Cheap Edinburgh Military Tattoo 1987 (Video) Price

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Customer Reviews of Edinburgh Military Tattoo 1987

Doe Den Tap Toe
Doe Den Tap Toe! No, this is not some Alien language. Its old Dutch for "Turn Off the Taps" the original meaning for what the ceremony of Tattoo would become in the military context. In order to summon the troops back to barracks from the local ale house and other similar locales, a lone drummer would beat a tattoo on his drum to tell the innkeepers to turn off the beer taps so that the troops could return for final roll call. Like most military ceremonies this one has its origins from simple, old traditions. The classic form of tattoo is known from when the English troops campaigned in the Low Countries in the 17th and 18th centuries under the Duke of Marborough and others, but a form of tattoo was known to all armies of the period. Over the years the ceremony grew in size and significance as military bands evolved and the local townsfolk grew to enjoy it. Today we see its full fruition with the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This show grew out of the earlier tattoos of the 1930s in the UK. The Edinburgh version began in the late 1940s with a series of band concerts, piping and highland dancing on the castle esplanade.

Today the Tattoo is justly famous around the world. With that fame has come a price. In order to market itself for main stream audiences current producers have been injecting more and more non-tattoo elements into the show. There is now an array of civilian acts including choirs, Celtic dancers and other non-military fare. While this is all well and good, the orgins and feeling of the Tattoo tradition seems in danger of being submerged with all the pop acts being brought in. The 1987 Tattoo displayed here was one of the last of the older format. The bands get a longer time to perform, there are no distracting choirs and celtic acts, and there is only one foriegn display from Hungary which gets a good 10 mins. of time instread of the 5 mins. alloted today in order to cram more acts in. 1987 was also one of the last Tattoos produced by Leslie Dow. Dow was a bit silly at times with his talking castle bit and his tendency to chat too much during some acts, but at least he knew what the heart of a Tattoo should be all about. The current productions have lost focus in this regard. The pace is slower here, not like the MTV race we seem to get today where bands and acts barely have time to finish before another goes on.

Enjoy the 1987 Tattoo for what it was then, a stirring pageant of sight and sound. Today you might find more action, but a bit less content.

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Now THAT's entertainment.
Since the early '50s the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (pagent, not skin art) has stirred souls and entertained millions of attendees. The 1987 Tattoo is one of the first, and most popular, of the shows that were video taped for commercial distribution. Not just bagpipes, the tattoos provide a diverse selection of internation entertainment.
But nothing get the crowd going like the massed pipes and drums entering the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade through the castle gates.
If the lone piper doesn't grab you playing "Amazing Grace" from the Half Moon Battery, "Scotland the Brave" will send a tingle down your spine...just before the eagerly anticipated, dynamic, "Black Bear" finale'.
Now that's entertainment!

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Fascinating entertainment in a unique form!
Not just band music, but great precision entertainment to hold the interest of all ages watching. Our American Drum & Bugle Corps. should study and learn from these great performers and perhaps they too would draw the interest of an audience like those seen at the tattoos .