Once, the legendary pianist Shura Cherkassky – who was known for his superstitions around concert routines – suddenly and unexpectedly required a lemon in the interval of a recital in London. Goodness knows what for. Eccentric as this may sound, even more bizarre is that an announcement was made to the audience asking if anyone had a lemon they could donate to Cherkassky. And, even more strange… someone did! I’m not sure I remember the last time I brought a lemon with me to a performance as an audience member, but as a performer it does serve to highlight the importance of bringing all you need to a concert with you in your carefully-packed concert-day bag.
Nikki Iles
• Manuscript
• 2B pencils
• Sharpener
• Hand cream
• Cushion (jazz gigs sometimes don’t have piano stools)
• George Shearing’s tuning fork
• Stand light (it’s often dark in clubs)
• Spare undies and tooth brush in case we are snowed in/ car breaks down/ferry is cancelled etc!
• Hot water bottle and thermals if playing in a cold church
• Spare book of busking tunes
I actually think that what you bring says quite a lot about you
