The common desire to help raise funds for Wales’s leading cancer charity saw Cory and Tredegar come together for an audience friendly Sunday afternoon concert in the heart of Cardiff.
Glinting
With the bright sunshine glinting off the National and British Open Trophies in the foyer of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the unique event soon saw a full house audience packed into the compact Dora Stoutzker Hall to enjoy the two heavyweights on equally glittering form.
An extended first half of complementary sets saw Tredegar’s upbeat approach, which opened with the slickly choreographed ‘All Night Long’, set the tone for what was to follow over the next two hours.
Showcase
Given the nature of the cause and the audience attracted to the event, it was showcase repertoire from start to finish; the feisty ‘Folk Festival’ and boldness of ‘Glorifico Aeternum’ from the Open winners and ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ from the National champions, balanced with the touching lyricism shown on ‘Little Hymn’ and ‘Calon Lan’ respectively.
The solo contributions of Tredegar’s Danny Winder, Dewi Grifiths and Matthew White, and Cory’s Martyn Patterson, Steve Stewart and Owen Farr were top drawer stuff - all delivered with the assured delicacy of razor sharp technique and considered musicality.
And just to ensure that no one was left flagging between the short intervals, lollipop encores of ‘Nobody Can’t Do Me Like Jesus’ and ‘Happy’ gave a well jabbed sugar boost of fizzy energy.
Serious aim
The serious aim of the event was not forgotten however, with Velindre’s Clinical Director Dr Tom Crosby giving an enlightening interview with the ever supportive compere and brass band fan extraordinaire Beverley Humphreys as the band’s quickly changed places on stage.
Massed ranks
The short second half (with the MDs sharing the conducting duties) saw the massed ranks deliver a darkly menacing ‘Mars’ from ‘The Planets’ and a fair old whip through ‘Bugler’s Holiday’ (with Ian Porthouse dusting off his cornet).
Kenneth Downie’s lovely arrangement of ‘Myfanwy’ was the perfect segue into ‘Shine As The Light’ to close, before Philip Harper led the bands in a ‘Stars & Stripes’ encore to leave a well satisfied audience with a rousing skip in their step as they filed out into the glorious afternoon sunshine.
Iwan Fox
