No Open for Friary this year

Sadly, it was another case of Friary travelling in hope to Blackpool for the British Open Spring Festival’s Grand Shield contest last weekend.  Buoyed by last year’s 4th placing – off a no. 1 draw too – the Band was optimistic that this might be its year for securing one of the two top places which would achieve a long-held ambition of playing in the British Open.

Drawn 14th out of the 20 competing bands, Friary’s performance of Prof. Edward Gregson’s Dances and Arias was summarised by adjudicator Lt. Col David Barringer as ‘A performance with much to commend – not everything quite came off but it was an exciting reading.’  The result was a disappointing 9th place, with northern based Ever Ready Band (formerly Reg Vardy) taking the top honours.  However, we were thrilled for our fellow London & Southern Counties competitors Amersham who came second so the Region will be represented at the Open.  Warmest congratulations and the very best of luck to them.

Band Chairman David Wicks was philosophical about the result:  ‘It’s another tough one for us, but we’ll work our way through it and tackle our next contest with renewed enthusiasm.  But for the moment, we’re looking forward to our concert season,’ he concluded.