A tough decision for David Read at Yeovil meant 4th place and Best Soprano with a Programme "So Well Directed" by Nigel Taken.
Having won the contest in 2005 and with two rather dissapointing results since, the band set to work to try and regain the title at Yeovil for the 3rd time under the musical direction of Nigel Taken.
After a long journey for the Band on Friday 6th February and a pre-contest concert with Sherborne Town Band on the Friday evening, Nigel and the Band started Saturday morning confident that they would once again be able to make a mark on the contest.
Drawn number 6, the Band went on stage soon after mid-day and pulled off a strong performance that really put them in the frame.
The Band started off their session with a tidy performance of Norwegian Dance, setting the standard for the rest of the programme. For the next item, euphonium soloist Derick Kane gave an astonishing rendition of Bravura which tok everyones breath away and probably had the best reception of the day from the audience in the Octagon theatre. Phil Harper's slick arrangement of Minuano was next on the cards and included fine solo playing on Cornet and Trombone. In perfect peace was next on the programme as David Read praised the Band for their ability to make a "superb Brass Band Sound". The programme finished with the Finale to Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, creating a rousing and slick end to the session.
Come results, David Read spoke of the difficulties in choosing a winner at this sort of contest and this was proven when the resuts came out with only a 3 point difference between the top 4 bands.Unfortunately, 4th place saw the Band just outside the prizes but Robert Domingue (zorba), our soprano player managed to pick up the best Soprano of the day prize for his efforts
On reading the comments, it was clear that David Read felt that there was very little between the top for Bands on the day and praised Nigel Taken for his superb programme choice and direction.
Full results were as follows:
Flowers Band, Philip Harper, Drawn 3, 194 pts, 1
Tredegar, Ian Porthouse, drawn 10, 193 pts, 2
BTM, Tom Davoren, Drawn 12,192 pts, 3
Aveley & Newham, Nigel Taken, Drawn 6, 191 pts, 4
Camborne Town Band, Kevin Mckenzie, Drawn 9, 190 pts, 5
SWT Woodfalls, Melvin White, Drawn 7, 188 pts , 6
Kidlington, Captain David Barringer, Drawn 14. 187 pts, 7
Burry Port, Craig Roberts, Drawn 4, 186 pts,8
Mount Charles, Andrew Duncan, Drawn 8, 184 pts, 9
Helston. John Hitchens, Drawn 1, 182 pts, 10
St Dennis, Brian Minear, Drawn 15, 181 pts, 11
Friary Guildford, Chris King, Drawn 5, 180 pts, 12
Bournemouth Concert Brass, Jonathan Camps, Drawn 11, 178 pts, 13
St Keverne, David Frost 13, 176, 14
Lydbrook, Steve Sykes, drawn 2,WW
Best Soloist of the day: Jon Pippen, Trombone, BTM
Alfred Bear Memorial Trophy (Best Section): Rob Marsh, Justin Pavey, James Case, (Trombones Flowers)
John Gardner Memorial Trophy (Best Sop): Robert Domingue, Aveley and Newham