This coming Tuesday I have to be at the studio at 5:30pm for a taping of a pay-per-view show. I don't think I'm going to be one of the "guests" sitting in a chair, getting in a fight, etc. Instead, for some reason they want bagpipers in kilts. So me and some bandmates (www.chicagopipeband.com) have signed on. I don't know what the show's topic is or what our role is, or when the show airs or on what network. But I know I'm going to be on Springer! 
UPDATE: All right, it was probably the most fun (and funniest) gig I've ever played. It's the St. Patrick's Day PPV special, so I suspect it'll air March 2007. As I suspected, we (4 pipers, 1 drummer) were the sideshow exhibit. Basically we played going into and coming out of each break, and once in a while when there was a fight or whatever and they wanted background music. I forgot to bring my camera, but that's moot since another guy did and it's nto allowed on stage. Not even cell phones are allowed in our pockets, off or on.
I don't want to give too much away and spoil it for those of you who'll pay (both of you), and for that matter I didn't notice if the contracts we signed mentioned much in the way of disclosure. One of the pipers is the band's attorney and he said it was all pretty much liability-related stuff, though there was an interesting clause that we must play non-copyright music (yes, there is a lot of bagpipe music that is copyright, infact it's a hotissue in the bagpipe world lately). So basically we alternated between playing a traditional tune sometimes, and other times an original tune one of our pipers composed. We never played more than 30 seconds at a time, I estimate.
Anyhow, there was a lot of naked females, but little beauty. That was the motif for every segment, whether they were fighting or dancing. There was a pole dancer throughout (whose boyfriend was stage security), midgets portraying leprechauns, heavyweight food wrestling, and Irish step dancing, both authentic and improvised. And of course, audience participation in terms of showing off the goods or talking trash. We didn't get much interaction, we just stood there to look pretty and play on cue. But damn we enjoyed watching.
Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer at my discretion. Oh, and to be pre-emptive: Boxer briefs.
UPDATE: All right, it was probably the most fun (and funniest) gig I've ever played. It's the St. Patrick's Day PPV special, so I suspect it'll air March 2007. As I suspected, we (4 pipers, 1 drummer) were the sideshow exhibit. Basically we played going into and coming out of each break, and once in a while when there was a fight or whatever and they wanted background music. I forgot to bring my camera, but that's moot since another guy did and it's nto allowed on stage. Not even cell phones are allowed in our pockets, off or on.
I don't want to give too much away and spoil it for those of you who'll pay (both of you), and for that matter I didn't notice if the contracts we signed mentioned much in the way of disclosure. One of the pipers is the band's attorney and he said it was all pretty much liability-related stuff, though there was an interesting clause that we must play non-copyright music (yes, there is a lot of bagpipe music that is copyright, infact it's a hotissue in the bagpipe world lately). So basically we alternated between playing a traditional tune sometimes, and other times an original tune one of our pipers composed. We never played more than 30 seconds at a time, I estimate.
Anyhow, there was a lot of naked females, but little beauty. That was the motif for every segment, whether they were fighting or dancing. There was a pole dancer throughout (whose boyfriend was stage security), midgets portraying leprechauns, heavyweight food wrestling, and Irish step dancing, both authentic and improvised. And of course, audience participation in terms of showing off the goods or talking trash. We didn't get much interaction, we just stood there to look pretty and play on cue. But damn we enjoyed watching.
Feel free to ask questions and I'll answer at my discretion. Oh, and to be pre-emptive: Boxer briefs.
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