"After a somewhat shaky start to the day the band once again showed their quality when it came to the crunch. I was able to hear Darwen's performance from back stage and they sounded very impressive indeed so there is certainly no shame in coming 2nd. The thing that pleases me most is the consistency were are starting to achieve in terms of performance when it comes to the moment, being on stage with the pressure on. Everyone has done remarkably well and we are all itching to get back on the contest stage to try and claw our way just one further spot up the rankings.

Today we have performed really well. During my tenure with the band we've had a bit of a jinx with our performances at this contest and it feels great that this has been broken. The band did absolutely everything I asked of them today and much more, they performed superbly and I appreciate their efforts. Regardless of the result the band have done themselves proud and we have made many friends and that's a great step for this band and I am so happy for them to have given their all. They make me extremely proud to be able to stand in front of them as their musical director.

Charlotte and Tom are new members to the band who have really boosted our back row sound and will surely prove to be vital assets to the band over the coming years. Leah is another new face to the band who has made a sudden impact aiding to the strength of what already was a fine section. It is great to welcome back Becca to the ranks of the band, she was sorely missed when she moved to university but due to a change in circumstances Becca finds herself able to return to the band whilst continuing her studies which is fantastic. Adam Hirst has been a great servant to the band, progressing through our training band and into the main band eventually working his way to solo trombone where he has been a tremendous section leader he will be sorely missed and everyone at the band wishes him well. Luckily we have been living in luxury over recent months as we have had a trombone section of four players meaning we have a ready made replacement in Christian Sharples. Christian has shown great maturity with his new role and I am sure he will continue this impressive start.

The band began their second stint of the concert with a new piece to their repertoire the wonderful arrangement, by Black Dyke Solo Horn player Sandy Smith, of Valero. Then came another solo offering, again from Brassed Off, possibly the most famous piece from the film the Flugel solo Concerto De Aranjuez from Rodrigo's guitar concerto. Flugel player Eleanor Parkes kept up the high standard that had been set my her peers previously in the concert and the audience responded with a rapturous round of applause following her performance. The music that followed this was another opportunity for the audience to use their vocal chords in the always popular Black and White Minstrels selection number one. The final solo contribution of the evening came from our percussion section with Principal percussion Jon Taylor on Xylophone and Vibraphone and Leah Fogo taking the lead on the triangle in an adaptation of the violin czardas entitled Flying Mallets. It was with this piece the audience were treated to a master class of musicality and technique from our percussion section that will surely last long in the mind. The penultimate item of the concert was in the simply beautiful A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square. The band displayed excellent control of sound to set the tone for some excellent work from principal Cornetist Claire Mumford. It was at this point in proceedings that the band were given a rest before their finale whilst there was a draw for the raffle, an auction, and a stirring round of applause for the band. With their final offering the band decided to go our on a limb and finish in style with the huge test set by composer Paul Lovatt-Cooper with his popular composition The Dark Side of the Moon. The band took a risk and paid dividends with the performance the followed, the contrast in dynamic and a colour provided the suitable eerie feeling to the opening of the music before the technical demands of the driving section that follows were played with aplomb. Special mention must be made to soloists that performed including newly appointed Solo Trombone Christian Sharples settling to his new seat well. The bass end performed with style in the "feature section" before the band showed their stamina to finish off the piece in style. After several standing ovations the band did not fail to disappoint playing what has become something of a traditional encore with the piece Aces High.

Speaking to Musical Director James Holt after the concert BBB.com got the following comments

"The band have performed superbly this evening, at the end of any concert, and I'm sure in your review, you can name players who have stood out well tonight I would have to list everyone. Every single player on that stage played their part and the result was the great music that followed particularly in our difficult finale. It was great to be able to perform this concert tonight St.Pauls has always been a very welcoming venue for us when we come for the Whit Walks and it was nice for them to see another string to our bow so to speak and I hope this is not the first and last concert we do for them. Moving forward from this the band must now use this week to prepare for the upcoming defence of our title won at the Fleetwood contest last year so we can do our very best to retain this crown.

Following the traditional break for refreshments the band were back on stage and opened the second half with a new piece to their repertoire. Music once again from the pen of Peter Graham in a piece originally written for the Cory Band, featuring some excellent fanfare like work from our cornet and trombone sections. Following this came a double feature for the band's Flugel player Eleanor Parkes. Firstly in possibly the most famous of all Flugel Solo's Rodrigo's Concerto De Aranjuez played with beautiful tone quality. Following this came another new piece for the band arranged by Espen Westbye, soprano player with one of Norway's finest bands, Stavanger, from the film mission impossible - Injection. The final solo contribution of the evening came in the form of a euphonium duet from Becca Hurst and Callum Baxter. The duo played the well known Perhaps Love, special mention must go to the duo playing together for the first time after the band's solo euphonium player Sean Hayes was unfortunately taken ill shortly before the concert, Becca stepped in and performed a challenging nights concert with no rehearsal and with the help of Callum produced a fine display. The penultimate item of the evening was taken from the popular film Saving Private Ryan with music originally written by the infamous John Williams in an arrangement by Klass Van Der Woude, the chillingly beautiful Hymn to the Fallen. It is often said that you should save the best till last and this was certainly the case for this evening entertainment. MD James Holt explained to the audience that in a break from tradition the band would be ending the concert with a test piece, a risky idea but one that certainly paid off. Paul Lovatt Cooper's The Dark side of the Moon has been used recently by the band as their own choice piece at recent contests. This is a piece that has been received well by audiences all over the world and has been performed by some of the worlds best bands. This evening was not a disappointment, the mood was set with some fine percussion work, contributions form all the bands soloists and some excellent bass playing rounded off an excellent performance that was duly appreciated by the audience.

The band were asked for an encore and did not disappoint playing what has become somewhat of a signature tune - Aces High. The evening was a roaring success and following the performance BBB.com were able to catch up with MD James Holt, who had the following to say;

On Sunday the band once again had their marching boot on this time for the annual Little Hulton March at St. Paul's Peel. Sharing the performance with Eaton's Farnworth & Walkden band there was a processional march to a local community home where a short service was given before marching back to the church for refreshments. Thanks to all involved for making it a great day. Pictures from the day can be seen on our Gallery Page.

Although several members of the band were disappointed with the outcome from today's performance they must look at the bigger picture. We have once again played a very challenging test piece extremely well and have maintained steady progress and been in and around come the mix at the end of the day. We can take pride from what we have achieved out of today's contest and this all adds to the experience these young people are forever gaining. We now look forward to 2 march contests and then aim for a good flourish to the end of the contesting season with Fleetwood, Pontins and Wilkinson contest all to fight for.

"Having a busy concert and contest schedule I was amazed that we were able to get this great piece ready and play it so well, we have again raised the bar and set ourselves a new standard to aim for"

Once again we've come to the area and got an early draw, the band have made me an incredibly proud man today. The performance off a number one draw was excellent. The preparation the band put in has been little short of astonishing and they can be assured in the knowledge they have done their parents, the band, myself and most importantly themselves proud and the is all of the plan of improvement. Things will not change overnight but we are most certainly moving in the right direction. We must say a big thank you to the many people who congratulated us on our performance, some we knew some we didn't, your kind words are very much appreciated. In addition we must offer our congratulations to the three bands who have qualified for the nationals today and wish them all the best when the represent the North West in Harrogate later this year.

Brass band website 4barsret.com had the following to say on the performance;

Besses Boys (and girls of course) opened the contest with some cracking playing, only to fall away as their youthful enthusiasm was undone by a lack of stamina. There was some fine playing from the young girls on solo cornet and Flugel though.

Following a comfort break for food and the start of the nights party (Certainly a favourite part of the day for the band and especially committee!!!) it was time to offer the yearly "special" awards. Firstly came the Training band Most Improved player award, MD Jon Taylor had chosen to give this to Cornetist Peter Brown. Then came the first of the main band awards, a favourite for MD James Holt as he didn't have to choose it, the attendance award which this year was split between Eleanor Parkes and Paul Mitchell. Then came the award for the boys bands most promising new recruit open to any member who has joined since the last solo contest, this year saw the award go to 3rd Cornet Catherine Fox who added the award to her previous first place in the ensemble section. It was certainly a busy day for a back row cornet section as Paul Mitchell added to his tally of the day so far consisting of winning the preliminary section, ensemble section and attendance award when he took his 4th award of the night was he was named the bands most improved player!! The next award on offer was the services to the band award, an award that went to "bumper up" and Band Sgt Scott Broadhurst, a choice that certainly went down with players and audience alike. The penultimate award of the day was for the Band's Bandsperson of the year, always a closely contested affair, this year the band choice went to Eb Bass player Hannah Whitfield seen as the 'mother of the band' Hannah was a well liked winner indeed. Finally came the choice of MD James Holt's Bandsperson of the year, he spoke of the difficulty he had in choosing the winner of this award commenting that everyone in the band was a good Bandsperson, though there can only be one winner, this year this went to Eleanor Parkes who had shown great commitment over the last 12 months stepping in on principal cornet on several occasions before changing onto the Flugel Horn chair with great success.

Kirsten has been a wonderful servant to the band over the last five years, she has been one of the most consistent performers we have had as a soloist on both the concert and contest stage. She is a well liked member of the band and will be sorely missed. She has given the band fantastic service and we cannot begrudge this fantastic move for her to the championship section. I am sure Kirsten will be a regular visitor to the boys band at both rehearsals and performances and she will always be will welcome as a lifelong friend of the band.

This means the band has now got a vacancy for principal cornet, anyone interested can visit our Vacancies page.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL ASSOCIATED WITH BESSES BOYS BAND.

The band have many exciting plans for the year ahead and BBB.com will be here to provide coverage of them all, so make sure you keep checking the site for updates on how the band are getting on.