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Our first concert of 1999 was held at Womersley Church. Despite the dreadful weather, and the fact that six members of the band were unable to make it because of the flu that seems to have affected a huge number of people in the area, the concert still went off very well. However, we did have a little trouble fitting into the relatively small stage area (even with six short!) and the second cornet and second horn sections both ended up in the front row of pews, as this was the only way to get everybody in! Not ideal, but it just goes to show how flexible the band can be, when needed.
The church has wonderful acoustics, which Graham was more than happy to test out to the full, by opening with the James Bond collection that had been so popular over the Christmas period. What followed was more typical of a KCB concert, with a variety of popular pieces. Also continuing from the Christmas concerts, was the duet sung by Kathryn Dean and Ruth Scott. Breaks from a completely "Brass music" concert into ventures like this are hoped to become an established part of our concerts (as they had been in the past). There is a depth of talents within the band, and Graham hopes to make good use of these.
Jennifer Spencer (principle cornet) had her work cut out for her in the first half, with a sequence of: a solo piece; followed by accompanying the duet on piano; and then back into a solo introduction for the next piece! Well, it keeps her off the streets.
At the end of the concert, the church society handed out very welcome glasses of warm mulled wine and orange juice, along with a finger snack, which was much appreciated by all. This rounded off an excellent event, and was a great start to 1999.
However, the effort was well received, and their chairman has passed back some excellent comments, both spoken at the event and followed up with a written letter of thanks. It is this kind of appreciation that makes all our efforts worth while.
Some photographs from various trips to the Yorkshire Outlet can be found on our gallery pages.
We performed two sessions for them; one whilst they had their meal, and then again after the speeches and awards were concluded. We received a lot of feedback from the audience (which might have had something to do with the fact that they had to walk past the band to reach the bar!), and it was all very encouraging. We may well have begun to forge new friendships from this event, as we have already received a couple of enquires about the possibility of the Band playing at other events later in the year, from some of the guests at the event.
We were delighted to have two new young members join the full Band for this occasion. Emma and David Brown had both been attending the Saturday morning practice sessions, and it was decided that they had come on well enough now, that they could join us for their first public performance. And a smashing job they did, too.
We were able to set-up under the Yorkshire Outlet tower this time, which is better for us, as the sound is captured by the canopy above our heads in this position, which improves the quality of the music for those people taking time out from their shopping to listen. As normal, we originally faced into the shops, but it was suggested that we rearrange ourselves to face outwards, where an "audience" of people could use the seating provided there, to sit in the warm sun and enjoy the music. So at our first break we organised ourselves that way round. This did indeed lead to people taking the opportunity to sit and listen, whilst a lot of interest was also given to Steve (on drums) who was now positioned right where the main traffic of people passed by!
Some photographs from various trips to the Yorkshire Outlet can be found on our gallery pages.
After finishing, we were invited to help ourselves to sandwiches filled with pork from the "whole pig" which had been spit-roasted on a pole for the occasion, in an oven (like a BBQ) specially designed for the purpose. The pig even had an apple in its mouth (just like the cartoons).
We played on and off throughout the day, which gave us a chance to enjoy the rest of the entertainment that was arranged for the occasion.
Some photographs of this event available for you to view on our gallery pages.
This was a full day for the Band, as we started off by playing at during the wedding ceremony itself. Kathryn looked stunning in her beautiful, classic style dress, whilst the groom; Ronnie; wore a kilt. Everything went well, and the new Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie Lee headed off with their guests to the reception in the sunshine, that lasted the whole day for them. The Band broke up at this point, to meet up again for the evening reception, where the whole Band had been kindly invited. It was smart-casual dress for the Band, for a change, at Kathryn's request. We did perform for a short while at the start of the evening, but then the entertainment was handed over to the DJ, and the Band were "let loose" to enjoy themselves in the disco and help themselves to the vast buffet on offer. There were several late nights (and an early start in the morning ........)
We all arrived safely at Holbeach Methodist Church still with time in hand. We were first fed by the church members, before heading off to our first engagement for the day, Baytree Garden and Owl Rescue Centre. This is a huge garden centre to which we had been invited to play. The weather still let us down terribly, but the staff could not do enough to assist us, and cleared out half a building so we could play under cover. This went off very well considering, and the centre manager was immensely impressed. He had other bands play there before, but told us none of them had come close to our professionalism and standard. It's comments like that, that make you proud to be associated with this Band. To show his thanks he paid a donation to the Band's collection from his own pocket and arranged for the staff to put a whole host of bulbs in a huge bag for the Band to share out back home!
After a short time to look around the centre, it was back to the church, where we joined a large gathering for tea, again arrange by the church members. Everyone had come to join in the retirement celebrations which followed soon after the meal had finished.
The retirement was of Rev. Harold Jones (Steve's father) who was leaving the circuit after fifteen years at Holbeach. Prior to that his ministry had been in Yorkshire where he first met the Band, and we had worked together on many occasions back then. It was an honour for us to be invited all that way down there to be a part of his celebration. During the event, the Band were kept on their toes by virtue of the fact that the event was very informal, and the congregation were given the opportunity on several occasion to pick a hymn at random (from a prepared list). So we did not know what was coming next!
This was a very warm, enjoyable and sometimes moving celebration of Harold's time with the church, and it was a pleasure to be there. After it was over, the Band were "fed and watered" yet again, in preparation for the journey home. What started out as a bit of a disaster, turned out to be an immensely enjoyable "adventure" for us all.
There was a good crowd in the outdoor amphitheatre, as we set-up following the tug-of-war competition, on that lovely sunny evening. Graham, aware that we had the Patron's concert the next day, did not include too many heavy pieces so as not to strain the Band. But this led to a very relaxing programme which went down very well with the audience, and towards the end of our set, we had most of them swaying back and forth to the sounds of New York, New York. This was a lovely evening, enjoyed by the Band as much as the audience.
There are some photographs available on our gallery pages, including an unusual guest!
Each year, KCB put on a special concert to which we specifically invite our Patrons as VIPs, as one way of passing back our thanks to them. This event is also open to the public. It is always something special in our calendar of events, as we particularly wanted to make it a very entertaining evening for our special friends, The Patrons.
This year we brought forward the event to July, and this year's concert was named "KCB SHOWCASE - A Midsummer Musical Extravaganza". As usual for this special concert, we included some new, exciting pieces, as well as a few of our much loved regular items. Rehearsals for several of the new challenging, but dramatic pieces had been underway since the beginning of March and went well. We also included some variety to the Brass Band music, as well as some theatrics. The first half of the event had Ruth singing, accompanied by Jennifer on the Piano, and later Rosie (a little nervous) played two beautiful pieces on the recorder accompanied by her father, Alistair, on the piano. The theatrics began just before the interval with our percussionists, Steve and young Robert (who is blind, by the way!) in washer-woman dresses beating out the tune on wash-boards with their scrubbing brushes, as the roamed about in front of the audience. Oh what a fantastic sight!.
The second half started with our very own KC Bratwursts Oompah Band playing their own style of German drinking songs in full costume, to the delight of the audience. Then what happened to Graham? The Band returned on stage but we had no conductor! A search party was sent, and Graham eventually entered, back of the hall wearing a pinny, rubber gloves and shower-cap. With washing mop in hand, he wandered through the audience wildly gesticulating and covering them in showers of water from the mop, as he complained that he had to do all the washing up himself. When he did make it to the stage he had no control over the Band, and eventually was shown the Red Card, and sent off-stage by Jennifer to rapturous applause and laughter from audience and Band alike. Even the Band didn't know exactly what was going to happen; Graham had kept his costume a secret from us as well! Jennifer then conducted the Band for the next few items, before handing back to Graham for the final pieces. This really was a fantastic evening, and all the Band's preparation over the previous months and the back-stage's hard effort over the preceding week getting the hall ready, paid off even better than we had dared hoped for. We had a fantastic turnout for the occasion, which helped us perform the concert to the highest standards. It's always better to play to a large, appreciative audience like that.
The concert was held in a new location for us, the Kings High School, Mill Hill Lane, Pontefract. This is a brilliant location for brass band music as the acoustics serve us very well. The school offers a very flexible staging for us, as well as good lighting and sound systems. And they were helpful in the extreme, for which we offer our many thanks. If all goes well, we would love this venue again.
As a bonus, the brand new CDs arrived just the day before(!) and we were able to offer them for sale for the first time at this event. If you are interested please click here for more information.
There are a few photographs of this event available on our gallery pages, including some of the costumes mentioned above, which have to be seen to be believed!
Some photographs from various trips to the Yorkshire Outlet can be found on our gallery pages.
Some photographs from various trips to the Yorkshire Outlet can be found on our gallery pages.
The opening ceremonies went off very well, despite several days of bad weather. We were just one of the bands on display, others included a military band from Caterick and a youth band. Street entertainers of several kinds also kept the shoppers amused on the Wednesday, and the actual opening itself (midday Wednesday) was marked with daytime fireworks, with a flypast in the afternoon.
We performed from 4:00pm to 8:00pm on Wednesday playing a fantastic total of 31 pieces (no repetitions!) in two (long) sessions, and returned to play between 5:00pm to 8:00pm on Thursday. By that time of evening (and due to the poor weather) the crowds had disappeared home somewhat, but for those people that did watch, I think the Band put on two fantastic performances under the huge tent-like structures that are a feature of the shopping centre.
This is a brand new venue for us to play at, of course, and we are hoping that there will be further opportunities to return here. Discussions are currently underway, but details have yet to be finalised. I will of course post dates and times here, if we get the go-ahead.
I will be uploading some photographs of the event, when I get the chance.
I was extremely pleased to see that several members of the Band (not in the Oompah Band) came back to Freeport to support the KC Bratwursts, despite the lingering poor weather and the fact that they had already been there twice already that week. It just goes to show what friendly and support people go to make up our Band.
The concert was well appreciated by the audience. Steve (our percussionist) even got a special hug and kiss from one lady who obviously thoroughly enjoyed his dramatic drum solo during one of the pieces.
We had to put on a good performance for such an important event for them. This even included some frantic preparation to remove any trace of Powergen from banners, plus a temporary change to bow-ties as our normal ties also sported the Powergen logo. But the evening turned out to be a great success for the Band, which has resulted in talks with Edison Mission which could result in future sponsorship. For this we are extremely grateful, as ongoing support had been currently in doubt with the recent change of ownership of the power station.
The event included formal speeches and presentation, and ended with a spectacular fireworks and laser light display. Huge pictures were also projected onto the massive cooling towers for all to see. The Band were also given the opportunity to tuck into the wonderful buffet that had been prepared for the guests, after they had left the marquee of course, but even then there was far, far too much for even our hungry mob to clean up.
The forecast had been poor, but in the end the weather held up for us and this was another fine outing to one of our regular venues. Some of the shoppers even were lucky enough to hear a sneak preview of one of the new, special pieces planned for our main Christmas Concert, but without all the special effects, of course!
Some photographs from various trips to the Yorkshire Outlet can be found on our gallery pages.
This was a new venture for us. We played in Leeds city centre on Briggate on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, for Streetwise Rhythms, a scheme that had been arranged by The Leeds Playhouse. It gave us a chance to perform our music before a new audience, as we don't get to play in Leeds very often.
The strong wind made it a very interesting event, with music stands blowing over all over the place. Even our booth from where we normally sell tapes and CDs came crashing to the ground. So that was abandoned. However, the spirit of the Band came shining on through, despite the difficulties, and the generosity of the local people was exceptional, both in their praise for the band and even in donations. Even though it was a cold day, many sat and listened to the music, and the applause from them was warming for us. Despite the fact that we were not officially allowed to put out our collecting buckets, people were still passing by and giving donations to the group of supporters who were with us.
We are performing for a charity event, whose profits are being collected for the Save the Children's charity. This will be a part musical concert followed by Christmas music and carol singing.
There is no entrance fee as such, but the audience will be requested to donate something towards the charity. If you are in the area on Friday, come along and enjoy what should be a great evening of music with seasonal festivities.
However, those that braved the weather told us they had a great evening, which makes it all worth while. We put on most of the items that were planned for the main Christmas concert (but without the special effects this time). All that seems to go down very well with the old folks. The second half was a much more traditional Christmas Concert, and everyone had a good old sing-song to the carols.
Very much a late request, Save the Children asked if we would be able to step in at the last minute to perform a concert for their charity. They have been let down by their previous engagement. We have assisted them in this way in the past, and despite the heavy commitments of the Band at this time, there was a generous support from the Band members, so we were in a position to help them out.
Once again the evening was cold, but there was still a good turn-out in the church hall. We played a varied variety of pieces including one special piece which was really for our own Christmas Concerts, and of course we played many traditional Christmas pieces and had the audience join in. Just as the first carol was being announced, a glance out of the windows saw snow falling. So it was possible Mother Nature was with us that evening!
I understand the charity also received a generous input from the audience, making the whole event very worth while.
Preparations went on from mid morning, getting the hall ready for our "Santa Super Heroes", event. By the time the audience began to arrive, we were ready to give our best (including a very nervous second percussionist - me!).
To our delight, the hall filled to almost capacity; we could not have asked for better, especially so as the weather was once again not too kind to us. Then the lighting dropped and the Band walked on to a dimly red-lit stage. The sounds of a Gotham City night came over the speakers and the smoke machine started spreading eerie wisps of smoke through the Band, whilst the lighting was set to throw strange shadows across the ceiling. The scene was being set for the first major Super Hero piece. As Graham gave the signal, the Batman theme tune began, and the show under way!
And what a show. It met ... no exceeded, our expectations. Other highlights included the other two major pieces; Dances with wolves theme and a wonderful arrangement of pieces from Indiana Jones - Raiders of the lost Ark which also had other lighting affects and projections. Ruth Scott sang a lovely solo in the first half, and a Georgina Preston (sister to Andy Preston) had a couple of solo songs. But probably the best reception was given to young Rosie Yager who, though very nervous, brought out the most wonderful sounds from her recorder (you have never heard a record sound like it, I assure you!). During the interval, several people approached me to say who wonderful she played, and one lady admitted it brought her to tears. If you get any chance to hear Rosie play in the future, DO SO!
The Oompah band opened the second part of the concert, and had a surprise for the rest of us, by getting the remainder of the Band members to lead two conga chains around the hall. We then went back to a more traditional Christmas theme, and several of the Band donned Christmas hats and tinsel. The audience were encouraged to join in with percussion instruments being handed out to the children so they could shake, rattle and bash along to the tunes, and Graham even pulling a chair onto the stage to "demonstrate" how to sway and jump up with the music at one point.
Feedback we have received so far has been fantastic, and even our special guest, the Mayor of Wakefield, told us how much he and his wife had enjoyed the show, and how pleased he was with the variety we put in. Another person told me that they certainly got "... their monies worth". It seems the audience enjoyed the concert as much as we enjoyed performing it!
I shall be attempting to find time to put up some photographs of this, and other recent events in the near future.
After the concert, the Yager family had asked the whole Band back to their place for further refreshments and a general get together of everyone involved in the Band, just prior to Christmas. How they coped with us all, I don't know, but everyone enjoyed it immensely.
1999 was a very busy year for the Band. As you can see from the above, we performed at well over 30 events, both indoors and in many varying outdoor conditions! Many events were for charitable occasions and even more were open-air free events were we perform simply for the passing public's enjoyment. This is all to achieve our main constitutional aim of bringing good brass band music to everyone. We prepared and put on three major events ourselves, which take up a lot of time and resource for many of the Band members and helpers. Along with the twice weekly rehearsal session, this means that most of the Band commit on average three days out of most weeks to the Band. Several more experienced players also give up their Saturday mornings to teach both new players and band members that wish to improve their technique. Altogether this is a huge commitment by many people in the Band, and we would just like to take this opportunity to publicly say "Thank you" to them all for all this hard work. Without it, this year would not have been the enormous success that it was. I hope you agree. Here's to another great year in 2000.
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