Well what a weekend that was! The band had an absolutely fantastic time hosting the amazing Helen Williams. Helen joined the band straight from a Brass In Concert victory with Cory Band and we’re grateful that the weather didn’t intervene. The band worked hard at rehearsals on Friday night and Saturday afternoon before the concert on Saturday evening.
Kicking off proceedings was the classic William Rimmer march ”The Cossack” before swiftly moving on to the classic arrangement of ”The Music of the Night” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ”The Phantom of the opera”.
Helen then joined the band for a rendition of the beautiful salvation army solo ”Share My Yoke”. Traditionally a cornet solo but well suited to the Flugelhorn. She then kicked things up a notch for ”The Children of Sanchez”. A challenging piece for the entire band aswell as the soloist. The band worked hard to prepare this one and the performance was about the best it was played all weekend! Bravo percussion section!
With a tough act to follow it was up to myself and Paul Lewin to play the classic euphonium Duet ”Deep Inside the Sacred Temple” from the Pearl fishers. We managed to get to the end without falling out over anyone!Rounding off the first half was Alan Fernie’s arrangement ”Abba goes Brass”. Abba songs always seem to suit brass bands and this arrangement visited most of their famous hits.
During the interval, and after plenty of cake, the Douglas Tooters took to the stage under the baton of Ken Mitchell. After a recent recruitment drive some of these members had only been playing for a matter of weeks but they put on a fine performance of ensemble pieces and solos. The future is looking very bright! Well done everyone and well done Ken!
Starting the second half was the very popular ‘Prismatic Light’ by Alan Fernie. A firm favourite of players and audience members alike. Helen then took to the stage again to perform the wonderfully reflective solo ”Makker”. This is a new composition written especially for Helen and its beautiful melodic lines really showed off her lyrical playing and expression. She then rounded off her second set with perhaps her trademark solo ”Under the Boardwalk”. This fantastic arrangement by Philip Harper is wonderfully fun incorporating some interesting actions from the band as well as a fine grunt from Bb Bass player Mark Lees!
To finish off the night, our trombone section performed the brilliant ”I will follow him” from the movie Sister Act before the band finished off with ”One Voice” by Barry Manilow. As an encore, Helen rejoined the band to lead them in the 2nd verse of Ellan Vannin.
Well done everybody!