Tour 2009

Tour 2009

Costa Blanca 2009

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Introduction

Once again, Lions embarked upon a foreign tour; which still feels a bit 'new' as tradition deems that the band tour the south coast of England. As with 2008's successful Spanish tour we were to stay on the Costa Blanca and reside at the Lady Elizabeth International School near Calpe. The Difference this year was that this was to be our only stopping point rather than the three we had last year.

Tour Diary

Day 1 - Saturday 18th July 2009

An early start for all- the coach left Sandbach at 5:30 AM for the 8:30 flight to Alicante. Many of the players (including me) decided to grab forty winks on the plane, until the rather bumpy landing two hours later woke everyone up again.

The journey to the Lady Elizabeth School was short and uneventful, and soon we had unloaded the coach, claimed our sleeping spaces on the hall floor and invaded the swimming pool.

The evening concert was an open-air affair on Albir Beach, and we drew quite a big crowd. Despite the shock of playing in the heat, we gave a good account of ourselves and went down a storm with the locals. Still jet-lagged, we all headed back to the school later on for some well-needed sleep.

Day 2 - Sunday 19th July 2009

In sympathy for our aching heads, a lie-in was called for… but after a bit of extra sleep the hall was cleared for a quick rehearsal before another dip in the pool and then lunch. The food itself was provided by the committee.

This evening’s concert was at the Municipal Theatre in Torrevieja, where we had played alongside a youth orchestra in 2008. This time, the first half of the concert featured a spectacular saxophone quartet! We rolled out some new music and some old favourites (such as the infamous Can Can) in the second half, and everything went incredibly well. The audience was one of the best we’d ever played for!

Municipal Theatre, Torrevieja.

The Can Can dancers in Torrevieja

We eventually made it back to the school and turned in for the night in preparation for the next day…

Day 3 - Monday 20th July 2009

Brian’s “Good morning, campers!” woke us up bright and early, and despite the inevitable complaints, once we realised where we were going we stopped moaning at him.

Today we would be playing an hour-long spot at the Terra Mitica theme park near Benidorm, followed by a day in the park itself, absolutely free! Actually, it turned out to be about half an hour, so we had more time in the park itself… something we had no arguments about whatsoever!

Our day passes included both free access to all the rides (brilliant!) and a free lunch at one of the restaurants (lovely!), so we left feeling very contented indeed.

Terra Mitica Theme Park near Benidorm

The YMCA Dance team at Terra Mitica Theme Park near Benidorm.

The Band enjoy the rides

The night was free, so the committee organised a cabaret evening! There were various solo and group acts, including singers, dancers and a highly amusing comedy duo, before the entire band got up and danced along to MJ’s “Thriller.” After that, we were pretty tired out, so we all collapsed into bed again.

The evening Cabaret night.

Day 4 - Tuesday 21st July 2009

coming soon

Performance at Moraira

Trombones feature at Moraira

Day 5 - Wednesday 22nd July 2009

coming soon

The Three Amigos! Brian, Derek and Nigel enjoy a quiet moment as the band members enjoy the beach at Moraira.

Calpe Amphitheatre

Day 6 - Thursday 23rd July 2009

coming soon

Pupils from the Summer School join in

Day 7 - Friday 24th July 2009

coming soon

Day 8 - Saturday 25th July 2009

coming soon

Articles

coming soon

Retrospectives

Nigel Birch - Musical Director, Lions Youth Brass

What makes a successful tour?

1. Good Organisation is the key to everything, and with Jane Stubbs we are lucky to have someone who can organise not just the committee to perform a range of very important tasks, but also a series of events, accommodation, meals and free time that had just the right balance.
The organisation for a trip like this will have started as we finished the end of tour concert in 2008, making sure that we had sufficient financial backing so we could make the trip affordable to all members of The Youth Band. We were fortunate to receive a grant to help subsidise the tour and my thanks go to Mrs. Potts, Ruth Jenkins and those band members who helped with that project. There were a lot of fundraising undertaken in order to reach our targets and my thanks go to everyone who gave up a lot of their free time to put on and support numerous fundraising events.

2.Most important performance?

The first concert is always the most crucial to me, because it sets the standard for the week and it also means that due to traveling the band are very tired and I need to keep them motivated. The most important aspect is to get a good audience so the band feels it is worthwhile. Luckily on the first night we had a really good setting with a good crowd and I picked a program that the band were really comfortable with performing.
During the week we played at a very consistent level and I was very pleased with the bands performances.
The entire group of soloists performed very well and I was pleased we managed to feature a lot of individuals and different sections. It was great to have Charlotte comparing for us and I think it added a new dimension to our programs, and I know the Spanish people were pleased that we had made an effort to communicate with them in their own language.

3. Good Accommodation.

Staying at the school all week and not moving around like last year was much more convenient and I know Jane was more comfortable with the band been housed altogether as it was much easier for her to keep a watchful eye over the band.
The facilities at the school are just what we need and the showers, kitchen and swimming pool gave us options for meals and relaxation. This schedule, like last year, gave us a lot of free time, and a couple of trips to the beach and regular visits to the swimming pool gave the band a holiday feeling.
The band treated us to a really entertaining cabaret night, which had lots of talent and comical moments.

Finally the end of tour concert was a great success and I am told that over the last ten years we have raised over Ł10, 000 for Rotary Club Charities.

I have been on over 20 tours with Lions and each one is different to the others, with many memorable moments, and this one was equally as enjoyable as the previous tours.
I was fortunate to go away with a group of young people and adults that I respect and I was very proud of everyone.

Thanks to you all.

Here’s to a great 2010 tour wherever it may be.

Nigel