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It was nice to see that the cold weather did not put people off from attending too much, and the church hall was practically full. There were many familiar faces amongst the audience, and several of the Band members took the opportunity to chat to people during the break and after the concert was over, whilst we all took advantage of the warming mulled wine and snacks being served. As always this was a very enjoyable evening for us all.
We started the event with a wide range of gentle, almost background pieces whilst the guests were seated and took their meal. This was punctuated with Masonic tradition as The worshipful Master took wine at intervals with the various guests. This really was a grand affair, and we had to perform up to the standards expected of such an occasion. From the fact that we actualy received applause during this time for our playing (not normal), seemed to suggest we were doing a good job. Following a break, where the Band were treated to a small meal, we returned to perform a more traditional concert section whilst including some pieces to which the guests could dance, as had been requested. Fortunately our wide repertoire allows us to accommodate such requests. After this section, the main Band retired for a while, and the KBC Bratwursts Oompah Band took over to entertain the audience, to the obvious delight of everyone. We wrapped up our part of the evening with the main Band joining the Oompah to play some more dance music and we managed to pack the dance floor. It was well past midnight when we finally packed up and left them to finish off their evening in splendid traditional fashion.
It was a very long blow, especially for the Oompah Band members who only got the one break in a five hour session. But it was exceptionally well received, and has had an added bonus of several enquires for future events from various groups, which indicates that people were impressed with our performance.
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
I don't know how much was down to our reputation or the church's hard work in promoting the event, but they had the wonderful church hall full for the event. The music sounded well in the surroundings, as is often the case with these buildings. With a special table with refreshments for the Band during the interval, they really know how to make us feel welcome. In return, I believe we played our part well. They insisted on an encore which is always a good sign (even if we didn't have one ready!), and have already asked us back in 2002 for a similar event, along with an initial enquiry for another possible event later this year.
KCB were unable to attend as a complete Band, but several of our members did indeed make the effort to attend and represent the Band, and all of them could be seen during the live broadcast. Martin, one of our Bass players even got his own close-up, though Alistair who was sitting beside him at the time assures us it was he who had the close-up, but Martin just happened to get in the way!
We can now officially say, "KCB, as seen on TV" and announce that we have performed with the Black Dyke Band!
We performed a wide variety of music over the course of the evening, and Graham managed to get some audience participation going, including an auction to get a member of the audience to conduct the Band. What a fantastic sight as he took centre stage and gave everyone a laugh with his conducting antics!
The concert rounded off with the order giving tribute to the 50 years of fund raising, and there was a special moment where they invited the only surviving original founding member of the order, Cliff Pouter (94) with his wife (96), onto the stage to have a commemorative photograph taken with the Band.
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
It is a new venture for us, and was sited on the lawns of Manor House, just off the market square, in Howden. It was a lovely venue, with the manor house behind us and the magnificent ruins of the cathedral visible just a stone's throw away. The skies had been looking menacing leading up to the start time, but we decided to risk playing outside anyway. Considering the possibility of poor weather, a good audience took up the seats and we got underway. The weather stayed kind for us, even breaking into sunshine towards the end of the concert, and the sounds of brass music were perfectly at home in the open-air, and it was reported that we could be heard perfectly well from further afield in the square and cathedral grounds. It was a marvellous event set in this beautiful part of the country. If asked, we would be delighted to return again in future years.
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
There was a break where the Band enjoyed a super meal in the format we now use for this type of event, where everyone brings along something to eat. When our helper ladies had laid this all out, it was an impressive buffet, and even the heartiest of appetites was unable to clear everything. Even Pete was surprised at the buffet on offer, and he joined in with the Band to enjoy the meal.
Then it was back to rehearsals, where even more progress was made. By the end there was a wonderful buzz of excitement through the whole Band, even though it had been a long day and a lot of work (you'd be surprised how hard it is to keep blowing into the instruments over several hours!). To cap it all, Pete also announced that he would be able to attend the 25th anniversary concert and conduct the piece himself. Fantastic!
The format of the concert was different to our more recent concerts, such as we dedicated it to the brass music of the Band over the years, rather than including alternate items such as the vocal or recorder sections that have been introduced recently. This was a deliberate decision taken, as this was an concert to celebrate the Band and its music, rather than highlighting individuals. Whilst we felt this was very successful and seemed to be enjoyed by almost everyone, we have had a complaint that the concert was not varied enough in content. Please be assured that all comments are seriously reviewed by the Band, and we will indeed be returning to our more normal varied format for future concerts.
The concert had many other highlights, including the the performing of two pieces chosen by our Patrons, the presentation of small gifts to the longest serving male (Ian Dean) and female (Karen Brewis) Band members, the inclusion of several past Band members who returned to join us on stage for the concert and the cutting of the celebration cake. There were a few down sides to the event, most notably when it was announced that the Band's longest support, Jean Austerberry, had sadly passed away that afternoon. She will be sadly missed by the Band, and she was well known to many regulars in the audience as well. Our condolences go out to her family and friends. Other problems included a lighting system control board which continued to freeze up on the lighting engineers, and at one point midway during a piece packed in completely throwing the hall into sudden complete darkness. This does not help when reading music(!), but luckily it occurred just a few bars from a link-point in the music, and Steve was able to extend the link on percussion long enough until the lighting chaps had reset the control board yet again and brought light back into the hall. We have to congratulate them for doing a wonderful job of keeping the continuously failing lighting system going as well as they did. Sadly for us, this was their last concert doing the lighting for us, but we thank them as they had planned to step down earlier, but they agreed to do this special 25th concert as a final farewell (and, No, we didn't sabotage the lighting board deliberately to get our own back on them!).
But overall the feedback we have had following the performance has been wonderful on the whole, and although we moved away from our usual format for this special occasion, it is generally felt that the music itself, selected as the most popular pieces played by the Band over its 25 year history, was the main winner on the day. If you have any comments you would like to add, please send us a message through our comments page and it will be added to the others in our guestbook.
Here's to the next 25 years of great brass band music ...
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
It was quite a long blow, as we performed something like twenty-five pieces (whereas in a normal two hour concert we would normally play fifteen to seventeen pieces). But the ever growing audience (which filled and overflowed the marquee) certainly seemed to enjoy, and we even managed to generate enough sound to overcome the crowd noises from the nearby Castleford rugby match, which had kicked off during the second half of our performance.
This event was attended by Dave Newbold, a local artist, who went on to depict the concert in an acrylic painting. After seeing the painting when it was displayed in Pontefract library, the Band commission Dave to paint another picture which was presented to Graham and Susan Dean from the Band, during the 2002 Patrons' Concert.
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
This was the second workshop session arranged to meet those commitments. Jim Shepard led what turned into a very educational and entertaining session for the Band. He is a very experienced cornet player, having played for Black Dyke as lead cornet for several years and has won the individual cornet player for three consecutive years, amongst his many awards.
Jim took us through several pieces of music that we had started to look at ourselves, and brought out many improvements in all of them. He is very keen on the techniques of playing a brass instrument and this showed time and time again as he passed on his experience to the Band.
It was a long day for all of us. We rehearsed for several hours, and that is very hard on the lips, especially when you consider that a full performance is only a couple of hours with a break. The Band gives many thanks to all the members who took part that day and also to Jim, for everyone's concentration and hard work throughout the whole day. But it was well worth it as the improvements have been very noticeable in following rehearsal sessions. It was not all hard work, as we did break for a smashing lunch (which was provided by the players themselves) and which was prepared by a band of helpers to whom we also say a big "Thank you" as well.
Some photographs from this event can be found on our gallery pages.
This was the third workshop session arranged to meet the commitment. Following a wonderfully entertaining and educational workshop last year, we asked James Watson if he would like to return again this year to lead this workshop sessions and we were so delighted that he agreed to do so, saying how pleased he was to be asked back.
Also, as part of our closer relationship with the King's High School, we invited the school to have some school band members join us for this workshop, and 4 twelve year olds did indeed take up the offer.
The day was a huge success for us, with James taking us through two of the pieces we will be performing during our Christmas Concert. I think we were all amazed when he picked up his trumpet and played a section that we had just passed through, completely without referring to a musical score. He soon admitted he had performed the piece hundreds of times, and this shone throughout the day, as he was able to give some wonderful insight on how the piece should be performed, even when his deviated from our written score. He knew the piece so well, that he was able to play every section of the music for every section of the Band, again without referance to a score. This allowed him to guide each section in the Band with individual tuition, until they had mastered that particular problem.
He has such a good teaching skill, that he brought both great and subtle changes to every section of the Band. But this was done in such a patient, relaxed and entertaining way, that everyone gained so much from the day. James is a wonderful musician to have leading us in such sessions, and I personally hope we may have his guidance again in the future. I believe he has genuinely enjoyed taking the two workshops he has led to date, so fingers crossed for the future.
We shall remember them ...
For this weekend, the Band were just one of the many extra entertainments laid on for the visitors to the museum, and we followed some delightful carol singing by a local Brownie group for both our sessions of festive music. This brought a good crowd to see us, so I believe this was very much appreciated.
Another high point of the afternoon was when "Happy Birthday" was sung for Graham Dean's mother, Annie, who was 90 years old that day, and had come along with Graham to support us on this occasion.
But when it did, all the hard work during rehearsals was rewarded as the sounds of Dance Polovtsiennes burst forward to start off the concert, in truly dramatic fashion. Following our normal concert style, we didn't just perform brass band pieces. There was some exquisite singing from
But behind all that was the main Band, who played their hearts out that evening, with a very entertaining and festive performance covering a wide variety of music. I wish to thank every one of them for a wonderful performance. But at the end of the day, it does not matter how good we are if the audience does not enjoy themselves. But all the feedback we have received suggest they did just that, making it all worth while (even the three hours it took me to prepare and set-up the balloon-drop net!). A typical response from one friend of the Band was that she had brought along her Mother to the Concert. Her Mother had not looked forward to it, thinking it was to be boring brass band music. But once there she thoroughly enjoyed our concert which has shown her that not all brass bands are the same. If you felt you wouldn't enjoy brass band music, may I suggest you come along to one of our concerts. Maybe we can change your mind too!
They started the evening with several delightful pieces and some lovely singing. Then it was our turn, where we performed several of our Christmas pieces. Following on after the break we played more festive music and got the audience singing along to them. Then the choir took over for their second session of wonderful singing. To round off the event, the Band played whilst everyone joined in for a final Christmas song. It really was a delightful evening, and I believe the full hall all enjoyed a super evening of song and music. We thank the choir for their invitation, and wish them every success in 2002.
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