At 12pm on Saturday 1st July, our Junior band set off for Whiston!
Having arrived at approximately 2pm, the band made their way to the village hall for a quick rehearsal ready to blow the judges away, at the 6th Annual Whiston Festival of Brass.
After a strong performance from Shirland Training Band it was time for Lions to take to the stage – a stage that looked quite compact thanks to how many players turned up.
Their first piece struck a chord with the the audience as, in brass band tradition, they played the famous march True and Trusty.
The Juniors then managed to get the audience singing along with Viva La Vida, featuring the Lions Junior Brass choir, this got great comments from our judge! Scarborough Fair came next, arranged by our one and only Steve Barwick. This was performed with clarity and maturity, which was very hard with such an open stage.
Next it was time for our percussion section to step into the limelight with the very exciting, yet incredibly noisy, Fascinating Drums – you just couldn’t beat that performance!
The Juniors finished on a high note, featuring our very talented Horn section! This left the audience with a smile on their face and a spring in their step.
After all of the performances were finished we were delighted to hear that the Juniors had been awarded…
2ND PLACE!
As we were all in such high spirits it was time for ice cream – thanks to Matt and Charlotte’s brilliant bartering the band scooped a great deal.
With full tummies and some very hyper youngsters, it was time to get the coach home.
I’d love to tell you that’s where our story ends…
Unfortunately, having not been on the road for 1 minute our trusty coach broke down.
All of the children stayed very calm, which made the adults job a lot easier. Our favourite quote of the day came from the back of the bus “Isn’t our driver nice, letting all of these cars past!”
After Jose had spent a good while trying to fix the coach, we quickly learnt that we were going to be here for some time.
The entire organisation would like the thank Rob, from the festival committee, for providing us with a fantastic room, food and drink, free of charge!
Seeing as we had a few hours to spare it was time for a spontaneous rehearsal! This involved using tables as music stands as well as a drum kit.
After a long four and a half hours had passed we received the call from Jose that our saviour had arrived!
Thankfully, despite the delays, the band were in good voice on the way home and we arrived in time to get up bright and early to play at The Weaver Stadium the following day.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported us on Saturday, parents and committee members, we couldn’t have done it without you.
I’m glad my village looked after you all