The Riverside Festival

It may appear from some of my blogs that I'm employed part time by the City Council's tourism department. This is not true of course; there are just so many things to see in Nottingham, and I can't help but comment on them. Today was an example of this.

It was the start of the new football season, and Nottingham Forest were playing at home to Barnsley where 22,000 people watched a 0-0 draw. To add balance for Notts County supporters, County won 3-0 at Carlisle.

However, I didn't go to watch football; I went to the other side of the Trent Bridge to the Riverside Festival, which is held on the Victoria Embankment every year in August. Last year I made the mistake of going on the Saturday evening, and nearly died in the crush; this year I went for the 12 O'clock start, and it was so much better.

The Festival is designed for the family, but aged singles like me can find some enjoyment there. The promotional literature says that you will find, "Fun Fair, Four Live Music Stages, Dragon Boat & Charity Duck Races, Craft Market, Street Theatre, Children's Zone, Food Stalls, Steam Engines & Organs, and lots more". All of this covering about three quarters of a mile of the Embankment running alongside the beautiful River Trent.

Ruins of the Colosseum in Rome

Entertainment for the masses has of course a long and glorious/inglorious (delete as appropriate) history. Roman Emperors would put on free extravaganzas for the people, believing that it was a good way to keep the people of Ancient Rome happy and content with the way the city was being governed. This would take their mind off the harsh realities of life.

The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people, and they were looked after by the authorities. If the summer temperature in Rome became too hot, a huge canopy was put over the top of the stadium to protect from the sun. And people get excited about sliding roofs over stadiums today. The 'entertainment' provided nearly always involved death and destruction, with the well known ones being feeding Christians to the lions; animals fighting each other, and gladiator battles.

It was said that on the day the Colosseum opened, over 5,000 animals were killed. Gladiators died at the rate of 50% each show, and who can ever know how many people were thrown to the lions? The Circus Maximus was another equally popular venue where people could watch chariot races. Thankfully, during the last 1600 years, 'entertainment' has moved on a bit from death and destruction.

Steam Traction Engine at Riverside Festival

The 'fair' as entertainment has been with us for centuries, and the largest travelling fair is our very own Nottingham Goose Fair, which most historians think started just after 1284. There is also a travelling fair held in Kirkcaldy, Scotland and called The Links Market which dates back over 700 years.

As far as I can tell, the Nottingham Goose Fair has only ever been cancelled due to the bubonic plaque in 1646, and during the two world wars of the 20th Century. The Goose Fair started as a trade event, and was renowned for its high quality cheese, and it was very popular because of the arrival of thousands of geese which had been walked from Lincolnshire to Nottingham to be sold. It's held at the Forest Recreation Ground, after having to move from the central Old Market Square in 1928 because of redevelopment.

Riverside Festival 2011

The fair as we know it today, with its many and varied rides did not become a possibility until the invention of the Steam Traction Engine during the 19th Century.

The picture above shows one of half a dozen traction engines on show at the Festival, and according to the organisation 'Steam-Up', they are known as Road Locomotives, and these particular ones are showmen's engines, which "apart from hauling rides etc from one venue to another, they were also used for generating the power for the rides and for lighting". You can read more about the history of the traction engine here. Let no one say that you don't get value for money in my blog.

The Riverside Festival is a veritable cornucopia of entertainment, and while the rides leave me a bit cold - though I longed to have the courage to go on the traditional roundabout of galloping horses, but being on my own, I didn't (have the courage or go on it) - there was much to see and hear.

Group of German Musicians

I did enjoy listening to a group of musicians (I think they were from Germany) who moved around the site. They were a drum and brass group, who while they may not be the best musicians in the world, made up for it with their enthusiasm and hypnotic beat. I really enjoyed them.

There were many interesting stalls to look at, and food outlets galore, offering food from around the world. I however, stuck to my usual Trent Bridge Kiosk for my burger and coffee, after all, he's there all the year round and deserves the trade.

Entertainment of every sort still plays a vital role in all of our lives. Whether that is the theatre, concert hall, sports stadium, television or the fairground. We take advantage of entertainment for any number of reasons, and no one should feel ashamed if they use it to divert their thoughts from the toughness of their lives. After all, this has a long history. "The government provided free bread and free entertainment - a combination they believed would keep happy the many unemployed people in Rome".

Over the course of the Riverside Festival, it is expected that 100,000 people will attend, and judging by what I saw this early afternoon, they will find something that will enable them to have a really great time.

Part of the Fireworks Display at Riverside Festival 2010

Band Stand Treat

Nottingham Arboretum Band Stand

I received a text this afternoon from a dear friend of mine, who was taking a break and enjoying the sunshine in their garden. I was asked what was I doing? I was sheltering under a tree (non too successfully by the end) in the Arboretum, while listening to a brass band concert from the Band Stand. There were other hardy souls sitting on provided seats, sheltering under their umbrellas. Picture above to prove it. My friend texted back to tell me to go home, and stop being an eejit by being out in the rain (eejit is Irish pronunciation for idiot). Only a true friend can get away with that. But, my friend was not taking into account the fact that we music buffs are prepared to suffer for our art. Though to be fair, after an hour of being rained upon, eejit, may be a reasonable description.

According to someone sharing my tree (we music lovers are a gregarious lot), the band playing was the Kirkby Brass Band. I didn't ask, but I'm assuming that this is Kirkby, Ashfield in Derbyshire, and that the full name of the band is the Kirkby Colliery Welfare Band.  There's been a brass band in Kirkby since 1897, when its members consisted mainly of surface workers and office staff from the local mine. This band broke up in 1924. In common with many other bands it has seen highs, lows, closures and new beginnings. The present band incarnation, though not necessarily its members, was born in 1949, and it had great success in band competitions during the 1990's. They were very pleasant to listen to this afternoon, playing a mixture of traditional marching music; music from the shows and arrangements of songs from the likes of The Carpenters.

According to Nigel Horne on his website, "How to write for Brass Bands", the basic brass band has 25-26 brass players with 2 or 3 percussionists. They are, 1 Soprano cornet; 10 Cornets; 1 Flugelhorn; 3 Tenor horns; 2 Baritones; 2 Tenor trombones; 1 Bass trombone; 2 Euphoniums; 2 E Basses; 2 B Basses and Percussion. For the musical purists among you, here's a quote from another website, "With the exception of the trombones, all of the brass are conical-bore instruments, which gives the British-style brass band its distinctive bright, mellow sound (as opposed to a dark symphonic sound). All parts apart from the Bass Trombone are now written in Treble Clef".

Black Dyke Mill

Let's move on to others in the world of brass bands. The Black Dyke Band was formerly known as the Black Dyke Mills Band, and is one of the oldest, best known and, with due respect to Kirkby, finest bands in the world.

The original name was after the Black Dyke Mill in Queensbury, West Yorkshire, a company owned by John Foster. He was a French horn player, who joined with others to form a small band in 1816. This folded after a number of years.

In 1855, Foster and other musicians established the new mill band, and kitted it out with uniforms made from the mill's own cloth. Most of the musicians in the band also worked at the mill, and this is the band that has remained active to this day. The band has been hugely popular and successful over the years, not only in brass band circles, but also in the popular music field.

The band has made over 300 recordings, including one of the first brass band recordings in 1904. In addition to working with Peter Gabriel and The Beautiful South, they released a single in September 1968 on the Beatles' Apple label. The A-side was an instrumental composed by Lennon and McCartney called 'Thingumybob', (the theme to a Yorkshire Television sitcom starring Stanley Holloway), and the B-side was a brass band instrumental version of the song 'Yellow Submarine', and was one of the first four singles released on the Apple label. In 1979, the band again worked with Paul McCartney on a track for the Wings album 'Back to the Egg'. In brass band circles, 1985 was undoubtedly their finest year. They won the Yorkshire regional; European; British Open and National Championship contests, as well as being voted BBC Band of the Year. The band have always been hugely versatile in their choice of music, and for those who may be unfamiliar with them, here are three examples out of many that show something of that versatility and musical perfection.

The first sees the Black Dyke Band playing 'Wedding Dance' at the European Championships in 2002.



The next is a fabulous arrangement of 'When the Saints go Marching In', with Paul Duffy on solo cornet, recorded at the Black Dyke Brass Festival in Leeds Town Hall on Sunday, 15th May 2011, and I defy you not to want to dance.



Lastly, the '1812 Overture', again at the Leeds Town Hall with the Yorkshire Youth Band and two other bands. The video is a bit shaky, but the music isn't. We know that the Overture has a fabulous climax, but this version is just awe-inspiring. As an aside, do take note of the magnificent pipe organ in the town hall.



Happy listening.