A Trombonist competes at the Second Section Finals

In all the years I've been involved in brass banding, I've never played at a National Finals. The closest I've come, if you can call it that, was in 2015 when Totnes qualified for the 4th section finals, the only year I didn't play with them between 2010 and 2018. Of course, it's possible the reason they qualified was because I wasn't there, but we'll not dwell on that.

This summer I decided to take a break from my full time commitments with the SW Comms Band so I could spend more time with Arthur and Joseph. It was a much needed break without needing to worry about being at rehearsals and concerts which often meant dashing straight from work, creating days where I didn't see the boys at all because I'd left before they were awake, and got back after they were in bed. Whilst I was on this break I had a chance conversation with the MD of Soundhouse Band, Lee Clayson. They were short of a bass trombone player for the finals. I didn't need to be at rehearsal until the start of September. Was I interested?

As it turned out, yes I was. I went to a rehearsal in July and really liked the test piece, Lakeland Variations by Phillip Sparke, and so I agreed to do it.

Sunday 17th September 2023

Contest day dawned and, after saying goodbye to Steph and the boys, I got a lift to Exeter services to Allister where we were meeting the band coach. I opted to sit at the front of the bus, and watch Leeds beat Millwall 0 - 3. We had a brief stop at Sedgemoor services (where it was hammering it down) before arriving in Cheltenham. We met for rehearsal in St Nicolas Church, to top and tail the test piece. The bulk of our time though was spent drinking tea, eating doughnuts and socialising. During rehearsal news of the draw came through and we'd been drawn 16 out of 19 bands. With the section not starting until 14:00, it was going to be a very long day.

Tea drunk, snacks eaten and cups washed and put away we hopped back on the coach and made the short journey to Cheltenham racecourse. We had a lot of time to kill so my initial plan was to spend time (and likely money) in the trade stands. This, however, proved fruitless as even part way through the afternoon the traders were already packing away. Being a contest though, there were plenty of people to talk to, friends from bands across the UK, and have a good catch up. The band eventually met up in one of the restaurants where we had dinner, played cards and spent time socialising. 

Eventually, the time came for us to go down into the backstage areas, but even this meant more waiting around as there were another five bands in there ahead of us. The heat in the room was unbearable, and I opted to stand in the corridor to cool down. Eventually, contest staff came down and fetched us up to the warm up room, before then leading us up to the main hall to go on stage. And so the time had come for our performance, after nearly five hours of waiting. The performance was a tidy one. The band had been playing the piece well - the recordings confirmed that - and this was a continuation of that. There were perhaps a few stage nerves but otherwise we came off stage very pleased. 

The band had agreed to stay for the results, which took a very long time to collate. Eventually these got underway sometime after 10:30. It had been a long day, and was evidenced by one band representative accidently claiming an award for a different band which caused further delay. We were delighted, however, to have been placed 4th out of 19 bands. 

We eventually made it back on to the bus around 11:15 and were soon underway. After being dropped off again at Exeter Services, and then home by Allister, I eventually got to bed around 02:00 on Monday morning.