through 13 reels and two strathspeys in around three minutes flat. The four SA Irish pipers and three Cape Town Highlanders pipers took turns at this, and generally considered it a penance - this was the fastest anyone had ever played before, and the Highland Band's bass drummer, Cammy, took a perverse delight in playing a wee bit faster every evening. Mind you, once the fingers went onto autopilot about two weeks into the show, the pipers could watch the bouncy tartan things doing their stuff, and they were pretty good.

The bands then marched back on and into formation for the finale, always a treat since it is so rare to play in a combined brass and pipe band, and some great pieces are possible. The show finished with the lone piper followed by the march-off, with the massed pipes and drums last off the esplanade (and first onto the buses, or woe betide!).

It doesn't sound like too much work, but the bands are tuning up by 18h15, on the buses at 19h00, doing the final tune-up at 19h30 and only get back to the barracks at around 23h30. Aside from time on the buses, the rest of the evening is spent standing on some very uncomfortable cobbles, and the esplanade has a 14-foot drop from one end to the other. Feet take severe punishment, and wearing full highland dress is not the most pleasant experience. Twice on Saturdays, with the addition of a fireworks show in the second performance, was excruciating, and although the fireworks were supposed to be pretty good, no-one cared.

The show gets to be very much routine, with very few high points, but some memorable occasions were: the Queen's visit on 5 August 2002, everyone on their best behaviour, filming of the show over a three-day period, and for us, the visit of the South African High Commissioner, resulting in an invitation to dine at her official residence in London on our return trip.

The experience was one which will always be remembered with fondness, excitement and no small amount of trepidation. Knowing what we now do, will we ever volunteer to participate in another Tattoo?

I do believe the answer is a resounding YES!!. Where do I sign up?

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