Orchestra Wellington is giving an open-air concert in Porirua this Saturday evening.
They’ll be joined by six local Pacific drumming groups, Virtuoso Strings, and opera stars Sol3 Mio.
As a grand finale, Tchaikovsky’s ever-popular 1812 Overture, complete with 16 cannons, including eight Siege Mortar cannons described as "heavy, nuggety little things that make one hell of a bang".
A Siege Mortar cannon Photo: wikicommons
“Gunner” Townsend, a founder member of the Wellington Cannon Society, is responsible for the heavy artillery.
Gunner reassures the audience that they do not use real cannon balls, so there is no need to duck out of the way. "We would only do one show if that was the case," Gunner laughs.
The cannons are electrically charged and a button is pushed by a percussionist on stage in time with the music.
When the Cannon Society first performed the 1812 Overture there was a delay between lighting the cannon and the firing of it, so it was an easy decision to make to fire them electronically.
