Editorial ~ 2005 September

Last month Australia was treated to the wonderful YBS Band. Their visit was whirlwind and surely left them all exhausted, but those of us who went along to a concert, will never forget them.

So how good can it really get? Many who heard Brisbane Excelsior at the Nationals in Adelaide this year were blown away. One fellow mentioned to me that it was the best band he had ever heard – so what did he think when he heard YBS?

Their sound was like nothing I'd ever heard before, that's for sure. And their ability to all play with the same sound, and vary that sound when required to suit the style, and to use vibrato where required, and to tongue the same way, and and and…it's like they were thrown in a room together for a few years with nothing but instruments to keep them entertained (perhaps they were!). How much of that was intuitive I wonder? So much we'd all like to know!

Then there were the soloists. I think I might have heard one slightly split note – not sure though. They left many players in the audience incredibly inspired (or downright disheartened!).

And not only could these people play, but their showmanship was superb. They were totally professional throughout the whole concert, sat tall with pride, held their instruments as though they really meant business, and stood to acknowledge the audience with impressive precision.

David King was an engaging and entertaining compere. He was spontaneous, responded well to the audience and took care to thank hosts and appropriate organisers of the concert. It was particularly pleasing that he acknowledged significant audience members – icons of the banding scene in Australia like Arthur Withers and Bruce Armstrong.

But that's not all – there's more. The band members were all so appreciative and friendly. They humbled themselves to mingle with the audience in the interval and at the end of the concert. At host-band functions afterwards, YBS chatted happily with everyone, yet I'm sure they would have been exhausted and preferred to just go to bed.

What about my experience of YBS? I returned to my hometown of Traralgon to hear YBS play in Morwell. I hadn't been back there for many years, so the event promised to be emotion-charged before I even heard a note. I spent my day driving out to the ‘farm', which is now a housing subdivision, to the cemetery, and then met up with YBS and Traralgon Band members in a pre-concert reception. With a lump in my throat, I greeted old band friends from my childhood – and the famous YBS Band!

I knew that I was going to hear something pretty spectacular from the Adelaide reports. And yes, I was in awe and slightly dazed. But the defining moment for me was after the band played the "Irish Blessing" as an encore. David Mirtschin, an old friend and teacher who has been in the Traralgon City Band ‘forever', walked out of the concert hall with tears streaming down his face. That's the ultimate compliment, a defining moment in music. We can analyse their playing techniques, try to emulate their tone, buy the same music, strive for that brilliant dynamic contrast - but to move someone so deeply, well, I say goal achieved. It doesn't get any better than that.

Veronica Bowman

What was your experience of YBS?
Send an email to: downunder@4barsrest.com

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