Lower Section National Finals
The Lower Section National Finals took place at the Harrogate International Centre over the weekend of 24th/25th September. With eight Scottish representatives across the four sections hopes were high for some Scottish success. First up on the Saturday was the fourth section where Coalburn Silver and Broxburn Silver represented Scotland. Playing the test piece ?A Mendip Celebration? by Darrol Barry both bands performed well enough and eagerly anticipated the results. Although out of the top six both bands achieved very respectable results with Coalburn Silver, conducted by Gareth Bowman, just missing out in 7th place and Broxburn Silver, conducted by Colin McKenzie, only two places further back in 9th. The section was won by Valley Brass (Haydock).
Next up on the Saturday was the second section where the Scottish representatives were Granite City Brass and Lochgelly. Much had been said about the choice of test piece for this section, Sir Arthur Bliss composition ?The Belmont Variations? arranged by Frank Wright. Regardless of this debate all of the bands were faced with the same challenges and some coped better than others. Granite City, conducted by David James in his last appearance with the band, did excellently to finish in 6th place. Unfortunately the normally reliable Lochgelly band under Jim Chamberlain had a bad day at the office and finished in 15th place. The section was won by St Keverne band.
The following day it was the turn of the third and first sections to do battle. The day started with the third section where Scotlands representatives were Shotts St. Patricks Brass and Selkirk Silver. The test piece for the third section was ?A Gallimaufry Suite? by Philip Harper and the section was adjudicated by Stan Lippeat and Peter Roberts. Unfortunately both Scottish bands did not feature in the placings with Shotts St. Patricks, conducted by Alan Duguid, being awarded 11th place and Selkirk Silver, conducted by Richard Duff, in 16th place. The section was won by Jersey Premier Brass.
And so to the final section of the weekend, the first section where the much fancied Johnstone Silver and Kirkintilloch Kelvin represented Scotland. The test piece for this section was the very taxing ?Pageantry? by Herbert Howells and the men chosen to judge the weekends premier section were Alan Morrison and Frank Renton. This proved to be Scotlands best showing of the weekend with the Kirkintilloch Kelvin band, conducted by Alistair Orr, finishing just outside the prizes in 7th place and the Johnstone Band, conducted by the experienced Gavin Lindsay, in 8th place.
All in all this was another very good Nationals weekend. The event was very well organised and Kapitol certainly know how to run a band contest. There remain however, all of the scare stories surrounding the acoustic of the main hall and this year was no exception. Having spoken to many competing bandspeople it is clear that there were a lot of them who were taken by surprise by the stage. Other than this, and one may argue that it is the same for all bands, there is no doubt that the Harrogate venue is a good one. The facilities of the hall and of the town itself are second to none, though a little pricey for some tastes. Time will tell if the Lower Section National Finals have found a permanent home but, on the evidence of this year at least, they could do worse.
