Saturday Evening

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Birmingham Citadel Band featured in this charity concert in aid of the Bobby Moore Fund, who received a cheque for £1300 on the night with more to follow.

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'Intrada, Bless the Lord' cleverly combined the traditional 'Stand up and Bless the Lord' with the contemporary 'Bless the Lord, O My Soul', aided by the hard-working percussion duo.  'Colne' preceded the 'Overture to the Magic Flute', which was well played, if a little heavy at times, with a nod to historical performance with the use of hard timpani sticks.

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Vigour and energy

 

Abigail Johnson presented vocal items throughout the evening, accompanied by pianist Andrew Wicker. In her first slot, 'On the Rock' contrasted with 'Someone Like You' from the musical 'Jeckyll and Hyde', whilst later she set the simplicity of 'A change in Me' against the swing-style 'Now I belong to Jesus' .

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'Undefeated' (Paul Sharman), uses the tune 'Pembroke' in a work full of vigour and energy.  Neil Blessett followed with the lovely horn solo 'King of Kings', written for him by Gavin and showing off his pure sound to good effect.

Wilfred Heaton's quirky ‘Glory, Glory!' closed the first half; the clashes between Salvation Army and bugle bands vividly portrayed before the tune 'Glory! Glory! Hallelujah' emerges triumphant.

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Sound easy

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Deputy Bandmaster Mark Sharman led Steven Ponsford's lively 'Spirit of Discovery' before Martin Cordner employed Hollywood mode with 'Escape Velocity'.  David Taylor then made 'Auld Lang Syne' sound easy as he tackled Keith Wilkinson's increasingly complex variations, with frequent leaps into the pedal register, and a ringing top 'E' to finish.

 

The band entered into salsa mood for 'High Over All', with an array of congas, bongos and other toys before the reflective 'Everlasting Hope' , written in memory of former bandmaster Graham Lamplough.

 

After Major Adrian Allman's message and Abigail's singing of 'Blessings', the band played Martin Cordner's 'Adventurers', ending the evening on a fitting note of hope. 

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The encore, 'On the King's Highway' (Leidzen), had just the right amount of razzmatazz, complete with glissandi from the trombones.
   

Peter Bale - 4barsrest

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Sunday Morning

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The Sunday morning of Staines saw the hall full again and filled with the buzz of Christian fellowship. The Staines Songsters set the tone for worship, which was followed by the band's playing of Prelude on Lavenham (Geoffrey Nobes). 

During worship the home sections of the Songsters and Singing Company brought messages of joy and reverence and Birmingham band played the Horn Feature: Thine Alone (James Cornow). Our very own Marc Richardson brought the children’s message which was based around logos and being able to recognise God immediately through the work of Christians. 

The band played "Just as I am”, which paved the way for Major Allman to bring the message of Zachius in a new light. He focused on Jesus calling all men ‘just as they are’ for whole life discipleship. 

The morning did not conclude at the end of the service, but saw the massed band of the two corps marching down the high street to bring the gospel message in music and scripture to the local community. 

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Talitha Devey

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