Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal)

Conductor: Phil Harper
Morley Town Hall
Saturday 7th October
Compere: Mike Meadmore

Many things have been written and spoken about Grimethorpe and their ability to entertain over the years and it therefore came as no surprise that there was a good sized audience awaited to hear them here.

Grimethorpe have a loyal following built upon a reputation that has been well deserved. Under the direction of guest conductor Phillip Harper the William Rimmer march ‘Cross Of Honour' opened the concert followed by Derek Broadbent's excellent arrangement of the Overture to ‘The Bartered Bride' by Smetena. This is music that requires great technique to play and with some superb cornet playing led by Roger Webster the band gave a breathtaking account at very high speed.

There are over fifteen arrangements for brass of the old chestnut ‘Carnival Of Venice' and Roger Webster chose the Harry James version to delight the audience. His superb control and technique were readily on display as was his sense of style. He really is a master of his instrument, although this listener finds some of these arrangements a little boring given the range of repertoire he has at his disposal.

Music from Les Miserables in ‘I Dreamed A Dream' led us into a fine arrangement by Goff Richards of ‘Bill Bailey'. Grimethorpe revel in this type of music and it really showed – it was superb stuff.   Ian Shires on flugel then showed his talent in ‘Concerto d' Aranjuez' by Rodrigo producing a lovely velvety sound and a well shape musical line.

The first half ended with a stupendous performance of Webb's ‘Macarthur Park', this is great concert music and is featured in nearly all the concerts the band do. Kevin Crockford on soprano was on top form and the audience lapped it up.

Another piece featured in the film Brassed Off opened the second half with a cracking account of the 'Florentina' march. There were four items from the film in the concert. Is it time to move on before it becomes predictable, or is there still some mileage in its old bones even now? It seems it is still the latter.

The exciting ‘America' and ‘Somewhere' from ‘West Side Story' played with conviction, panache and sensitivity was a real highlight on the night, before euphonium player Michael Dodd came to the front to perform music from the Salvation Army in ‘Travelling Along'. We are fortunate to have so many class euphonium players in the band movement at present and this soloist is right up there with the best. He plays in such a relaxed manner and lets the music unfold.

Its over forty years since the film ‘The Great Escape' was made and you still think Steve McQueen will jump the fence one day! In this arrangement by Sandy Smith the band certainly made the music buzz along and it was a neat departure from the norm.

John Williams moving score to the film ‘Saving Private Ryan' in his ‘Hymn To The Fallen' produced some fine pianissimo playing from the band and captured the mood of the music perfectly. A quick romp through Monti's ‘Czardas' brought us to the finale and a great rendition of  ‘The Pines Of Rome'  played with great power (the bass end certainly enjoyed their chance to get rid of any cobwebs from the lungs) and an overwhelming feel for the music. The encore was the theme tune from ‘Hawaii Five- O' which was a real old trip down memory lane for those in the audience who remember Jack Lord and his boys booking baddies in Honolulu.

There is no doubt this band knows how to entertain their audience. The playing was top class although the programme did feel as if it needed a couple of fresher items. It was very much the same as that given by the band at Cardiff the week before, and although they were under the baton of a different MD, and they were playing to a totally different audience, you do feel that they have so much more repertoire at their fingertips than just these numbers. It was great show all the same though.

David Tinker

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