From the Canals to the Concert Hall

6th July 2026

Kia ora!

Day two of our tour kicked off with another early morning feast at the Hotel Breakfast! Our Principal Rainstick player and band comedian Kevin was quoted saying the breakfast was ‘above average’, probably the most positive thing I have heard him say.

We then headed to an Amsterdam Canal cruise, featuring a very charismatic Ship Captain, who recited a few questionable jokes. There were certainly a few dusty faces on display this morning, after many of the band enjoyed the local beers and Italian food in central Amsterdam the night before to celebrate Kates 21st birthday!

Next up was a quick stop in the picturesque little town of Delft for lunch, an opportunity to sample the local fish and chips whilst enjoying the stunning European architecture dating back to the 1300’s! We arrived at the Duinzicht Hotel with enough time for a refreshing swim in the beach before heading to Ouddorp for our evening concert.

We were lucky to be joined by Brass Band Concordia, who opened the concert in front of a large and passionate local audience!

The concert was a great opportunity for us to run through our program leading up to the WMC this weekend, and nice to have Jan de Haan the composer of the set test Mirage in the audience. The band are lucky to have Tommy Tynan from the black dyke band joining us who performed a rousing rendition of Carnival Cocktail! On a personal note, I performed in the same venue 9 years ago with the National Band so it was cool to be back! A huge thank you again to Johan Jansen who was instrumental in helping us pull together this great evening of music! Again we were treated to a standing ovation, and finished the concert with the classic Hine e Hine. We said goodbye to Harmen and Janna who drove back to Belgium in time to watch their team knock the USA out of the Fifa World Cup!

We headed back to the Hotel for a few refreshments and bar snacks to end a long but successful day! In the famous words of Jack Bewley, the band is ‘absolutely fizzing’ to arrive in Kerkrade tomorrow to continue our journey towards the WMC this weekend!

Luke Giri-Spence

Photos courtesy of Daisuke Hayashi.