City of Southampton (Albion) Band

Fifth Appearance at the London Marathon

mark — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:11:40 +0000

On Sunday 22nd April the band played on Jamaica Road in Bermondsey to accompany the athletes running the London Marathon and to entertain the many thousands of people cheering the runners on. This is the fifth appearance of the band at the marathon and is the third year we have performed at Jamaica Road. An early morning start saw the band arrive at their destination before 8:00am. The local sandwich shop must have thought that all his dreams had come true at the same time as a group of hungry bandsmen descended on his shop.

Band during a break in playing at London Marathon

The band set up and were ready to play before the first runners and wheelchair athletes came through. We were situated at about the 11.5 mile mark and so the first runners (the elite wheelchair athletes and the elite women) came through soon after 9:30am. The band continued to play a variety of upbeat numbers to keep the spirits of the runners up. Particular favourites at the marathon include Ron Goodwin’s theme from “The Trap” which is used by the BBC to introduce their coverage of the marathon and “Out of the Blue” which is the theme tune used each Saturday at 5:00pm for Radio 5 Live’s “Sports Report”.

We continued to play until 1:00pm by which time most of the runners had passed by and the roads were being reopened having been cleared of the empty water bottles lying on the ground.

Trip to Torquay to play for HMS Newfoundland reunion

mark — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:37:45 +0000

Performances for different organisation’s reunion weekends is becoming a staple diet of the band. This weekend the band travelled to Torquay to play for the HMS Newfoundland reunion Sunday service followed by a short concert of typical marine type tunes. These events are always well received by the veterans attending these weekends and this weekend was no exception.

As Torquay is a fair distance to travel for one concert the band took the opportunity to go down on the Saturday and perform a concert at Victoria Park Methodist Church in Torquay for the local parishoners. We were well received by the audience attending who enjoyed the wide range of music that we played. Certain pieces were being performed by the band for the first time including a selection from My Fair Lady, the march Star Lake and an arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee which was the tune played by the musicians on the Titanic as she went down. The band started the piece by playing the first verse as a quartet to recreate the string quartet that played on the boat before the remainder of the band came in for the second verse.

Our hotel was situated in Paignton and was very welcoming. As usual we have to thank the people from IOW tours for their efforts in helping to make our weekend run as smoothly as possible.

A Rousing Night with Southampton Round Table

mark — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:58:44 +0000

For the second year running we were asked to play for the Southampton Round Table’s Annual Dinner at the De Vere Hotel in Southampton. The band provided background music throughout the various courses at dinner before finishing with some rousing numbers that the audience were able to join in with that included Eric Coates “Dambusters” March, Parry’s Jerusalem, Orpheus and the Underworld by Offenbach featuring the “Can-Can” and Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 (Land of Hope and Glory).

The band were accompanied throughout by balloons being let off around the room, although not always in tune (the balloons that is)! Last year the band were bombarded by people firing pea shooters but this year some of the band came prepared with pea shooters themselves using the mouthpieces of their instruments to act as the blower.

Once dinner was over the band were able to retire and leave the revellers to carry on their merryment into the early hours.

Back to back jobs to start February

mark — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:08:14 +0000

Having had a month to recover from Christmas the band were back in action again on the first weekend in February. Friday night saw the band perform for the Master Mariner’s dinner held in the City Terminal located in Southampton dockyard. The band have accompanied the Master Mariner’s dinner for the past several years but this was the first time that the location had moved from the Southampton Guildhall. The band played a selection of items during the evening, many with a nautical theme including “A Life on the Ocean Wave”, “On the Quarterdeck” and a “Fantasia on British Sea Songs”. The band were also able to participate with the “Shantymen” accompanying the audience with some traditional sea shanties.

On the Saturday, the band were able to play for the 90th birthday of Olive Taylor. Olive has been a long standing supporter of the band over a good many years. It was with our pleasure that we were able to perform at her party held in the Salvation Army hall in Sholing.

New players welcome

mark — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 08:58:52 +0000

The band is always pleased to welcome new players. We are a non-competing band who play a variety of different concerts throughout the year. These include playing at local bandstands, playing cruise liners away, the London Marathon, leading the Southampton Rememberance parade, providing music for formal dinners, playing at certain organisation’s reunion events and occasional tours abroad.

If you are interested in playing then either contact our secretary Emily Akerman at secretary@cosab.co.uk or just turn up for rehearsal. We rehearse on a Monday night from 7:30pm at the Swaythling Neighbourhood Centre just off Burgess Road in Swaythling, Southampton. We have some instruments available for those who don’t have their own.

Christmas Concert at the Point

mark — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:01:59 +0000

Christmas as usual has been a busy time of the year for the band. We have played three times at Marks and Spencer raising money for charity, played the carols for a carol service at St. Albans Church, Swaythling, performed for the Masonic Lodge in Lexby Road, Totton and had a great evening on Sunday 11th December at our annual Christmas concert held at The Point, Eastleigh.

The latter event was a particular highlight for the band and was well appreciated by the audience. The first half consisted of music from the band’s standard repetoire including the euphonium solo “The Holy Well”, a couple of solos from Les Miserables, a Mack and Mable selection, Ravel’s Bolero and others. This was interspersed with music from the men’s barbershop chorus, Ocean Harmony, singing traditional American numbers ”Home on the Range”, “Georgia on my Mind”, “Under the Boardwalk” and “Take me Home Country Roads”. For the second half the band concentrated more on Christmas tunes including Leroy Anderson numbers “Sleigh Ride” and “Christmas Festival”, Howard Blake’s “The Snowman”, Jona Lewie’s “Stop the Cavalry” and several carols to which the audience were able to join in. Ocean Harmony performed another set of songs including “White Christmas”, “Hello Mary Lou” and the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty Four”. The audience had to endure a horrible evening of weather to get to the concert but went home feeling that the effort had been worth it.

Korean Veterans Weekend

mark — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:53:49 +0000

Band performing at National Memorial Gardens, Litchfield

Our second trip to Coventry in 3 weeks was to support the British Korean Veterans Association whose members fought in the Korean War from 1950-53, the first war to be officially sanctioned by the United Nations.

We were asked to play a concert at their formal dinner in the presence of his Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Choo. The audience particularly enjoyed the marches we played which began with Voice of the Guns and concluded with the Hills of Korea, the march dedicated to the BKVA which was conducted by his Excellency the Ambassador.

On the Sunday the band played the hymns for their memorial service in the morning and then travelled up to Lichfield to the National Memorial Gardens to take part in a short Rememberance Service at the Korean Veterans Memorial Garden. This was concluded with a short march past with the band leading the veterans.

Band tours Madeira

mark — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 18:06:07 +0000

The band have just returned from a week long tour to Madeira. The weather was fantastic for the duration of the trip and a selection of the photos have been posted in the gallery section of the website. More details of the tour will appear soon.

Band outside Quinto do Farao Hotel close to Santana

Band travels to Coventry

mark — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:32:09 +0000

On the 24th September the band travelled to Coventry for the weekend. The purpose of the trip was to play a concert for the Cornish Clay Miners who hold a reunion annually. This year they had taken over the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry. The band were asked to play a concert on the Saturday night consisting of a mix of brass band favourites and a second half containing many of the Last Night at the Proms favourites including Jersualem, Fantasia on British Sea Songs and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No.1.

Band preparing for Harvest Festival Service for Cornish Clay Miners

The band stayed in Coventry overnight and joined the Cornish group for a harvest festival service on the Sunday morning followed by a concert containing traditional Cornish tunes. Some of these were performed with the Mid Cornwall Male Voice Choir.

The whole weekend was an overwhelming success with an appreciative crowd of approximately 350 people watching. The band are set to repeat the effort in Coventry for the Korean Veterans Association in late October. For more pictures of the weekend look on the gallery web page.

P&O Cruise Ship, Aurora played away

mark — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:46:32 +0000

On the 31st July the band were asked to play away the P&O Cruise ship Aurora in the traditional style of crusie liners leaving Southampton Docks. The Aurora was starting on its way for a trip round the Western Mediterranean for 12 nights visiting Florence, Rome and Barcelona.

For more pictures look at our new gallery page.