http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,405...5E13780,00.html
Setting tone for Danish wedding
By Sophie Tedmanson and Vanda Carson
April 14, 2004
RYAN Narkle doesn't know where Denmark is. But within three weeks the didgeridoo player will perform at the wedding concert of Tasmania's Mary Donaldson and Frederik, the Crown Prince of Denmark.
"It's awesome, I can't wait," Narkle said yesterday from his home in Perth.
"I told my mum and family at Easter and they didn't believe me. They said, 'Don't be stupid.' Now they want to come over and meet the royals."
The 23-year-old will play the didgeridoo while his cousin Trevor Jamieson, 28, dances as part of a welcoming ceremony for the Rock'n'Royal concert on May 7, a week before the lavish wedding of the Australian real estate agent to her Danish prince.
The concert was the brainchild of the Crown Prince himself, who wanted something "for the young people" to enjoy as part of the wedding celebrations.
The concert, which will be watched by more than 40,000 people in the Copenhagen stadium and enjoyed by millions more on live TV and radio broadcasts across Europe, is being underwritten by Danish companies as a joint wedding gift to the royal couple.
Proceeds will go towards the Save The Children of Denmark charity.
Other Australian performers include Brisbane rock band Powderfinger, former Noiseworks frontman Jon Stevens and Tasmania's Derwent Valley Concert Band, along with a host of little-known Danish acts.
Narkle and Jamieson, who have been playing and dancing around the world for the past decade, will perform a traditional indigenous welcome dance accompanied by the didgeridoo, as the couple enters the stadium.
Their agent, Bev Fitzpatrick, of Western Australia's Jiriki indigenous talent agency, said the pair was invited to showcase Australia's indigenous culture at the wedding celebrations.
Narkle and Jamieson are still trying to raise funds for their air fares - but that's the least of Narkle's worries.
"What am I going to wear?" he asked. "What do you wear when you meet a prince?"
More importantly, what do you say when you meet one?
"I dunno, I've never been near royalty before. "I'll probably say, 'G'day mate, good luck'."
www.jiriki.com.au
The Australian