In times of tragedy, it is music that matters. It can soothe the savage beast and make us happy for the best part of two minutes or two hours. With the Coronavirus situation, it has meant the cancellation of various concerts and music festivals. Even Whit Friday, The Greatest Free Show on Earth – has been postponed till next year.
Continue reading “In Vision: The Ultimate Sunday Brass Night at Boarshurst Band Club”
In about three years from now, the end-of-year charity concert at Boarshurst Band Club could well be a regular fixture. For the second year running, a scratch band set up for charitable endeavour ended the concert season in style. As with the Friends of Music For Youth Band, this ‘scratch band’ was a cut above the rest.
Continue reading “Charity Brass ’19, Boarshurst Band Club, 29 December 2019”
We have now come to the final door of this year’s Brass Band Advent Calendar. Over the previous 25 days, we have given you a super-sized concert programme with solos, test pieces, and popular music.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 26. ABBA Medley”
If you reading this entry, it is clear that you have clapped loud enough to justify the means for an encore. We hope you are having a fantastic Christmas Day and hope you got what you wanted this year.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 25. Phoenix”
East of the M60 and the creator of this long-running blog, Stuart Vallantine, would like to wish all its readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our thanks go to everyone who has followed this blog, shared our posts, commented on our posts, and stuck with us along the way.
Continue reading “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from East of the M60”
In the last three decades, we have seen how our favourite brands have changed names to suit a wider marketplace. Jif is now Cif; Marathon is Snickers; Bounty is Plenty; and Sure is still Sure (at one time, this was nearly going to be Rexona on these shores). Opal Fruits has for several years been known as Starburst. Thankfully, Dan Price wasn’t inspired by chewy fruit flavoured confectionary for this number.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 24. Starburst”
Trains have come a long way since The Beatles’ best known paean to train travel reached the Hit Parade. Some may argue that the golden age of the railways was the 1930s with the Flying Scotsman, Mallard and Coronation Scot. Others may argue that the production model InterCity 125 High Speed Train was the pinnacle of our rail based achievements.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 23. Ticket To Ride”
Today is the shortest day of the year. From then on, the nights get shorter and the days get longer. Sometimes, the days seem to be shorter if the weather’s grey and abysmal. Worse still when thunder calls at this time of year.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 22. When Thunder Calls”
Whether you think of this song as a lovely laid back jazz piece or the after effect of eating too much Quality Street, you cannot resist this number performed by Mike Jones.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 21. Sugar Blues”
If Sean Connery as James Bond had a sideline in musical composition, there’s every chance it would sound like James Swearingen’s piece.
Continue reading “Another Brass Band Advent Calendar: 20. Valero”
East of the M60 