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Friday 1 May: 1300 onwards local time
Adjudicators:
Blaise Heritier (Switzerland), Ray Farr (UK), Rob Goorhuis (Netherlands)

Official results:

The official results will be announced at the end of tonight's Gala Concert.

What do we think?

Interesting — very interesting. An enjoyable day today, but it didn't give us the type of overall quality we enjoyed yesterday.

Just one clear winner today — the Austrians of Oberosterreich. After that its a toss up between Eikanger, Grimethorpe and Cory. Festival Brass will surprise a few we think and then its perhaps Treize Etoile. Whitburn and Tredegar battle it out before the bottom four of Aeolus, Rijnmond and Lyngby-Taarbeak.

Todays prediction

1. Oberosterreich
2. Eikanger
3. Grimethorpe
4. Cory
5. Festival Brass
6. Treize Etoiles
7. Whitburn
8. Tredegar
9. Aeolus
10. Rijnmond
11. Lyngby Taarbaek

Overall that gives our prediction of:

1. Eikanger (2nd/2nd)
2. Cory (1st/4th)
3. Oberosterreich (7th/1st)
Then for us:
4. Treize Etoiles
5. Grimethorpe
6. Tredegar
7. Whitburn
8. Festival Brass
9. Aeolus
10. Lyngby Taarbeak
11. Rijnmond

Live comments:

Time: 1750hrs
Tredegar Band (Wales), 11
Conductor: Ian Porthouse
Contest Music — Wilfred Heaton

A bold start but there are some nasty clips and blips in exposed lines and ensemble. Lots of detail and a sense of drive, but we do hear those annoying little errors. Great sounds and a very neat close.

Slightly hesitant to start and ensemble cornet line just has those blips again. A pity, but it is costing a high price. It sounds a little tentative, but fine flugel features well. Super cornet (and dep) with 10 second top C#. Fine close, but again those little blips!

Final section has the power and drive, but it gets messy in places. Best playing by far, exciting and driven. A little overwrought perhaps but certainly exciting. Big old finish rounds things off.

Overall: The 4BR curate's egg — at times great, but too many small, but significant unforced errors. It will cost them today at this level.

Time: 1730hrs
Lyngby-Taarbaek Brass Band (Denmark), 10
Conductor: Christian Schmiedescamp
Harmony Music — Philip Sparke

Poor opening robs sense of expectancy. It recovers but its so uneven in execution. At times it really is thrilling, but at others it is sloppy and lacking style. Fine sop instills class as it now starts to sound compact. Decent effort from euph.

Ravel section is well done, but again just needs that touch of extra quality. Cornet and horn deliver bravura efforts, but the ensemble struggles in too many places.

Reprise — same mistake by same player! It sounds on the egde at times — exciting stuff but scraggy and lacking the extra sheen of class. Motors along, with those rough edges still visible. Just tires to end.

Overall: A brave effort on a very difficult work, but there were too many unforced errors for it to really feature today.

Time: 1700hrs
Grimethorpe Colliery Band (England), 9
Conductor: Allan Withington
Masquerade — Philip Wilby

Now this is more like the Grimethorpe we know. Tremendous opening is full of detail and cornet fanfare feature is stunning. This is cracking playing — especially the euphonium cadenza which is played with real artistry. And so it continues with such delicacy and tasteful shaping. Bravo sop and solo cornet especially.

Moon's up and it sends a shiver down the spine. Oh yes sirree!

Twists and turns are great as the old lech is messed around and we get to hear every little nuance as well as call to arms. 'He who laughs' eh — it looks like Grimey are laughing their doodaas off. Simply stunning stuff — its fantastic technical playing to close and a huge last climax.

Overall: Grimey back to their very best. A completely different animal from yesterday. Puts them back towards the top this — today especially.

Time: 1630hrs
Eikanger-Bjorkvik Musikklag (Norway), 8
Conductor: Bjarte Engeset
Extreme Make Over — Johan de Meij

Tasteful start just has the odd moment stylistically in quartet, but it has such character. Builds with real purpose and huge control to first real climax. This has a true orchestral feel, although its a bit clippy in places. At times it thrills the pants off you as they build towards the 1812 ending. No retreat from Moscow here then...

Great bottle blowing — accents and balance too. Hypnotic tuned perc playing — quite superbly done and with such clarity of execution. Big train steams up and now they are starting to pump it out in the final section of the makeover.

This is great stuff — so purposeful and controlled and with subtle contrasts too. Fantastic ending — all cylinders firing! Outstanding.

Overall: A real cracker this. They couldn't have done much more in their attempt to win this one. Will it be enough though? It will be very close after this anyway you look at it.

Time: 1610hrs
Brass Band Aeolus (France), 7
Conductor: Bastien Stil
Music for Battle Creek — Philip Sparke

A fine start impresses, whilst the fearsome duel cadenza is well handled too. There is a touch of French flair going on here, especially with the euphonium a little later.

Controlled and purposeful with a fine lyrical style when required. Just gets a little over robust and loses that focus and warmth in places. Its emotive playing, but hearts are racing ahead of minds at times.

Final section is a mess to start — little clarity on show to begin but it recovers with a touch of real French fancy in the trombone in particular. It does sound on the limit in places and gets a tad hard. Tiredness has crept in and it is starting to hurt the cause. Just about to end..

Overall: One that promised a great deal but just fell away when it had things in its grasp. A brave effort on a very difficult work though. Bravo!

Time: 1545hrs
Festival Brass Band (Belgium), 6
Conductor: Manu Mallaerts
The Promised Land — Kenneth Downie

What impressive playing — so tight and balanced and with a superb euph as the main focus of musical attention.

This carries on in the same way — the Belgian boyos are hitting top form. There really is a sense of style and such technical precision. Each of the soloists is on top form and so well shaped by the MD, despite the overt cloying Welsh sentimentality — even in Myfanwy.

With Wales in sight now we get very Welsh cliche in the book — from Men of Harlech to Guide me.. etc Nearly at the Arms Park lads...

Great playing, so well controlled and with stamina reserves too! Cracking ending too despite harshness.

Overall: One right out of the top drawer here — an inspired choice, inspirationally played. Gets them right back in the mix.

Break

There a break now. We'll be back later with more live comments.

At the halfway point the Austrians are a fair distance ahead, and we do mean a fair distance. It was somethig else.

Cory may just have done just enough to retain their title, but with Eikanger to come with their Extreme take on things, they can certainly win it. It is still very much up for grabs between these three we think — surely no one else can do enough to gatecrash in...

Time: 1440hrs
Whitburn (Scotland), 5
Conductor: Russell Gray)
Vienna Nights — Philip Wilby

Solid start and plenty of quality playing on show. Just the odd moment or two in places, but this has a stamp of authority about it. The ensemble playing is of a very high class, but some nasty clips and blips do detract. Troms are all over the place at one point, but it recovers focus.

Well done tuba, but some little clips just rob a fine picture. Great bari lead into solo motifs and this has so much musical shape. Tuba quartet is weak, but is hidden well by glock.

Messy start to Turkish romp but it recovers so well and is real quality as they make the final ride for home with pace. Just fades to close.

Overall: A fine musical performance this, just marred by a few too many annoying and noticeable errors to really push towards the top.

Time: 1420hrs
Cory Band (Wales), 4
Conductor: Dr Robert Childs
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants — Peter Graham

Chicago Brass inspired fanfares via Bruckner's 8th and the Rhondda Valley. Tour de force playing hits you between the eyes. Rare ensemble playing this.

The sparse Elegy is Miles Davis inspired cool. Great technical solo playing, but it does sound very much in the brass band idiom in style and execution. Oddly intrancing, and not an easy option by any means. Break before third movement gives time for thought.

Back to the high pace stuff which is so well played by the ensemble and solo lines. But there is something different going on — lots of huge dynamic contrasts and brilliant filigree work. The echoes of American star performers are heard — Clarke and Sousa, Pryor and Helmecke. Huge finish is full of almost Checkmate drama in final chords.

Overall: Certainly something different, interesting and brilliantly played. It took risks, especially in style, but it came off. The audience liked it.

Time: 1350hrs
Brass Band Treize Etoiles (Switzerland), 3
Conductor: James Gourlay
Journey to the Centre of the Earth — Peter Graham

Confident playing to start and taken at a quick old tempo too. They are in a rush to get the bowels of this one it seems. Plenty of fine playing, but is it really extending the band?

A bit messy in places, but it recovers so well. Odd moment of unease in cadenzas in both ensemble and solo cornet line, but a stunning flugel and lovely section of quiet playing brings things back on track.

Whispers work well and so does bass trom leading to a Ricky Hatton versus Manny Pacquio slugfest in the depths — great! Just tires a touch to end as they burst back home from out of the volcano. Last note is terribly overblown.

Overall: A very polished and descriptive performance this, but we wonder if the judges will see through the smoke and mirrors?

Time: 1325hrs
Brass Band Rijnmond (Netherlands), 2
Conductor: Ivan Meylemans
Concerto Grosso — Bourgeois

Certainly bravura stuff, but poor opening cadenza sets the tone. Red blooded approach is exciting (great sop) but it lacks control.

Some lovely flugel playing gets things back on track though and now they are motoring. Blues section needs more 'coolness' — flugel is excellent but in so much of a rush to start.

Tico, Tico is full of life, but not much wit — the technicality robs the feel of the music. It becomes raucous to end and the final reprise is a blastfest. Great sop tops things off, but its never in complete ensemble control.

Overall: Those crazy Dutch eh? The approach killed this — why the pace and lack of wit? Some great indivdual playing, but overall it missed the mark for us by a long way. Crowd go bonkers though...

Time: 1300hrs
Brass Band Oberoestereich (Austria), 1
Conductor: Hannes Buchegger
Spirits of Puccini — Hermann Pallhuber

Lord above. This was simply something from a different planet to mere brass band playing mortals. From the scorching start to Mr Gansch on sublime form with the purest simple melody playing on 'O Mio Babbino Caro' that brought you to a standstill.

The individual playing from sop, flugel, trom etc is something else. Nessun Dorma at pace to end with a sop in the stratopshere. Quite amazing. Pavarotti would be proud to call this his own!

Overall: Simply mind blowing. Playing from a different brass universe.