Champion Brass – Phil Beck Promotions

Fairey (FP Music) Band
Conductor: Derek Broadbent
Wardle High School – Year Nine Band
Conductor: Lee Rigg
Gracie Fields Theatre, Rochdale
Saturday 3rd July 2004

An evening of repertoire from the film ‘Brassed Off' along with music associated with USA, in acknowledgement of Independence Day was on offer for the audience in Rochdale on Saturday.

Faireys under the direction of Derek Broadbent and with some new players in there ranks were in superb form and they were joined on the night by around forty five members of Wardle High School's Year Nine Band under Faireys man, Lee Rigg.  The format for the concert was the same in both halves. Wardle played a short programme, before Faireys took to the stage to provide the majority of the music.
 
Lee Rigg and Wardle got the whole evening under way with ‘Death or Glory'; the march that is background music for the opening titles of the film. Immediately, the clarity of sound from the school band stood out, with the march being taken at a good tempo.  With Derek Broadbent conducting Faireys, the inclusion of The Floral Dance was an obvious choice and once again, the young band took it in there stride with Derek coming onto the stage for a bit of conducting and encouraging the audience to get into the spirit of the occasion.
 
In the film, Tara Fitzgerald arrives in the band room with flugel in hand, to see if she can play with the band. After some discussion and the realisation by Pete Postlethwaite that Gloria is the grand-daughter of the ‘great' Arthur Mullins, the Tara knocks them sideways with Concerto D'Aranjeuz'. On this occasion, Gloria became Fairey's flugel player, Neil Hewson, who was absolutely sublime and mention has to go to the young band that accompanied him superbly.
 
Wardle closed there first spot with March of the Cobblers. It brought to an end an impressive short programme from a band which is just one of many at the school.
 
It didn't take long for Faireys to warm up. They hit the ground running with a pulsating rendition of ‘Strike Up The Band', before making light work of Bernstein's overture, ‘Candide'. The tempo was a touch conservative, but the playing and overall sound was terrific, Faireys were in good form.
 
The band's newly appointed Principal Cornet, Nick Walkley, took centre stage to perform a non-American solo; a delightful rendition of John Golland's ‘Ballade'. This young man appears to relish the opportunity of being ‘top man' and has a lovely tone. Nick shaped the solo extremely well, and it was interesting to see that players not overly involved in the piece, listening, watching and clearly enjoying the performance of their Principal Cornet.
 
After the Bill Geldard arrangement of ‘Skyliner', another new man, in the form of percussionist, Chris Preece, brought the house down with the xylophone solo, ‘Helter Skelter' and all from memory.   To close the first half, the Sandy Smith arrangement of ‘Slaughter On 10th Avenue' Once again, the sound was impressive and the solo work from Nick Walkley stood out along with some nice sounds on soprano from Rebecca Crawshaw.
 
Wardle commenced the second half with Rimmer's ‘Cross of Honour' before one of Ireland's most famous tunes, ‘Londonderry Air' was performed with three young euphonium players taking the lead and performing admirably. A lively ‘Clog Dance' was next before the band completed its programme with the big finale from the film, the ‘William Tell' overture. As with the first half, all the items were performed with maturity and no doubt some of the players on show will have an enjoyable future in banding.
 
Fairey's second half was equally as impressive as the first. The best of Sousa was on offer in Gordon Langford's ‘Marching with Sousa' with the band and conductor clearly enjoying themselves.   Flugel Player, Neil Hewson was centre stage for the second time with a virtuoso performance of ‘Children of Sanchez'. Having heard Neil play this a couple of times, the solo comes across as though Neil loves every minute of it. Fun and games in Andy Duncan's popular, ‘Cartoon Classics' followed music from the musical hall with ‘Oklahoma'.
 
The newly returned Michael Howley on euphonium performed the final solo of the night. Michael chose Hartman's ‘La Belle Americane' and as with the three previous soloists on the night, it was some great playing.
 
The band completed the concert with two marches. Firstly, the only piece that could ‘officially' close the programme, ‘Stars & Stripes Forever' with Rebecca standing for the infamous soprano solo that was sweet and lyrical. The encore came in the form of ‘Midwest' by JJ Richards, a slick and efficient way to bring this concert to a close.
 
The overall playing of Faireys on the night was superb, and Nick Walkley, Chris Preece, Neil Hewson and Michael Howley really did stand out in their individual solo slots. In addition, soprano, Rebecca Crawshaw, appears to have taken to the solo chair like a duck to water. Taking a look around the band, there is a mix of ‘youth with experience', and one that the band will be hoping pays dividends in the forthcoming contest season.

Malcolm Wood

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