28th June 2008 - English Nationals

Adjudicators: Nigel Boddice, David Read, Chris Wormald
Test Piece: Infinity, Robert Redhead
Venue: Guild Hall, Preston

For the second year in succession, the band was invited to compete in the English Nationals contest. This competition is made up of the winners of each Area contest in England, plus the next few English bands in the rankings.

This year’s test piece was a new commission by Robert Redhead entitled Infinity. Even though it was quite a short piece by modern test piece standards at only twelve or thirteen minutes, it was in places a formidable technical challenge, and difficult to perform well. The piece started with a simple hymn tune and then ran though several variations before finishing very quietly.

In the weeks leading up to the contest, the band was strong, and each rehearsal featured two runs through of the test piece; something that we hadn’t done before. Often, the second run-through was better than the first.

The band were aware that they had been drawn in the second half of the contest, and so the day didn’t start too early. We met at the bandroom at 10am and then took the short trip along the M62 to the contest in Preston. We rehearsed in Lostock Hall Memorial Brass Band’s bandroom and so only had to take a small amount of percussion in with us.

After a short rehearsal we found out that we’d been drawn eleventh, which meant we had plenty of time to get to the hall. The organisers wanted us there for half one, though we would not be playing until about 3pm. After a quick wander we got changed and waited for our turn to play.

After registering, we were allowed the use of another auditorium at the Guild Hall to warm up in. As ever, this courtesy didn’t extend to the percussion section who were only provided with chairs and music stands, not any instruments! It was a nice change to get out onto the stage and to see a hall that contained more audience members than last year. We were happy with the way we played; we put across the performance we intended to with only a couple of small problems.

After taking the applause, we loaded the bus up before the band adjourned to the pub or returned to the hall. We had been issued with wrist bands which allowed us free entry into the hall to listen to other bands. This was an excellent idea, although I was only in time to hear the last two performances.

After a short break the usual speeches took place before the results were announced. Only the top four placings were announced, as they were the ones that attracted trophies and substantial prize money.

The full results of the contest were:

1. Grimethorpe Colliery, Allan Withington, 8
2. Black Dyke, Dr Nicholas Childs, 14
3. Brighouse and Rastrick, Alan Morrison, 13
4. Mount Charles, Andrew Duncan, 9
5. Fodens Richardson, Garry Cutt, 10
6. Hepworth (Cookson Homes), Ian Porthouse, 4

7. Rothwell Temperance, David Roberts, 11
8. Leyland, Jason Katsikaris, 5
9. Fairey, Philip Chalk, 2
10. Reg Vardy, Steve Malcolm, 15
11. YBS Band, Morgan Griffiths, 6
12. PolySteel, Philip Harper, 12
13. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery, Russell Gray, 7
14. Redbridge, Jeremy Wise, 3
15. Fishburn, Ray Farr, 1

Seventh was a reasonable result for us at the contest, and we were happy with it. We beat some very good bands and were in turn beaten by some of the best bands in England.

With thanks to:

- Dai Hale as always for doing a sterling job on the front row.
– Brian Winter for helping out on Flugel at the last minute.
– Debs on percussion, sorry the timps were so terrible.

Next up for the band are a final few concerts before a summer break of about a month before the British Open in mid September.

Tim Sawyer
Percussion
29th June 2008

“Can we play snap?”