Wantage Band in Concert - Newbury Spring Festival 2023 - Review
Walking into Newbury Corn Exchange I was looking forward to seeing and hearing a concert by a local Championship Section Band, Wantage Band, a band that is without doubt the envy of many with it’s hugely popular organisation boasting 9 bands and a percussion academy.
My recent visits for concerts in Newbury by Tredegar and Matilda Lloyd were both excellent, the standard quite outstanding and the whole Newbury Spring Festival is a delight with such a wonderful cross section of entertainment.
The concert was well attended and great to see that a good number were not brass band followers, they were here to see what a brass band has to offer and from the off Wantage Band got them looking forward to the rest of the evening.
The opening piece, a fanfare of daffodils from Gareth Wood got the ears nicely warmed up. The next piece was without doubt a highlight of the evening, local composer Florence Anna Maunders composed a piece for the band and for the spring festival, ‘The Triumph of Kakistocracy’ is a very dark piece, political chaos is the order of the day and a very thought provoking piece is what we got, very well played by the band and left me wanting to hear it again which is never a bad thing. Philip Sparkes ‘Aria’ was next and Tenor Horn Soloist Jemma Johnstone was quite delightful, a very well-paced performance that was a real ‘sit back and listen’ and the quality of the sound was something else, the band did a great job of accompanying the soloist, one of the best Tenor Horn players I have heard.
To conclude the 1st half we got ‘The World Rejoicing’ from Edward Gregson, the band had played this at The Grand Shield and this was a well put together performance of a very enjoyable piece, the band possibly more relaxed on stage in Newbury than at Blackpool, it was a good end to the half.
‘The Wizard’ from George Allen opened the 2nd half and got the audience into the world of the Brass Band march with a classic, followed by a Mozart arrangement by William Rimmer ‘Overture Magic Flute’ which went down very well. ‘Napoli’ by Bellstedt arr. Bob Childs was a stunning solo from Solo Euphonium Lucas Lockley, the detail of the solo was perfect, every element of the piece coming across so well, this got the audience giving that extra applause that the performance deserved.
‘Samba Verde’ by Philip Lawrence, ‘Bryne and Fisher’ arr. by the bands Soprano Brian Thomas and ‘Feeling Good’ by Newley and Bricusse arr. Lawrence were all up next and we got to hear from the bands Solo Trombonist Grace Hancock, the sound and timing throughout ‘Feeling Good’ was a delight, a very easy sound and always just perfect timing of the phrases really made this a Solo worthy of mention.
‘Ar Lan Y Mor’ Trad, arr Higgins, this traditional Welsh folk song was a wonderful palette cleanser to take us into the last couple of pieces. ‘Capriccio Brilliante’ is a piece associated with the Tenor Horn but was being played by EEb Bass Soloist Gav Lemons, a challenge that was very well met and the tone at every end of the scale was full throughout, another piece enjoyed by the audience and very much enjoyed and appreciated by the Bass players listening.
‘Visions of Kholis’ from Tom Davoren is the last piece on the programme, but the audience were having none of that, it was a great ending, but the audience wanted more and as the band take their seats, MD Jon Pippen brings the band in and then encourages the audience to get clapping along to ‘The Floral Dance’ before doing a lap of the band and exiting stage right and leaving the band to take over, a lot of smiles summed up the evening, a great concert with a good mix of pieces, a well-considered detail in the introductions from Jon and a piece that left audience (and reviewer) with a big smile. Perfect!
