LOSTOCK HALL BRASS BAND

North West Areas 2010

The band is busy rehearsing for the North West 3rd Section qualifying contest at Blackpool Winter Gardens on 14th March.

More details of the day will be posted soon.

Junior Band planning for Christmas

Lostock Hall Junior Band has already begun planning for their Christmas engagements.

The Junior band takes part in the main Christmas Concert as well as performing around the village in the run up to the holidays.

Ron Heyes is once again in charge and looks forward to welcoming new players to rehearsals on Fridays 6.45-7.45

Beginners or more experienced players are welcome to come down any Friday or give Ron a call on 01772 463187

Champions of Fleetwood again

The band had another great result at Fleetwood Contest on the 4th October.

We were facing stiff compeition from 10 other second section bands - this was our chance to show that the result at Harrogate was a blip.

We drew 6th out of 11 and after the usual hanging around we made our way onto the stage and gave a great performance of Oceans.

The man in the box - Malcom Brownbill liked our performance and we were awarded 1st place.

This is the second year running that we have won the second section at Fleetwood.

Sarah Gardner our Solo Horn - also picked up the prize of Best Horn in the Section.

It hasn't made up for Harrogate but its a good win all the same.

A few more decent results this year will see us promoted to the 1st Section which would be a great (but welcome) challenge for the band.

Not the result we had hoped for

The band came home from Harrogate with mixed feelings about our result. We were placed 9th - a result which left alot of people wondering what had gone wrong. Most members of the band felt that they had put in a decent performance; a feeling that was echoed by 4barsrest who predicted a podium place for us. Soloists all had a good day and received good comments from Mr Farr and Mr Childs - however our performance did not apparently impress the both of them enough. Still; a good day was had by all and we have Fleetwood next week to look forward to. A case of back to earth with a bang... ;-)

Harrogate Finals

The band is busy preparing for the 3rd Section National Finals in Harrogate at the end of September.

Just a short post to thank Alex (website editor) for his hard work over the past year.

He's off to a very, very famous University (have a guess!) and all the band wish him well for the future.

SUMMER BREAK

An update is long due and so here it is. The band is currently having a summer break before we put in the graft for the 3rd section National Finals to be held at the end of September. This is a well earned break after a busy summer marchng and concerting all around the North West. More updates will be posted as soon as interesing things happen.

A BAD RESULT BUT A GOOD DAY

On Sunday the 3rd of May the band met up at 8.45 at the Lostock Hall Bandroom. After an hour and a half coach journey we arrived at Buxton Bandroom for a hour long rehearsal during which we learnt that we had drawn 7th. This meant we had quite a lot of time before we played so the band split up for a few hours, some hitting the shops and some heading for the nearest Wetherspoons. Back at the coach at 14.15 the band picked up the mounds of percussion and their instruments from the coach and went to the warm-up room for another 30 mins of waiting before going onstage. The general feel of the performance was 'we could have played it better' with a few slips coming from each section of the band though the overall band sound, we thought, was quite impressive (especially in the acoustically flattering Octagonal Hall). Unfortunately Mr Adjuducator did not think very much of 'A Gallimurphy Suite' putting us into 9th place and so most of the band went to the nearest pub to cheer up. Several hours and several pints later we arrived back in Lostock Hall around 19.30 after what was a fantastic day out, even if not a fantastic result.

recent happenings

Sunday 29 March - the band entertained Councillor Barrie Yates and his colleagues to an evening of music from the shows and a 'Last Night of the Proms' concert at the Conservative Club in Lostock Hall.   An enjoyable evening was had by all, with lots of singing and flag waving.   We have received a communication from the Mayors Office thanking the band for such an enjoyable evening.

Monday 30 March - the band AGM.   However, all went well, we have some new faces and some old ones on board to take us forward for the next 12 months.   Its going to be another busy year with yet another visit to the National Finals in Harrogate in September (don't forget last year we won the 4th section to be crowned Champions of Great Britain).   This year we have to compete on the 3rd section.

We have a couple of vacancies on the bass section - if you would like a challenge please feel free to pop down to Lostock Hall Band room Mondays or Fridays 8 - 10p.m. and come and have a blow with us.    You will be very welcome.   Directions to our premises are located here.

North West Area Championships

Last Sunday saw the Area contest once again in Blackpool. Following our success in 2008 we have been promoted to 3rd section which has its advantages in that we didn't play until the afternoon but also its disadvantages in that we have much tougher competition. We had a rehearsal in Blackpool Band's band room at midday and were drawn No.16 out of 20 bands - an excellent draw. During the week prior to the contest the pundits had lots of faith in us, due to our track record over the past 18 months, and we were favourites to win - no pressure!!

We performed in the Spanish Hall with the adjudicator Derek Broadbent, a well respected and experienced man. Our performance went well, John Wood (our MD) was pleased with the performance in view of the fact we had only had two weeks rehearsals since our appearance at Brass at the Guild in Preston.

Around 17.00 the majority of the band gathered again in the Spanish Hall to hear the results. As usual these were read out in reverse order, from 6th place to 1st place.The band waited with held breath until '3rd place this year and a qualification for the finals in Harrogate are LOSTOCK HALL MEMORIAL BAND.' We were all delighted - another qualification for the finals making it our 3rd appearance at the finals in 4 years (2006, 2008 and 2009)

Well done to everyone - a great result - and congratulations to Dobcross Silver Band and Douglas Town Band for coming 1st and 2nd respectively - see you in Harrogate.

BRASS AT THE GUILD

Sunday February 8 saw our first contest of 2009 at Preston Guild Hall taking part in 'Brass at the Guild'.
The band had to participate in the 2nd section of the contest following their successes in the last 18 months.

We played an arrangement by Philip Sparke called Kaleidoscope which was a harder piece than we have been used to but in the end the band coped with it well.

There were 10 bands in our section and we drew fourth in the order of play. Following the performance we all felt quite pleased but the result was in the hands of Trevor Halliwell, a well known local adjudicator.

The results were eagerly anticipated and in the usual manner results were given in reverse order. When Oldham band, our biggest competition, were given 3rd place we became very excited and then came 2nd place - to the band who played - yes No.4. Lostock Hall Memorial. We were all delighted by this result and it was, having only just moved up to the 2nd division, a great confidence booster for everyone in the bad. Haslingdon and Helmshore band pipped us to 1st position but we were very happy to be placed 2nd, taking away a very nice glass trophy and a cash prize.

Sunday 1st March - Winter Gardens, Blackpool is our next contest.

This is the North West Championships to qualify for the finals in Harrogate in September. As this is a national contest we will go into the 3rd section and are very hopeful of another good result. Another visit to Harrogate in September, as last year, would be brilliant if we could make it, but there is a lot of hard work between now and 1st March.

Check this space for the Blackpool Result on 1 March.

WE ALMOST HAD A HATRICK

Last Saturday was the annual Pontins Contest at Prestatyn and an early start - 6.30 AM at bandroom took us down there. We drew No.7 and the test piece was a fairly new piece entitled 'Elgar Portrait' by Dan Price. Derek Broadbent and David Read were 'in the box' and Uppermill were after us. We were only reasonably happy with our performance as there were a few clips and clops around the band. Having said that, we obviously impressed our colleagues in the box and we obtained 2nd place - Uppermill were Champions. After having had two 1st place positions in the last two contests we were fairly disappointed but cannot be displeased with prize money of 1,000 pounds. This ends our contesting for 2008 and we now have to concentrate on concerts.

2009 sees us in division 3 of the National Competitions and division 2 in local competitions so we'll have to see what happens. Of course, our rivals from Uppermill join us in division 3 and we congratulate them on winning at Pontins. Best wishes to them for the future .

DON'T FORGET OUR 60TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT ON 23 NOVEMBER AT LOSTOCK HALL TORY CLUB.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE.

Civic Reception with the Mayor

Following the band's recent historic win at Harrogate - 1st Prize in the 4th Section of the National Championships - we were invited to attend a Civic Reception by the Mayor of South Ribble Borough Council. This event took place last evening 22 October and was attended by the Mayor - Councillor Barry Yates, his wife and a few Councillors and friends. The band entertained the council for approx. 25 minutes with a short programme and then enjoyed a buffet supper along with our hosts. An enjoyable evening was had by all and we were presented with a shield to commemorate the occasion which we will display in the bandroom, along with many other trophies etc which have culminated from our recent win. We would like to thank Councillor Yates for his hospitality last evening and trust that we will continue to fly the flag for South Ribble in future contests.