[Dixielandjazz] Strange gigs

[Jim Kashishian]

Years back we were sort of the unofficial band for business does at Nivea
(handcreams, etc.) company in Madrid.  Any dinners they had for different
salesmen, we would be the show.  The boss liked us!  (When he left, that was
the end of it!!!)
 
They had different schemes.  One year was in a castle outside of Madrid.
They had all the guys in a casino gambling & drinking.  We were told to set
up in the dining room, and when given the cue, they would open the doors &
we would play "The Saints".  The door opened, we played, and about 75 men
swooped in with red capes flying behind them.  Yep, every single one was
dressed as Superman.  There was one very gay guy that really enjoyed wearing
his red underwear on the outside of his tights!  He was flying all over the
place.    :>  We kept playing, or rather the rhythm section played while the
air instruments died out as we couldn't contain our laughter.  We had no
idea this was going to happen.
 
Another year, they did a dinner in their factory in Madrid.  They used paper
to make the walls in a huge space, putting the paper "walls" around pillars.
When everyone was enjoying their dessert, the band burst through the paper
wall in a small Seat (Spanish Fiat) 600 model car.  This car is TINY!  A
complete band shouldn't fit in it, but we did.  It was a topless jobber,
which helped.  The car zipped in & out of the tables as we played.
 
And finally, we did a dinner for their Japanese salesmen in a local hotel.
The Japanese love the bullfights, so at the end of the meal they had the
traditional "trainer" for bullfights, which is horns on wheels.  The various
salesmen used their red table clothes to "fight" the bull while we played
bullfight songs!
 
That's all folks!
 
Jim