EDINBURGH - Bermuda's Regiment band and Gombeys yesterday put on a faultless dress rehearsal for the world's biggest military tattoo.

And Regiment officers said the troops and Gombeys were in perfect tune for a special preview performance at ancient Edinburgh Castle tonight.

The Regiment band and the Gombey dancers yesterday ran through their routine along with several hundred other performers at a dry run at the British Army's Redford Barracks in Edinburgh.

And now the troops are the Gombeys are at their peak for the marathon 20-plus performances at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which opens to the public tomorrow.

The Bermuda contingent, plus acts from as far afield as Oman and Australia, performed the first and only dress rehearsal for the event in front of a small crowd of members of the public and British Army personnel on the barracks parade ground.

Tattoo spokesman Alan Smith said: "It went very well and people seemed to be very pleased with what they saw.

"We're delighted - it's a good solid show and everything went very smoothly, just as we expected, and we're all looking forward to tomorrow night.

"That's the real litmus test - how it goes down in front of a real live audience."

But Mr. Smith said he had no doubt the performers would amaze audiences from across the globe.

And he added that the Regiment and Gombeys stealing the show at the opening performance of the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival was a sign of things to come.

Mr. Smith said: "I heard they performed really well at the Jazz Festival - and that's an indicator of how they will be received at the Tattoo."

The Regiment band will march on to the historic esplanade of Edinburgh Castle to music by another legend - Jamaican reggae hero Bob Marley's "Jamming" - in a special arrangement by Regiment bandmaster Barrett Dill.

The Regiment's Lt. Wayne Caines said: "When the Regiment came out playing 'Jamming' all the other performers were standing watching. It was great to see them all start moving and dancing along."

He added: "A lot of the other bandmasters have asked for the music so they can take it home with them - Major Dill's arrangement is going to be performed as far away as Australia, which is excellent."

And Lt. Caines predicted the Tattoo finale - more than 1,000 performers and dancers performing in unison - would be a stunning spectacle.

He said: "Even in a rehearsal, it was quite a sight to see - 1,000 performers, including 200 dancers, from all over the world on the barracks square. It was a beautiful tapestry of talent."

The Tattoo - despite international uncertainty post 9/11 and post-Iraq - this week announced the fastest sell-out of tickets in its 54-year history. The more than 217,000 tickets were sold out a week before the start of the Tattoo.

Sir George Mathewson, chairman of UK main sponsors of the event, the Royal Bank of Scotland, said: "It comes as no surprise that the Tattoo has sold out so quickly this year, judging by the quality of the acts.

"It truly is an international event drawing a viewing audience of 100 million worldwide. I regularly attend the Tattoo myself and I think it provides a wonderful spectacle."