2001 : The Start of Something Big

The year started on a sour note, with the departure of Michael Howley once more, this time to the second Euph seat at the Yorkshire Building Society Band. This sudden departure, eight weeks before the area contest, left us with the problem of finding a replacement player. We were already having problems with horn players, as Les McCormack was getting married the day before the contest (good timing!) and Catherine Roberts was due to give birth. Luckily, David’s friends came to the rescue again, with Billy Rushworth, Andy Keegan and John Powell stepping in to help out. Early February saw the band being measured for new uniforms (David Hale did at least apologize for being large!) and these were ready in time for the area contest.

The band appeared as Centre Band in Brass Band World in the February issue, the first of 2001. The article is reproduced here, the picture is that featured on the 2000 history page, taken at the Pontins Contest in October 2000.

In the middle of February, it was getting close to both the impending birth of David’s first child, and to the Area contest. When asked after band if “he was looking forward to the big day” (referring to the impending birth), David replied “I can’t wait, the band are on top form!” The baby, named Ben, was eventually born in the early hours of the Friday morning before the contest, thankfully not clashing with the Area itself. David was serenaded with “Congratulations” at the band practice that evening. There were two other band births in the weeks leading up to the Area Contest; Nigel Walker’s wife gave birth to a little girl, Sophie in the middle of February, and Lindsay Stark, one of the back row cornets, gave birth to Aidan, an 8lb baby boy on 22nd February.

Two weeks before the area, the band played for the NABBC in Wetherby. They first played six new marches, which were then judged as to which was the best composition. The band then moved into their big band formation and played some big band numbers to illustrate how the band has performed different types of music, moving out of the traditional brass band configuration.

At the Area in March, the band came a disappointing 8th, exactly the same placing as last year. For full details see contest report. They were also again pipped by the other Rothwell Band who came 7th this year – exactly the same as last year. A disappointing result, as we thought we had played reasonably well.

In the middle of March, the band welcomed their new Euphonium player, Chris Larder, who took part in his first concert with the band at Leeds Grammar School, a concert featuring Simone Rebello as a percussion soloist. The end of March saw the band’s annual Big Band Spectacular at the Blackburn Hall, with the band playing more music than they had ever done before. Pictures of this concert are available here.

The band appeared in an episode of the television series Airline, a fly on the wall documentary about EasyJet, in mid April. From the 18 hours or so of film taken whilst the band was competing at the Swiss Open, about three minutes worth made it onto screen. Disappointing, but at least some members of the band weren’t shown up as much as they expected to be…

May saw the band embark on a month of contesting. Two competitions were attended this month, the first being the Grand Shield in Blackpool. After an truly excellent performance on stage, but a bad draw, the band came a very disappointing eighth (Contest Report). Most of the people that heard us also were very surprised at this placing. So two eighth placings this year so far…and at the next contest, being the All England Masters, an eighth place would do very nicely in that company…

...but it was not to be. The band did, however draw 8th at the Masters, but finally came 11th. Not too bad a result, right in the middle of the field of 21 bands, but we did expect to do a little better than that (Contest Report). This contest saw the debut appearance from Emma Farrow, our new second Euphonium.

June and July saw the band playing their usual array of local concerts, including a parade for the British Legion, a concert at Howden Manor House and the annual Rothwell Carnival. The band finished off with a football match against the Rowntrees Band before taking a well deserved break.

The summer also saw the departure of some players, David “Moose” Fowler left due to work commitments, Pete Richmond left to take up a new job out of the area, and Rachel Maguire returned to Texas to do a Masters degree in percussion. Chris Brunyee also left us after being with us for a long time due to him getting a new job. Replacement players coming in during the summer were Richard Glascodine and Anna Ferguson on Cornet, Ivor Philips on 2nd Horn and Matthew Allsop on 2nd Baritone. We also gained Matthew and Rob Hattersley on Percussion. Brad Parsk left us.

The band returned from their summer break and got straight back into the swing of things with a band cricket match, and then a concert for the band sponsor, Autocruise. The band played during the company’s open day, playing background music during the afternoon then playing for a big band concert in the evening. In October, the band played their annual concert for the local Rotary Club.

November saw the birth of another banding baby, Alistair was born on the 1st, to Derek and Caroline Hoyle. Also in November, the band played at Royton Assembly Halls for the first time. Royton has hosted many of the top bands and it was good to be invited to play there. At the end of November, the band made their second annual visit to Thorne Grammar School in Doncaster. This event is fast becoming a regular on the band’s calendar. Our principal cornet player is head of music at the school, and this event is their annual Christmas concert. Performers from the school play during the first half, and then the band take over and finish off the concert. It went down really well as usual, and we had the audience clapping along to the first rendition of Jingle Bells of the year. It would not be the last!

December was the band’s busiest ever, with four big concerts and a carol concert. First up was the band’s annual Christmas concert, for the second year spread across two nights. Again, the concert almost sold out both nights, and everything went well. This year, the band allowed Ed Hodkin loose again, playing Frosty The Snowman, and it brought the house down each time it was played.

This concert saw the release of the band’s second CD, The Start of Something Big. The band have been amazed at the speed at which this CD has sold.

Following on from their own concert, the band played a Christmas concert at Leeds Grammar School, featuring the school swing band and junior school choir. It was the second time that this event had taken place, and this is another concert which looks like it will become a regular in the band’s calendar. The third annual band Christmas Dinner and Award Ceremony was held next, followed the day after by a practice with some very worse for wear band members. The band played for the Lord Mayor at a Carol Concert in Leeds Town Hall, which featured Headingley Amateur Operatic Society and Gateway School Senior Choir. The final full band event of the year was the annual festival of nine carols at Rothwell Church.

So, not a good year for contest success by our own high standards, but the band as a whole have had a very good year, and are playing well. Ending the year down on last year’s ranking of 17, the band are now 29th in the Brass Band World rankings and looking forward to the challenges presented in 2002, including the Area in March and the Grand Shield and Cambridge Masters in May.