author: Kevin Whittingham

Three days into our Scandinavian tour and another border has been crossed with Boscombe Band arriving for the first time into Norway. The journey today took us further north into more hilly & forest territory with some incredible views over gorges with the river dancing and flowing underneath!! Wayne Nock enlightened the journey by letting slip that he hadn’t realised that Gothenburg was in Sweden Worrying slightly that he was part of the organising comittee for the tour and is one of the drivers of the instrument van!??!!

Lunchtime saw us arrive in the picturesque town of Halden in the shadow of the Fredriksten Fortress which has seen many a battle between Sweden & Norway in the past. The only battle now seemed to be who could find the best place to moor their exclusive boats in the harbour! With the sun out for the third day running (glad to be away from the rain at home!!), we took a rare chance to spend half an hour soaking up the weather with a hot chocolate or coffee. Once refreshed the Ribena Staff Band (yes..we were in the travel polo shirts again!!) formed up to partake in a short 20 minute open air service with a crowd gathering around us on the quayside. It was a little windy but pleasant as we played a few marches (Rosehill & Cairo Red Shield) along with some modern worship tunes. A highlight playing Rosehill was Matt Worthington’s improvised cymbal crash on the hi-hat…

Before we travelled to the local corps building at Tistedal for a delicious dinner, the Band had a photo around the harbour front with Ray Jones lying in front of the Band like an old black and white football team picture! It was funny to think that when Boscombe Band make it to the 150th or 200th anniversary that this picture may feature in the history of that future band!

We arrived in Askim (pronounced Ashim not Ask im like a Northerner!) mid afternoon to a classic old wooden army hall for coffee and incredible cake. The Band have been treated to some great food & hospitality and Norway it seems will not be an exception! The concert itself was held in a local church a couple of minutes further up the hill from the corps. The wooden church was a tight squeeze for space with the cCornets splitting into three rows but the venue was full to bursting by the commencement of the evening concert. As we stood outside for our pre-match…sorry pre-concert team talk, the bells of the church rang out celebrating the Pentecost national holiday adding an unusual but welcome prelude to our evening.

The concert featured the same programme as Copenhagen on Saturday, with perhaps the best playing of the night occuring during the rendition of All to Jesus. It was special as Eiliv Herikstad, the composer & Askim bandmaster, was in attendance and led the Band in a laid back, almost sexy Glenn Miller style rendition of the Swing number (not Count Baisie Malc !) The Deputy Diva’s half time entertainment band also got a chance to run out Lightwalk for the first time to commence the second half of the concert. Our Bass section (Ross, Brian, John & Ian) were sounding particularly awesome tonight with sonorous sounds adding weight and a great platform for the rest of the Band! It’s also good to have Niall Marshallsay as fifth man down on the front row too for this tour and hopefully longer?

After finishing the concert with Christ Hymn, the Band were given a standing ovation from the audience before launching into two encores. Firstly, the crowd pleasing but cheesy item that is I will Follow Him (good work from the trom section, Garry and dancing band!). Music lovers also received an encore with Bred Dina Vida Vingar which is fast becoming a band & crowd favourite featuring John Starkes & the euph/bari section.

With an 8 hour coach trip tomorrow…yes that’s right 8 hours (?!?!), we hurriedly packed the van ready for an early departure from Askim and left for our billets. Thanks for the feedback on the blog… We will see if any naughty gossip can be added in the next 6 days, and maybe an interview with the Bandmaster to fill up time on our trek to Røros.

It’s Farvell from me for now…