T-Minus One Month-ish!

Vincent confesses his sins…[Steinbenders at Meeanee Meets Munich - The Old Church Napier']

Good morning, back row Isabattler here I’ve been commissioned by the band’s media man, Callum Mallett, who came to me literally begging for my work. His tenor horn is out of action this contest, so this blog is brought to you by FOMO (see also: contest withdrawal anxiety).

About two months ago, Dave proposed a brilliant idea. Perhaps more of a pact than a polite suggestion, the proposal was to learn all of the notes in our pieces before June. This way, we would get to June and all we would need to do is work on the musicality side of things, and piece parts together as a group. My eyes lit up, he’s a bloody genius. I’m going to do that, I thought. It’s only like mid-April, right? Wrong. It is now mid-June. Heck. I won’t complain though - I play third cornet, so most of my note-heads are hollow and below the stave.

After the threat of making us all play tricky bits one by one in front of the band, I believe the back row learnt a very important lesson; Vincent will always be there to carry the section, until he isn’t. And when he isn’t we’re doomed, individually doomed. If you haven’t already guessed it, our rehearsals have recently been taken up a notch. Six hours a week, sometimes twelve, it’s becoming a real test of concentration and yawning discretely.

Three of our star cornetists, Toby Pringle, Andy Weir, and Matt Stein, however, have been slacking off to play in West Side Story instead, deciding that a paid gig is more important to them than community commitment, and above all else, Kieran fending for himself on the front row. Poor guy, exemplary triple tongue.

If you’re here for an inside scoop on what we will be performing at contest, then you have my sincere condolences. While I am not permitted to disclose the title of our own-choice piece, I will say that it is an absolute tune. Bring your muffs and turn the hearing aid down, it’s about to get loud in Hamilton.