Saturday 11th June 2011
Red Hot in Copenhagen
author: Kevin Whittingham
The first day of the tour has already passed after a scorching hot concert at Copenhagen Temple tonight!
Our flight was a short & uneventful 1.5 hour trip with British Airways, but with the chance to explain to a few locals sat around us on the plane who we were and why we are playing concerts in Scandinavia this week. I think our Ribena outfits gave the game away that we are not a normal travelling group!!? Upon landing in Denmark one recently qualified pilot was lucky enough to be invited into the cockpit and be shown the ropes of an Airbus A319 by the Captain & First Officer. If he happens to post a picture of himself in the pilot's seat don’t be fooled into believing that he actually flew the plane!!
A short coach trip to the Temple from the airport and we were able to meet up with Wayne & David who had arrived safely after 19 hours on the North Sea with our instruments. The hall itself is an old Army building with a classic gallery that sweeps round behind both cornet & trombone sections, and a platform which rises step by step. This left the unloading team with the fun and unenvious task of taking percussion from the van, through the hall and up what seemed like Mount Everest!! George & Matt had a grandstand view & best seats for the whole concert.
Our first meal in Denmark was a barbecue of sausages, beef & various salads and potatoes which the hungry band gratefully snapped up after the lack of much in flight grub from our national airline. This spicy feast did however lead to some windy incidents on stage, especially from my billet partner during our assistance with percussion in the congregational song! 
The weather had been hot and sunny all day, so with red tunics on we took to the stage for our first concert/gig of the tour. Not only was the on stage temperature scorching but the playing at times in the first half was of a similar ilk. Highlights included a great version of the march Victors Acclaimed, Starsky being on top form with Bravura & Craig with a sweet version of Gabriel's Oboe. Stephen Main (ainging vocal) & Brian Wright (vocal) blessed everybody with their contributions in a cracking rendition of To the Chief Musician. The first half ended with Quintessence (nearly without a 2nd Horn player who was seen searching through his folder while Howard introduced the piece! Needless to say he was reprimanded during the interval for his lack of organisation by both the front row and his section leader!)
The interval was a good chance to meet and talk with our hosts who were an appreciative & receptive audience all night, and a debut performance of Boscombe Band’s small brass group equivalent of Mnozil Brass (ahem!!!). Their rendition of Chassidic Dance brought the audience back to their seats for the second half. With the heat and tiredness from a day travelling starting to take it’s toll the second half perhaps failed to reach the heights of the first half, but with Gilbert Ellis introducing the items in Danish the playing of Ascalon in particular was a highlight in the second half. Other pieces included All Glorious, Coming Home & finishing with a new piece from the pen of Robert Redhead called Christ Hymn. After Howard had stood the Band to take the warm applause and a final prayer we played a lovely benediction called Bred Dina Vida Vingar. Without using Google translate some of us believed the name to mean Bread Dinner with Vinegar in English!! However, it’s a gorgeous Swedish tune and the title translates to Spread Your Wings Wide and it ended the evening beautifully.
The Band then went their separate ways to various billets to cool off with much needed cold drink and food. This is sometimes the best times of the tour meeting people and sampling the lifestyle and customs of the country you’re visiting…. And now it’s 1am and time to try and sleep. Not holding much hope with Barney the snoring Walrus in the same room! Night all…