City of Southampton (Albion) Band » admin

London Marathon

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:08:40 +0000

On the 17th April the band made what is becoming its traditional trek to the London Marathon. We were allocated to play in the same place as last year on Jamaica Road in Bermondsey which is at about the 12 mile point of the marathon.

It was an early start for the band leaving Southampton at 6:00am in order to arrive in London before all the roads were closed off. We arrived at about 8:00am and immediately descended on the nearest coffee shop for breakfast. The owner must have thought all his Christmases had arrived at once!! Having polished off a number of bacon sandwiches and the like we were able to set up in order to be ready by the time the first runners (or wheelchair athletes) went past.

The band played from 9:30am until almost 1:00pm with only one short break in between. They played a selection of lively music to keep up the spirits of the athletes. The London Marathon theme (Ron Goodwin’s The Trap) was played more than once as was the Sports Report theme on Radio 5 (Out of the Blue).

By 1:00pm the mop up operation had begun and the stragglers were having to negotiate the people and lorries clearing up as well as their fellow runners.

The band packed up and were able to get on their way. They were able to get home at just after 3:30pm when some athletes were still running.

Round Table Dinner

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:08:06 +0000

The band are playing at the De Vere Hotel on March 5th for the annual Southampton Round table banquet and ball.

An unusual request

admin — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:18:54 +0000

The band recently received an unusual request from Abdul Salam to play whilst he proposed to his girlfriend Shariah Haque. He had decided that the perfect spot to do this was at the picturesque location of Reinfield House in the New Forest.

And so on Saturday, 2nd October to the accompaniment of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King Abdul got down on one knee and proposed to Shariah. Fortunately, for everybody involved, she accepted his proposal.

Pictures of the happy occasion have been added to the website on the gallery page.

Bournemouth sees end of Summer Concerts

admin — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:28:08 +0000

Whilst Autumn may have officially started earlier in the week, the band were making their final summer bandstand performance of the year at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth. On National Bandstand Day the band played two concerts for the local public. Playing so close to the end of September can be a bit of a lottery as to whether the weather is good enough for people to remain around to listen without freezing or getting wet. However, we were blessed with some warm sunshine which took the nip out of the early morning air. Whilst most people were dressed in windcheaters and long trousers rather than the usual shorts and tee-shirts that the band is accustomed to seeing in July we were rewarded with a good crowd.

The band debuted a number of pieces that they had been rehearsing over the last few weeks including a selection from “Grease”, the march “Voice of the Guns”, “All I Ask of You” from Phantom of the Opera and Barnard Castle (not to be mistaken for Castle Coch!). As usual the band featured a number of soloists from around the band. Paul Dunning played the Euphonium solo “Blayden Races”, Sally Collins played “Misty”, Mark Crisp performed “Feelings”, the trombone section featured “Frolic for Trombones” and Mike Buckby played his perennial favourite “Post Horn Gallop” on a traditional post horn.

Romsey Bandstand

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:58:35 +0000

The band played at Romsey Bandstand on Sunday 16th May. After last year’s complete washout we were hoping for better weather. On the way to Romsey we experienced a number of showers but thankfully the weather stayed dry for most of the afternoon with the exception of one shower during the break.

This was the first of several outdoor events for the band over the summer which will include two trips to Bournemouth bandstand a trip to the London 10K run and several concerts for P&O cruise ships.

Master Mariners Fish Supper

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:17:11 +0000

Friday saw the bands first engagement of the year, playing for the Master Mariners at the Guildhall in Southampton.

Not many photos but here are the few I took:

Summer Engagements

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:20:02 +0000

The engagement list for the summer is available here: http://cosab.org.uk/engagements/

Still waiting for confirmation for a small number of venues details will be uploaded as soon as they are known.

Pictures from Wales Trip 2009

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:15:44 +0000

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Share My Yoke

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:12:23 +0000

Brian Chambers playing “Share My Yoke” during the Bands tour of Germany.

It’s our 90th Anniversary Year

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:12:37 +0000

Okay, we’ll admit it – our attempts to keep this website up to date with the latest news from the band and photos of our engagements failed.

So let’s have another go.

The City of Southampton (Albion) Band is 90 years old this year and whilst there are no specific events to mark it we will be trying to make it a special year.

Later on, when I find the list, I will be updating the engagement list with the various performances already booked. I can reveal now however that we have heard from Bournemouth that we will be on the Pinewalk Bandstand on July 25th and September 26th this year so put those dates in your diary.

Also we will be going to Portugal and hopefully in the next few weeks this website will contain all the info regarding out engagements over there.