Saturday 4th December 2021 - Mince Pie Givaway
A return to normal saw the Evesham Churches Together having a Mince Pie Givaway and requested a few members of the band play to accompany the carol singers. It didn't exactly go smoothly. We got of to a bad start with one player turning up in Broadway instead of Evesham so joined us a bit late after being redirected. A bitterly cold wind left us chilled to the bone and played havoc with our music, occasionally blowing an entire stand over. Just after 11:00am we started to work our way through our carol section while waiting for representatives of the churches to arrive and lead the carol singing but no one turned up. We continued with out carol repertoire for just over an hour while the boxes of mince pies gradually went down. There was still some reluctance by the general public to accept the pies so fewer where given out this year. The band members weren't so shy and were happy to enjoy a mince pie after playing.
Friday 3rd December 2021 – Broadway on The Green
This year we were asked to play for the second week Late Night Shopping Event in Broadway an invitation we were happy to accept as we get much more exposure on the Green rather than in the URC Church where we have played in previous years. Peter was still in recovery mode so we worked our way through the same mixed programme he had set for us the week before. There was just one piece we had to abandon because of timing issues which just goes to show a conductor has his uses. The hot drinks went down well again as both evenings had been very cold. They had also been rain free which was a blessing for both the band and the Broadway businesses. Over the two evenings the Broadway Business community raised £530 for Midlands Air Ambulance, which was very successful given ever fewer people now carry cash. We have already been invited back for next year.
Wednesday 1st December 2021 - u3a Christmas Concert
The committee decided to test the water with a live event for the December meeting and the Band was asked to provide the entertainment. The event had to operate under the regulations of the Methodist church which insisted on a maximum of 70 attending, masks being worn by the audience even when singing and the committee was not permitted to provide refreshments. A combination of these regulations plus some members still being reluctant to mix meant the event was poorly attended. It was also unfortunate that Peter had caught a cold on the previous Friday and was unable to conduct. Undeterred we made a few adjustments to the original programme to ensure we could manage without a conductor. With the help of Denise counting us in the band played mostly Christmas pieces including three carols for the audience to sing-a-long to with the words provided on the overhead projector. You can hear us playing La Cumparsita in the video below, Tango anyone?
Friday 26th November 2021 – Broadway on The Green
It was good to be back playing at the Broadway Late Night Shopping Event which had to be cancelled last year. We played from 6.00 until 8.00 with a 30 min break as usual, but this year we chose to bring our own refreshments which allowed us to socialise during our break. The tea,
coffee and hot mulled wine went down well with lebkuchen. We worked our way through a mixed selection alternating between Christmas Carols, Christmas Songs and some of our favourite non Christmas pieces. We managed to attract quite an audience, happy to applaud and cheer our efforts and even inspired one couple to dance an impromptu tango. It was so good to be part of the festivities.
Saturday 12th December 2020
A group of six of the Concert Band musicians were able to answer the call from Evesham Churches Together to lead a short open air carol service in Market Square. We arranged ourselves in a socially distanced circle by the tree at the centre of Market Square and by the time we were ready to start we had gathered quite a socially distanced crowd keen to join in the carols or just listen. This replaced the usual Mince Pie Giveaway with more emphasis on the carols but no mince pies! It was wonderful to provide a little festive diversion during such worrying times.