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Bon Journal

Cold hands, not cold feet

One of the most common, unfortunate things that could happen to musicians just before they go on stage is getting cold hands. Another is to get unwanted visitors before the show starts.

We had already warmed up in the Lutheran Church in Bussum where the concert was to begin at 3 pm. But the room in the back wasn't heated. And the 30-minute wait cooled our hands.

I kept blowing hot air into my palms. The guitarist was first to go onstage. Then the violinist. Then me.

Would it be a full house?

Would it be embarrassingly empty?

We couldn't tell from our waiting room.

Was I nervous? No. I was only a guest performer whom nobody knew.

Were they nervous? They shouldn't be. They've done this hundreds of times.

No matter how much I practised, each performance would still be different and even unpredictable.

When it was my turn to play solo, I noticed the baby grand getting out of tune each key I played. This distracted me.

By the time we played the Piazzolla trios, our hands had warmed up. The tangos even got the audience moving!

30 March 2002 Saturday

Easter concerts in Holland

Advice:
If you're not helping with the show, don't get there too early to distract the performers. Moral support? Just sit in the audience. That's good enough. And hang around after the show.