On January
30th 1969, The Beatles shocked the city of London and the world when they climbed
up on the roof of Apple headquarters at Number 3 Savile Row, and performed an
impromptu concert. Ever since that day, musicians everywhere have aspired to
repeat this act. Nobody really knows why but the urge to drag instruments up several
stories to the top of a building seems to be irresistible to musicians.
Not
that playing on roofs was unknown before the Beatles. There is a long history
of rooftop dance halls all over the world, and most famous dance bands and jazz
musicians performed there during their careers. The main difference however, is
that those venues were indoors.
I’m
not completely clear on the attraction of hauling musical equipment up to the
top of a building, then standing precariously hundreds of metres above the
ground, wind whistling in your face, and attempting to perform a concert.
Still, The Beatles iconic moment remains a touchstone for musicians everywhere.
Ironically
they weren’t even the first band to do this. That honour goes to Jefferson
Airplane, who on December 7th, 1968 climbed up to the roof of New
York’s Schuyler
Hotel, shouted obscenities at the crowd below, and performed a couple of their
hits. And get this – their 7-minute concert was caught on film by none other
than Jean-Luc Godard, the famous French film director.
Surely
their performance, which inevitably ended in their arrest by the NYPD, would
have been the one to go down in history, if not for the fact that about one
month later the most famous band in the world at the time copied their stunt. I
guarantee that if the second concert had been by a lesser band, say The
Monkees, Jefferson Airplane’s 2-song set would be the one we would all recall.
Still
The Beatles remain the rooftop concert to emulate. Whether its U2’s 1987 show on
the roof of an L.A liquor store, Homer Simpson and the B Sharps atop Moe’s
Tavern, or even Paul McCartney himself performing on top of the Ed Sullivan
Theatre, it’s fair to say every one of these performances was compared to that
windy day in 1969 London.
What
do all these rooftop concerts have in common, besides exposing valuable
instruments and sound equipment to the harsh elements? None of these musicians
played the piano. Sure some of them used electric keyboards but nobody was
dragging a baby grand up to the roof to serenade the city.
There
was a time when every theatre, concert hall or restaurant had its own piano,
and the professional musician’s job was to show up and play. Somehow over the
past 30 years or so, this has morphed into the expectation that pianists bring
along their own fully tuned Steinway.
You
may think the very concept sounds ridiculous but I guarantee it doesn’t matter where
I’m playing or how much I am getting paid, at some point I will hear the
question, “Are you going to bring the piano?”
And
before you assume they mean a nice lightweight electric version, I can assure
you that I have shown up with just such an instrument on many occasions only to
be greeted with, “Oh – I thought you were bringing a real piano.”
I
have always envied the guitarist, sax player or violinist, who shows up,
perhaps via public transit, instrument case in one hand and a coffee in the
other, warms up for a few minutes and is ready to play. Meanwhile the
keyboardist loads hundreds of pounds of equipment into a vehicle, drives to the
gig, spends an hour unloading and setting up, only to repeat the process in
reverse a few hours later.
Don’t
get me wrong – I know I am very fortunate to be able to make my living as a
performer. I’m not so much complaining as pointing out the absurdity of the situation.
Whether in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, up in the wilds of the Yukon or on the
roof of a small town motel, I count the seconds until I hear the words, “Did
you bring the piano?”
There
was one memorable time I recall not being asked this; I was offered a
contract playing aboard an adventure cruise ship that took tourists to the
South Pole. Sadly it sank on its second trip – hopefully not due to the
excessive weight of their real piano.
