A Night at the Art Gallery,

Histrionics, By GEM,

Wednesday the 4th of April saw the launch of a new exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow. This features a performance by the band recorded in February and will be on show until the 28th of October.

On the first night preview, invitations were sent out and as you would expect, a number of those were given to the band inviting them along. On offer was an evening of culture, thought provoking conversation on social issues and of course, networking with some of Glasgow’s foremost supporters of contemporary Art. In addition to all of this, the chance of free alcohol may have been the deciding factor in a number of the band members and ‘WAGS’ arranging to attend the function.

A time was agreed to meet in a city centre public house for ‘pre-show drinks’. After the initial difficulty in recognising each other in the prearranged meeting point due to everyone wearing smart attire, drinks were soon ordered and the banter was soon flowing along with them.

Nearing the 7 o’clock start time, with one of the group dispatched as scout to lead and locate where in fact the Gallery of Modern Art actually was, we all followed and made our way to the exhibition.

Everyone was aware that there was not just going to be a delegation from the Black Skull attending the screening but as there was also footage of a Republican band at the exhibition, band members from this side of the community would be in attendance as well. Those attending were conscious of the fact that the band was representing their own section of the band community and one of the driving factors behind the decision to be part of the project was to promote the positive aspects of the often maligned Loyalist band scene and the wealth of musical talent that thrives within it.

As we arrived, the initial jolt to some from entering a museum for the first time was promptly softened by the two tables of champagne and wine on offer upon entering Gallery 1. Fruit juice was available for the drivers in the group and cautiously, we entered the hall with glasses in hand.

The first imposing sight you are greeted with is the huge wall which forms the back side of the screen theatre. This 30ft structure is adorned with pictures of players signed for both Celtic and Rangers. One half is Rangers players and the other is players from Celtic and whether consciously or not, we all gravitated to the Blue pictures hung on the black walled construction and made our way round the gallery. After briefly passing some statistics on the religious make up of Glasgow’s population, we found the section we all wanted to see; the film of the band doing its stuff. With the triangular theatre being split down the middle and two large screens showing a band on each, we stood, watched and listened in the section showing ourselves as the cameras panned over the band. The size of the screen and the quality of the sound system used was impressive although the often used saying that the camera makes you look fatter than you actually are certainly seemed to be true is this case!

While watching the recording, thoughts drifted back to the filming in February on an early Sunday morning in the Scottish Orchestra rehearsal halls. As usual before any large outing, the band first came in to its own hall to practice the set before being bussed over to the location of the filming. As this meant arriving ‘in the middle of the night’ as one member put it, many were not as enthusiastic as they may have been on usual band engagements. When the band rolled up to the rehearsal halls, any disillusionment regarding the early morning start quickly evaporated and the sheer size of the project was soon realised. After walking through a storage area not dissimilar to IKEA, we entered the hall where the filming was to be carried out and this left us in no doubt that we were involved in a professional set up. Large lighting rigs, cameras on tracks, sound booms, light deflectors and a host of people busying themselves setting equipment up, all left us feeling glad that we had come in early to brush up on our playing. Fortunately with the recording coming a relatively short time after the Concert the band had performed in September of 2006, the hard work on the pieces had been put in and it was just a case of fine tuning the sets and letting the Band Master decide on which pieces we would be performing for the cameras.

Back standing in the Gallery of Modern Art watching the recording gave us all a real sense of achievement that we all had played our part in promoting the band and our communities’ culture.

The ‘Here I Am’ film is played on a constant loop and features one band playing a tune on one screen and then the other band playing a tune on their screen. The effect is that there is a constant sound reverberating around the hall. In between each performance by the individual bands, footage continues of the band members in between playing, setting up instruments and of the artwork on the drums, uniforms etc.

While there was the obvious interest in seeing what was showing on either screen by the separate band members, decorum was kept during the evening while each band was performing. With the high standards the Black Skull strive for and set, the main goal was to give as good a representation as possible of what we do. It was felt that this was done. Part of the intention was that many people who maybe have a limited exposure to the Loyalist band scene would perhaps take the time to see the effort bands such as ourselves spend on trying to promote their musical culture and heritage. As one of the sayings in the band goes, ‘It’s a way of life’.

While members of the band mingled with others present at the function a number of questions were asked and answered about the band. Queries into the battle scrolls and emblazoning on the drums were posed and answered and comments were also offered when our pieces were being played such as ”It’s like the last night of the proms”. Again, this made us feel like our endeavours in front of the cameras had been worthwhile.

As the evening continued, the usual advance party went about their duties to search and destroy any more free alcohol. An as yet uncharted table of drinks was sourced in one of the upper galleries and the band delegation swiftly regrouped there. It wasn’t long before this avenue was also closed with the familiar line of “I’ve been told not to give out any more drink” being given. All was not lost though as word of the ‘after show party’ went round and surely the stars of the launch would find their names all included on the guest list? Without even so much as a “do you know who we are?” having to be given at the door of the exclusive roof top function, the band members and family were welcomed in with open arms for more drinks and nibbles. A table next to ‘Judge’ the DJ was quickly secured and before long he was playing to his audience knocking out hits from some of their favourite rock bands. Requests from one of the Wags for some band called Take That didn’t seem to come to fruition for some reason!

As the event drew to a close, some of the group felt that they deserved a little more of a celebration for their hard work in front of the lights and cameras and decided to return to the original meeting point all those hours ago to reflect on the night’s events. For some, the glass fronts of Glasgow’s Retail establishments proved to be a welcome feature in enabling the by now troublesome feat of staying upright to be carried out.

The usual hardcore continued their own ‘after show party’ while making sure at various stages that the by now, dwindling group all obtained a safe mode of transport home.

It was certainly a different type of evening for some of the members of the Black Skull Corps of Fife and Drums but still a very enjoyable one.

The decision for the band to take part in the project was not one that was taken lightly and some discussion was undertaken at band practices regarding this. The artist, Roderick Buchanan who’s concept the whole project was, came to one of the practices and explained his motivation for looking to put on this exhibition and answered any questions the members had regarding how the band would be portrayed. After assurances that the filming of each individual band would be on completely separate days and that we would be on our own in front of the cameras to play what we decided and in our own time, the decision was taken to go ahead with the recording. Black Skull Corps of Fife and Drums has a hard earned reputation for promoting the traditions of the Protestant marching culture and for representing the various institutions that form our community. We as a band felt this project would be another valuable step in pushing the Loyalist culture that exists in the United Kingdom and would help to dispel some of the popular myths surrounding it.

Hopefully the exhibition and the part the band has played in it will further enhance not just the band’s own standing but the whole Loyalist band scene in general and the many musicians who are members of individual bands are appreciated and understood as being a positive part of Scotland’s society rather than a negative one.

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Video Clip from Art Exibition

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