HE may be used to getting his voice heard over a class of 30, but a crowd of 67,000 is more of a challenge for Murryfield’s newest Six Nations announcer.
School teacher, Graeme Easton, will be making his debut tomorrow (sat) in front of legions of cheering fans at the Calcutta Cup match.
It is a big a step up from running mobile discos with his brother for the 41-year-old Edinburgh teacher.
His debut as stadium announcer is at one of Scottish rugby’s biggest matches, against England and says he will try to keep it professional as he takes to the mic.
“If Scotland scores a try I’ll be shouting as loud as anybody, I’ll just have to make sure it’s not down the microphone,” he joked.
Thousands of people are expected to come to Edinburgh for the game and Mr Easton says that fans should expect more music an entertainment at half time.
He said: “For tomorrow’s game we’re trying to up our game and make match day more interactive for the fans. Until now, it has been very much pipe bands on the pitch and that’s it.
“So without giving the game away, we’re going to change it quite a bit so the fans will have a bit of a different experience – music will be played a lot more and we’ll be talking to the players and going behind the scenes at Murrayfield.”
Mr Easton appeared to hold his nerves ahead of tomorrow’s game.
He said: “The pronouncements are pretty important but luckily we’re right next to the BBC guys.”
Graeme’s brother Keith is also getting in on the action, by taking care of the music played at Murryfield Stadium.
The pair run Woosh Entertainments together and started up performing at mobile discos in the early 1990s before announcing for other sports such as basketball.
Father-of-three, Graeme, said he was feeling the pressure ahead of the brother’s biggest gig to date.
He said: “We’re being encouraged to be enthusiastic, and get the crowd excited before the match. But the balancing act is to make sure you don’t sound like a Redcoat from Butlins.
“We’ve worked together for a long time, but if anything goes wrong it’ll be down to one of us.”
