BSI’s journey to the 2022 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain ended with a commendable 7th place finish, against 15 other bands from across Great Britain.
The band, under the direction of our MD Joshua Parkhill, left the stage of The Centaur, Cheltenham Racecourse feeling proud of the performance that we had given. This was then backed up by a brilliant, and much appreciated, live post by Iwan Fox of 4barsrest.
“ The bands have certainly enjoyed it though — and the standard has been very good. It's just gone up a notch or two since the break though, with Brass Sounds Inverclyde pinning your ears back with a performance that was powered like a Clyde side dreadnought battleship with the firepower on hand too.
MD took some risks with the tempos, but it paid off, with a visceral, pulsating drama to the playing. Great sop and a bass trom who could cut through sheet steel but added such a fantastic dark edge. So much to enjoy that the excesses could be excused. Bravo MD for taking this one by the scruff of the neck and wringing the emotional life out of it until it was dry. A bit OTT, but great.
Section 4: Prediction
A thoroughly absorbing contest of sugar-coated musical overload, but one that all the bands clearly enjoyed and played very well.
The best though gave the ephemeral writing a sense of substance — none more so than Morecambe who were so classy, followed by the visceral drama of Brass Sounds Inverclyde for us and super show from Crosskeys.
Fine accounts from Dobcross, Amington and North Lakes are very closely matched and could come in any order whilst Hemel Hempstead tickled the fancy for the 4BR Editor as a dark horse...
4BR Prediction:
1. Morecambe
2. Brass Sounds Inverclyde
3. Crosskeys
4. Dobcross
5. Amington
6. North Lakes
D/H: Hemel Hempstead "
The Adjudicators views unfortunately weren’t the same as that of 4barsrest and when it comes to the business end, they are the people to impress and who make the final placing decisions. However, the band move forward with the experience and memories of the weekend. We now look forward to the Band Supplies Scottish Challenge in November and then life in the 3rd Section next year.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the bands across the weekend and thank Kapitol Promotions for organising the event.
Finally, we would like to thank all our supporters, friends, family and donors/sponsors for their support and continual support towards the band – we couldn’t have done it without you. A special mention to; The Scottish Parliament, Inverclyde Council, Barnards Court Mission, Paisley Salvation Army, 68 Club Port Glasgow, Toninos Pizzeria, McGregor Plumbing and Heating, Coalburn Brass Band Family, The Johnstone Band, Laird Charles Dixon-Spain and Lady Sadie Dixon-Spain of Dunans Castle, Stuart McMillan MSP (Greenock & Inverclyde) & Councillor Elizabeth Robertson.
National Championships of Great Britain Fourth Section
Test Piece: New Beginnings (Fredrick Schjelderup)
Adjudicators: David Ashworth, John Maines and Roger Webster
1. Dobcross Silver (Jason Smith) 2. Bideford Town (Mark Durham) 3. Morecambe (David Johnson) 4. Trentham Brass (Shaun Farrington) 5. Crosskeys Silver (Sion Jones) 6. Oughtibridge (Gavin Somerset) 7. Brass Sounds Inverclyde (Joshua Parkhill) 8. Hangleton (Richard Baker) 9. Barnsley Metropolitan (Alex Francis)
10. Flookburgh Silver (John Iveson) 11. Stranraer Brass (Angela Miller) 12. North Lakes Brass (Gary Williams) 13. Tewkesbury (Robert Nicholson) 14. Hemel Hempstead (Paul Fothergill) 15. Amington (Alan Gifford) 16. Rhyl Silver (Jamie Duncan)
Best Instrumentalist: Steven Bonner (Flugel) Oughtibridge
Youngest Player: Glyn Stokes of Barnsley Metropolitan