BRITAIN BECKONING

Hello to everyone reading, I’m Jack Bewley, the band’s ‘Principal’ 2nd Baritone player, with another update on the lead-up to our immense journey to the British Open, a trip that is building our anxiety and excitement with every practice. With only a fortnight to go, practices have been intensifying here in Wellington. Having been in the band for around six months, I certainly feel the nerves about performing on the same stage as bands like Cory, Black Dyke and Grimethorpe, let alone having to compete against them. However, the band is still looking forward to the opportunity, regardless of the result. In fact, our principal bass trombone and natural gas provider Patrick Di Somma said that he’s “absolutely fizzing mate. I’m revelling in it.”

The band was lucky enough to rehearse in the Michael Fowler Centre on Wednesday night, to try and get the feel of playing in a proper concert hall. Apart from the obvious practice of the notes, we’ve also been trying to mentally prepare for a performance on the stage in Symphony Hall, something that will be a different experience to any contest we’ve competed at.

Amongst the practicing though, the band has been carefully following the Rio Olympics. With good reason though; before this week’s band weekend, we welcomed back two of our athletes from the Games – Byron Newton and Matt Stein. There was some drama in their event, the men’s artistic gymnastics, with their acrobatics bringing them gold and silver. The floor routine had been an interesting event; while Matt had opted for accompaniment by former gold medallist Riki McDonnell, Byron took a risk and performed with no music, something he told interviewers was a key aspect of his acrobatics. A scandal had rocked the event earlier in the week, with an allegation that Byron had been using performance enhancing drugs, however, the sample from his water key came back clean. Ultimately, the judges felt that Byron had been “more present” in his performance and he won the gold, with a valiant effort from Matt giving him the silver.

Obviously, practices have to be serious and concentrated most of the time, but our rehearsals, overall, have been lightened by the excitement. We’re very much looking forward to our pre-tour concert next week and the travels ahead.

Thanks for reading, Jack “Russell” Bewley.   

 

Bunsen and Beaker

3 Weeks until the Open!!

Gidday folks, Pat Di Somma here – Wellington Brass Band’s principal bass-baritone player/chainsaw operator/verbal punching bag - giving you the inaugural update leading up the band’s imminent departure to England in September.

Team morale is soaring following the band’s quadruple A grade win in as many years, especially as a musical and psychological springboard to the dizzying heights of the British Open. Jack Bewley, the band’s associate principal baritone player described his feelings as such: “absolutely fizzing mate. I’m revelling in it.” That being said, our Supreme Leader and musical director David Bremner has emphasised the dangers of complacency, so we’re trying not to be too Gung Ho™ about it. Band rehearsals since the national contest have regularly drawn comparisons to any classic Kafka novel; enduring, somewhat laborious but rich in content and ultimately very satisfying.

No doubt my comrades will outline the various impending highlights of our voyage in the blogs to follow, so I will kick it off by cutting straight to the nitty-gritty.

The inevitable band curry:

Mark Davey – resident Welly Brass anti-hero and principal trombonist – maintains that the conception of the noble (and increasingly widespread) tradition of enjoying a curry as whole-band-social activity can be credited to the Wellington band; an audacious and potentially divisive claim at best. Nevertheless, Birmingham is colloquially known as the curry capital of Great Britain, and indoctrination or not, you can probably put your house on Wellington Brass visiting at least a few establishments of this nature…provided there are enough seats for the littler and angrier members of the band. What better way to simultaneously enjoy the culinary and musical traditions of our colonial overlords than with a classic communal curry leading up to a brass-band related event.

In all seriousness, the magnitude and significance of attending the British Open is truly beginning to sink in, and the level of organisation required for a trip of this scale is immense. The breakfast menu for our stay in Birmingham has already been finalised - a terrifying concept, especially considering some members of the band consistently struggle to recall what day of the week it is. As such, the British Open committee are doing an incredible job to make sure everything is tickety-boo.