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The band performed at Pontins, Prestatyn on Saturday October 23rd, the set test-piece was A Caledonian Journey which had been well rehearsed and had begun to sound very good indeed.
After an early morning rehearsal at the Offa's Tavern in Prestatyn we went for our usual warm up in the laundrette, everyone was accounted for and somewhat suprisingly nobody was struggling with 'Pontinitus'. Adie introduced a breathing technique that will hopefully help us get over our pre-performance contest nerves that have ruined performances recently and it seemed to work, as we went to registration everybody was calm and happy (as happy as could be considering we were being rained on!!). As the band started to file through registration Adie once again took us through the breathing cycle to calm everyone down, however due to an oversight on the bands part two of our players were ineligible to play on stage as their registrations didn't become effective until Monday and Wednesday after the contest, so after a quick discussion with contest control the decision was made to play the players in the knowledge we ran the risk of disqualification. The band went on unaware of the troubles behind them and played a very musical and controlled performance receiving praise from Adie as well as friends and strangers alike in the audience.
Having been informed of the situation everyone banded together and agreed that going on to play was the right thing to do and we would never have considered leaving the two players behind, and we were relaxed and maybe even happier heading in to results than we have been in a long time. Unfortunately the adjudicators didn't agree with our initial analysis of our performance and only placed us 10th on the day, much to the suprise of the band having thought we would be disqualified. The experience as a whole gave the band a reason to reflect, laugh and joke and even cry at what had happened during the day, but we all stuck together and turned it in to a positive experience.
The trip wasn't a total waste, we had the opportunity to play out in a brand new jackets and pictures will be following soon, it also gave Hollie-Mae Sutcliffe and Hope Tasker their first contesting experience on cornet on the back row and also the debut of John Ascroft who has moved on to Soprano, it also saw the last performance of Mike Lomas who is heading off to Hade Edge for bigger and better things but we have gained the talents of Elizabeth 'Dave' Edmed who is going to help us out on front row cornet and Sam Aynsley who will be coming along on Euphonium.
Thanks to everyone who showed us support over the weekend and commented on the new uniforms.
Fancy a walk up Scafell Pike? Neither do some of us, but we will be doing that and other events to raise money towards a new uniform in 2012 and France trip in 2014, we hope you can support us in these events or at our upcoming concerts and remember if you need a band or more information please contact us.
We have a few gaps in the ranks, if you are a Percussionist or brass player looking for a friendly, forward thinking band please feel free to get in touch.
Our involvement at the Winter Gardens this year meant we spent a lot of time waiting around, the result wasn't what we wanted but as always we had a great day in Blackpool.
We have a busy Christmas ahead, come and support us when you can, we hope to see you all on December 10th at the Annual Christmas Concert
A 7th place in St Helens with a promising outlook for the upcoming contest season
You will soon notice changes in the band, Adie is away on sabbatical and Dan Price has stepped in to his place.
Also, you can stay up to date with all the latest ramblings on Twitter @blackleyband
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