the locker room before the exhibition: before the gala, the bodies get serviced
Usually while they’re arriving and getting greeted by Tavis we’re all down in the lockers, dressing and stretching, getting ready to exhibit. Getting shaved and taped by Loach, etc.
Context
The gala's hidden underside. While the patrons arrive to be greeted, the exhibited bodies are downstairs being prepped — "dressing and stretching, getting ready to exhibit... getting shaved and taped by Loach." The fundraiser's whole economy is here in miniature: upstairs the friends-and-patrons, downstairs the instruments being tuned for their benefit. The players are the product, serviced out of sight before display.