Mistletoe's Musings

Here are Fishburn marching off this year. Notice the crowds still waiting to come down the hill to the County Hotel. I think you can tell it's the lower instruments that give the band their oomph. You can hear more at YouTube. Look out for Craghead playing Gresford which is the miners hymn written for the funerals after a disaster at Gresford pit. I meet the conductor on a yearly basis at Consett Music Festival. He's a character, once conducting from a wheelchair after he broke a bone in his foot. Getting him on and off the stage was a hoot. He's made a full recovery now.

This band usually comes in towards the end of the parade. They come down the hill with their banner which is from a Yorkshire pit. They are Marsden and they rival Fishburn for sound. This is a particularly excellent rendition of Honest Toil. It was written by the man who wrote the Fishburn piece too: Rimmer. The cornet solo is spot on and remember they have been playing all day when they get to this point. I think the occasion is very much like what was featured on Brassed Off: a play-off around a number of villages and towns.



Awesome.

OK It's not everybody's cup of tea but this is my obsession and my lj so pin back your ears. Picture the scene. This band marches round the corner to the Royal County Hotel every year and I know it's them before they appear. This is Fishburn Band. They come from Fishburn about 20 miles from Durham and they have the strongest sound, in my opinion, of the 42 bands I heard a week passed Saturday. This performance is at an annual Whit weekend competition held in Yorkshire I think. There is a bit of them marching to get you in the mood and then the sort of thing they would play outside the hotel before marching on to the Racecourse which is actually Durham University cricket Ground where the speeches are made.




More later