A night to remember: The PLC Sydney Tattoo

It's been two years coming and finally arrived on Saturday 5 November. The PLC Sydney Tattoo featuring special guest James Morrison was a thrilling night full of amazing music, energy, spectacular dancing and costumes, and colour. It was a night to remember.

The evening began on Drummond Field with the Pipes and Drums entertaining the largest Tattoo audience ever with their field

display. Rachel Austin, recently named as the NSW Juvenile Pipe Drum champion, led the Senior Pipes and Drums onto the field demonstrating their hard work during the year. The Pipe Band marched around Drummond Field in precise formation whilst playing a number of traditional pipe melodies. Their performance also featured solo drum corps items and a lovely ceremony where devoted Year 12 students handed over the reins of their specific roles to new emerging pipers.

The large audience then marched with the Pipe Band through the gardens and a guard of honour into the AKT where the wonderful Junior Concert Band and Mr Watters were already playing on stage as the crowd entered. The audience and Junior Concert Band were officially welcomed by the host of the night, the 2023 Music Captain Natalie Iacullo, who captivated the audience with her engaging MC manner. The Junior Concert Band was a perfect start to the festivities in the theatre and demonstrated the depth of talent in the PLC bands. The Senior Concert Band entered the stage to the sounds of the lone piper, Marina Ruan, performing on the Juliet Balcony high above the audience. The Concert Band performed their challenging repertoire including selections from West Side Story and “Never Gonna Give You Up” with finesse. It's certainly an amazing feat to be even attempting repertoire such as this. The first half ended with an exhilarating performance by Wind Ensemble. They brought back memories to many of the audience by performing Muppets Treasure Island including tunes such as “Shiver Me Timbers'' and “Land Ho”. This was followed by the final piece for the half which was Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Not only was the stage filled with raw musical power, but coordinated with thrilling roller coaster footage at the same time where the twists and turns of the rollercoaster reflected the twists and turns of the music.

Natalie Iacullo, took MCing to a new level, wandering through and interviewing members of the audience. She introduced the second half as being completely devoted to jazz which it definitely was, however, it also demonstrated how all Performing Arts disciplines can be integrated as one to capture excitement and pizazz. The Stage Band opened the half,

once again demonstrating the depth of talent and how safe and exciting the future of bands and jazz here at PLC Sydney is. They expertly performed jazz standards such as Blue Bossa and Red Clay not realising that the king of Australian Jazz was watching secretly from the wings. Congratulations to Alan Watters who has trained these younger ensembles so well. Following their performance, the crowd cheered as James Morrison entered the stage opening Big Band's first piece with a solo trumpet fanfare. The stage was awash with energy and action throughout the rest of the night. The Senior Dance Troupe joined the Big Band for their performance of “Bugle Call Rag” where at times James Morrison was performing with the Big Band or performing as a soloist, or the dance troupe all dressed in gold were swinging away in what stage was left. This piece was followed by a gangster-style piece called "Hey Pachuco" once again featuring solos by James Morrison and Aurelia Bergin on the drums as well as the older of the Senior Dance Troupes performing other variants of swing dancing.

The crowd was then treated and captivated by the incredible James Morrison Quartet. There are no words that can describe this performance except that it is and was just "next level" and it was such a special treat to have world-class artists grace the AKT stage. The Big Band then played “Rockin Robin”, featuring Simone Perry on vocals. They were joined by the Junior Dance Troupe with their Rockabilly choreograph and eye-catching pink polka dot costumes. The stage was filled to capacity for the final set which involved Big Band, James Morrison and his quartet, Antonella Khodr-Chah and Ruby Molnar on vocals, and all dance troupes performing an arrangement of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. The final, and traditional tattoo ending, of a solo piper, was followed by “Amazing Grace”. James Morrison and Antonella brought tears to the eyes with the calm and tranquil opening to “Amazing Grace” and were then joined by Big Band and finally the entire Pipes and Drums Corps. This, and the whole night, ended with an endless standing ovation. The night was a truly enjoyable experience for everyone involved whether you were a performer or an audience member.

Mr Phil Harper

Director of Performing Arts Coordinator of Bands They expertly performed jazz standards such as Blue Bossa and Red Clay not realising that the king of Australian Jazz was watching secretly from the wings.