I had this idea whilst I was changing. I had put on a white, translucent pair of shorts and a T-shirt, just to feel comfortable. Then I took hold of my drumsticks... and looked at the mirror. And as I looked at the mirror, an idea just flowed into my head like that !
Imagine that this is a performance to celebrate children, or to raise awareness on reaching out to them.
I'd grab a few people my age, a few teens and more kids, and we get them to practise their dance moves beforehand. I'll also require a few people to sing the lyrics. Everyone - the kids, the musicians, everyone - will join in the chorus. I haven't written the song yet, but I know it'll be something about children.
On stage, everyone will dress like kids of below-average earners, with simple home clothes (never mind if there are holes). The rest of the musicians - basses, keys, frets - will be on, but lights are dimmed. The percussions are not entirely those of the standard drum set - there'll be pots and pails and stuff, things that the kids grab from home... imagine Stomp. Of course, I'll include the bass drum and cymbals - lots of cymbals - for the timbre.
Two people - the percussionists - make their entry into the stage while "discussing" amongst each other. Suddenly, one of them steps on something, and a woody, "CRACK" sound is heard. (S)he picks it up... it turns out to be an old pair of drumsticks. Both of them look at each other and nod. They head over to the set..... and they begin drumming. Lights are on them, but dim. The bassist follows after.
The kids enter the stage with their moves. Then the lead singers come in. As mentioned earlier, everyone is simply dressed. The lights alternate, with whites in between. Spotlight on the lead singers.
At the chorus, all lights come on and everyone joins in. Everyone in the audience joins in by clapping in time.
Somewhere in the middle, the people on stage will do a trademark chant (I'll come up with that too !), and this will induce the audience to join in. The musicians will do their stuff. Particularly the percussionists. This is bound to make everyone's heart race. Here, the lights alternate (or, we could have a spotlight).
Then finally, we come to the part after the bridge, where the chorus will be repeated twice, and then the trademark chant again...... short music sequence, heavy percussions... and final crash. Lights alternate quickly, with lots of whites in between....... and off. Song ends. Thunderous applause from the floor.
And whilst I conceived that idea, I was air-drumming, holding my old pair of drumsticks in reverse and trying to figure out the beat. The only thing that's in my head now is the rhythm. I have to come out for the rest of the parts - and quickly, too !
This entire performance might sound hard (and believe me, it is - it's already hard to coordinate dances, now what about the percussionists themselves ?), but it is possible. I know, from the bottom of my heart, it is. Say if we're going to use keyboards instead of the standard piano for this, then I can pre-record at least two tracks for the song. The rest of it... methinks it'd come with a lot of practice and a lot of prayer.
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