Summary on Midlands Branch website
What a day this turned out to be for us!
We were feeling pretty confident based on the practices leading up to the contest and it soon became apparent that we were, fingers crossed, going to be producing a pretty decent sound on the day
Trios (1st & 2nd)
The first trio on (B band) wasn't bad but there was a problem with the F on one of the chanters which was duly commented on by the judge - other than it was a pretty good performance
Second trio on (A band) didn't have this problem and produced one of the tightest performance both of intonation and integration that we've had from the band - great performance - without a doubt our 'performance of the day' which drew some very complimentary remarks from the judge - "Excellent Introduction!", "Playing very well technically", "Good clean finish", "Chanters very well set with a bright and robust tonal quality".
Grade 4 Mini Bands (1st & 2nd)
The first band (A band) put in a good performance, although the problem F reappeared (again duly commented on by the judge) - however, overall a pretty decent performance
The second band (B band) suffered from a few intonation problems but this was really the chance to 'blood' our newest competition piper - John Macmillan. Nerves were clearly there but apart from a few fingering slips he came through the ordeal. Trios/Quartets and Mini Bands have got to be the hardest format to play in - the pressure is intense. But we all have to start somewhere - it gets easier from here - honest!
Grade 3 Mini Bands (3rd)
Eventually tracked down the troublesome F and got it sorted before we went on for this event.
Solid start and a good opening tune followed by an equally well played strathspey. Reel was a little bit off but we pulled it back together when we hit the Slow Air. This gave us the chance to settle before attempting the Jig. This has always been the bogey tune for us in this set, but today we managed to pull out a pretty reasonable performance.
We left the arena feeling pretty happy with ourselves both from a piping and a drumming perspective but, taking into account the strong opposition from the RAF Waddington and West Midlands Police bands, we weren't really expecting to take a place.
The result of 3rd place when it was announced was tremendous.
So overall an excellent day - well done to everyone.
A bit of a gap now until the next contest - Corby in July - just need to keep the work going to build on todays excellent foundation.