Rode Hall Band Raises the Roof

The Rode Hall Silver Band entertained an appreciative audience in St James Church on Saturday evening with a varied programme of new and well-known pieces.

The band was conducted by Nigel Butler who also introduced the soloists to us and explained that they were not the the "Rode Heath" Silver Band, as advertised, so he felt free to adjust the programme.

The event was organised and laid on by the Scout and Guide Hall organisation, but the proceeds were donated to the Raise the Roof Appeal to help pay for the repairs to the roof of St James after the recent theft of lead and other damage. This was also partly in recognition of the great assistance given by the Church all those years ago when the Scout And Guide Hall was first established.

We were entertained with a wide range of items ranging from March Star Lake; Misty; a hymn; Something Stupid; a Shostakovich waltz; Rusalka's Song to the Moon; Lord of the Dance; Abba's Slipping through my fingers and a Broadway collection and all that was only up to half time.

A quick glass of wine behind the vestry and we were away for the second half with the Amparito Roca; a lovely Welsh song, Myfanwy; the Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday; Doyle's Lament; the Elephant from Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals; One moment in Time, as sung by Witney Houston for the Seoul Olympics; Mid All the Traffic; a medley of British SeaSongs (as not performed at this year's Last Night of the Proms) and finally Valero.

Then after Nigel had judged the applause to be sufficient to warrant it, the encore was fittingly the Great Escape.

The soloists, Steve Twemlow, Vicky Wood, Chris Burton, Simon Crowley and Vicky Day all did their different things to great effect – and special mention should be made of the percussion section who were split up by the awkward geography of the Church so that a certain amount of rushing backwards and forwards was necessary.

All in all a very enjoyable evenings music, and the Church Roof Fund benefited by over £500.

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