Well, what can I say, I think I'll remember this weekend...

Today we trunded along Oxford St to the RNCM, first to listen to Athena Band. An all female brass band that had been invited to attend and play at the festival this year. A great warm sound and it was really nice to see the enjoyment they had in playing together. A great band to start the day.

Back to accommodation for a rest and some lunch then Bronnie and I went to different activities for the afternoon. I headed back to RNCM to listen to the Welsh Band, Tredegar, currently ranked a cool 4th in the world. I remain amazed at how, despite playing repertoire of similar style/difficulty/technical requirements, that each band has its own personality. I guess it's a combination of the conductors interpretation of the score with the players in the ensemble. What I also wonder too is that whilst playing roster no doubt changes over the years, is if the band "sound" is passed on as kind of a legacy with overlap between playing groups ensuring continuity of "band feel". Hmm. But, anyway, Tredegar were brilliant. I especially enjoyed the slightly more assertive trombone section than in Foden's.

It's also been interesting to be reminded of the origins of Brass Bands. In this midlands of England where they are steeped in history, the emergence of Brass Band from the mid 1800s through until the early 1900s in towns where often coal mines, but as was in the case (see Foden's: named after a truck manufacturing company), were the central part of the community. I wonder if it was partly to give the miners, with the early days of bands were mostly men, an outlet outside of the mines and perhaps church life was on the wane for them already although I suspect they did both. It probably also kept them out of pubs for a couple of nights each week. Apparently, in the old days, bands would rehearse 4 times a week: Monday and Thursday evenings and Tuesday and Friday mornings. Also I guess because loud Brass practice at home might also not have been the norm? All very interesting. Possible too is the value of wind playing on the health of miners lungs? Bronnie thinks too it's a physical/emotional outlet to blow off steam and deal with the struggles of life sometimes in an early days equivalent of a mens shed...

Bronnie spent some time on foot exploring Manchester City from our accommodation, taking in some of the nice buildings and being struck by the strange disconnect between image obsessed consumerism with plastic/bright lights/nice looking clothing but with limited genuine substance, filled with people clearly loving the outing that a shopping centre provides, with endless selfies, plenty of lip filler, botox and bronzer on show. A bit depressing really.

The audiences at the bands have been a different subset again. Exclusively white faces, probably 70:30 male:female, and mostly our age or older. After we rendezvoused, a quick pint at a genuine Manchester Pub, the Salisbury, a bite for tea and we were back at RNCM to hear Black Dyke Band.

They did not disappoint. The first half they placed a piece with AV images of the cosmos that was super cool, and the composer was there and spoke about his musings and writing of the piece. Quite cool! They also played a piece with a Euphonium Solo (David Childs) that the composer wrote specifically to showcase David's skill. Oh my...just glorious playing that I can't begin to do justice to in writing...needless to say. The second half continued with a piece conducted by the composer who was one of the band members that was also really striking and thrilling. A trombone soloist played well too, although I couldn't help but feel that it exposed that a trombone is limited in the "fast playing" aspects of virtuosity that the valved instruments generate, so hard to stand apart. He was still very good...played it much better than I ever managed back in the day ;) The night finished with Of Men and Mountains. Holy moly Black Dyke are a showy band. They can play with such power and their full band sound is one of the most amazing "live sound" experiences you could ever have. At absolute full on, the balance, intonation and control is immaculate...couldn't get it any better I reckon. But then, that's my ears anyway!

I've been interested to see the gender balance in the big British Bands. A typical number of players is 25 brass instruments and 4 percussionists, with sometimes a few extras. There are rules about how many are allowed in a contesting band. All three of the British Bands have had 7 females, of whom at least 2 were percussionists. They have been mostly playing tenor horn, flugel horn with one baritone and one cornet. I have not seen a female play an instrument lower than the baritone (except in the Athenas obviously). Whether this is tradition or an aspect of physiology and temperament, I'm not sure, but just my musings. It's also been apparent how the effect of bands who are a contesting band have a sparkle/crispness to them that isn't the case when I've listened to other professional groups. Probably just my bias but I think it makes a band have a better edge.

Tomorrow, more bands to enjoy to round off a memorable side trip to Manchester. Thanks Bronnie for finding it for us!