The latest stages of Black Dyke's 'Bandstand Tour' continued on what was a busy weekend for the Queensbury band.

On Saturday they performed as part of the 'Best of Brass' Festival at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax, rounding off their performance with John McCabe's 'Cloudcatcher Fells', before they headed to very different musical landscapes the following day under the baton of MD, Prof Nicholas Childs.

Harrogate and Ripon

Stages 5 and 6 the following day saw the Black Dyke peloton of players head first to Harrogate to perform in the Victorian Valley Gardens Bandstand.

There they shared the platform with Tewit Youth Band, and despite the rain there was no dampening of spirits according to their MD Martin Hall.

"There was a large audience who greeted each item with real gusto and it was fantastic to share the concert with brass band royalty, although they couldn't even stop the rain that interrupted but didn't stop play!" commented Martin Hall.

Then it was off to the magnificent Ripon Cathedral with Ripon City Band for another performance, with their conductor, Mark Sidwell telling 4BR: "There was a great crowd that formed to listen to the bands perform and they certainly appreciated the arrangements of hymn settings conducted by Philip Wilby."

Next stage

Next weekend sees the tour enter Whit Friday country before moving on to Barnsley where Black Dyke will be joined by Barnsley Music Centre under conductor, Connor Lennon.