West of England Brass Band Championships
Last Saturday saw the band take to the stage in the West of England Brass Band Championships. This was our first year back in the Second Section following our promotion last year, and our first contest under our new MD, Tom Griffin.
An Early Start
The band had a rehearsal booked at the Grovsenor Hotel for 8:30am on Saturday morning, but after blowing out the cobwebs and playing a few hymn tunes, Tom had us warmed up and raring to take to the stage. The call came through from the draw, that we had drawn to play band #5 which meant we'd be taking to the stage at about 11am.
Photo courtesy of the British Bandsman
Our Performance
The stage at Torquay is a difficult one to play on, as it's a very dead acoustic compared to the "boomy" bandroom we are used to. The sounds you expect to hear from the band are very different, as you feel like you're playing on your own. This does not help with the nerves as it's very unsettling when you feel you don't have the normal support from those around you.
That said, we were proud of our efforts, and whilst it was not without it's faults, we still delivered a good musical performance of Dean Goffin's "Rhapsody in Brass". A special mention must be made to the confident soloists which featured in the piece, most notably Bev (Solo Horn) and Chris (Solo Euphonium) as both of their solo passages shone through.
Kenny Crookston from the British Bandsman was in attendance to report on all performances throughout the day, here is what he reported about us:
Strong opening at a good tempo but there is an awful lot of rushing within the bars and the ensemble becomes disconnected at times. Middle movement lacks a bit of confidence, although the band at full strength sounds very good. Off like a train in the final movement and it struggles to maintain rhythmic control. Quite a few clips and splashes along the way but the sound stays strong to the end. Not the tidiest performance of the day but one with plenty to build upon.
British Bandsman
Overall we'd agree with their comments, there was a hint of nerves and there was the odd slip here and there, but given that this was our first foray back into the second section, we were pleased with how it went.
The Result
We came a respectable 11th out of the 17 bands that took part. Obviously we would have loved to walk away with the trophy again, but considering we had a new conductor in place and we moved back up a section we were pleased with the result.
The full results for our section were as follows:
- Bodmin Town (John Maines)
- Otterbourne Brass (Melvin White)
- Helston Town (John Berryman)
- Andover Town (Steve Large)
- Camborne Junior Contesting (Alan Pope)
- City of Bristol Brass (Bryn James)
- Poole Borough (Martin Portman)
- Bream Silver (Philip Turner)
- Downton (Paul Williams)
- Soundhouse Brass (Lee Clayson)
- Phoenix Brass (Crewkerne) (Tom Griffin)
- St. Pinnock (John Ward)
- Weston Brass (Bryn James)
- Denmead Brass (Estelle Flood)
- Shrewton Silver (Michael Dunford)
- New Forest Brass (Ian Luxford)
- Ocean Brass (Martin Humphries)
Congratulations to Bodmin, and best of luck to Bodmin, Otterbourne and Helston who will be representing the West of England at the National Finals later in the year.
What's Next
Our result means we are safe and stay in the Second Section. We will be build on this performance, and already under Tom we have managed to persuade two helpers for this contest (Colin and Claire ... and now their daughter) to come along more permanently.
We've been given a week off from our normal rehearsals but we'll be back in the bandroom next week to start preparations for our summer jobs.
if you enjoyed the bands performance on Saturday and want to listen to us agian, see our diary for details of when and where to see us in action.
Released On 14th Mar 2017
