Blackpool, Vol. 2

It was a great weekend. Besses o' th' Barn had their second contest of the year, and we played great - once again. Now, the judges (we won't name names here... just kidding...) thought that there were some bands than played better than us, so we didn't get the first place nod - actually we didn't get ANY place nod. But - that is ok. At least we had fun while we did it.

I remember when I was still a student at Capital University, and I was student teaching. I tried to instill in my students that if you aren't having fun doing this - - - you need to do something else. This is WAY too hard to do if you don't absolutely love it. Sometimes I feel myself slipping as well, but then you take a little time off - and you always come back to it.

Anyway... We left Manchester on Saturday at about 8am for our short little ride to Blackpool, which is apparently a "vacation" spot in the UK. I don't know about that. There seems to be an excess of bars and adult-novelty stores, but maybe I just don't get out much. What does it look like? Well, maybe Gatlinburg, TN. Just replace the outlet malls with strip clubs. BUT - they do have a very large concert hall/venue for us to monopolize, and we did take over the entire building with all three bars bulging with people.

There were 18 bands in our section, which was the Senior Cup. There are 3 sections: the Grand Shield (the good guys), the Senior Cup (the middle guys), and the Senior Trophy (the lower guys). So, each bands plays the test piece. After listening to a few Grand Shield bands playing their test piece I was very thankful that we didn't have to play that piece. I believe it was "A Time to Sing" or something like that - by Bramwell Tovey. Very cool piece - but with coolness, there is usually difficulty attached - and there was in aces. Very neat piece, and a big round of applause to all of the bands that had to tackle that piece.

So, we drew number 10, which was a decent draw. Although, we were placed between two better bands, so that kinda sucked - but it didn't phase us - we played the best we could. Afterwards I, Aaron Tindall and Ray Kao (see the above picture to see these guys) walked around Blackpool and had some dinner.

It was a great experience. I am glad to say that I was a member of the band, and that I got to compete in 2 truly English Brass Band Championship competitions while I was in the UK. I don't think I'm special to have done this, but am definitely glad that I got into banding so early in my visit over here. Thanks to everyone at Besses, and especially to my section: Aaron, James and Ray - you guys are great! Thanks for a great concert and an even better time making music together!

A few scenic shots from around Blackpool... A big THANK YOU to my good friend Ray Kao, who never forgets his camera. Thank you RAY!