On Saturday night July 6th we held our 2024 Summer Concert in Bolton Parish Church and enjoyed another fantastic evening in front of a packed audience. At the same time as 18 million people were watching England play Switzerland on BBC1 in the Euros and a further 9 million people were streaming the match, we feared our audience numbers might be really affected in spite of excellent ticket sales, but happily that wasn’t the case at all. We had another amazing concert with a full house supporting us.

Our MD Chris Wormald had chosen a most challenging and stamina testing programme for the band to play, opening the concert with the Shostakovich Festive Overture Op.96 and continuing with highlights from Mack And Mabel, Nicaea (Holy, Holy, Holy), Hymn To The Fallen and the first half concluding with Fire In The Blood by celebrated Black Dyke Band composer Paul Lovatt-Cooper (a life-long Bolton Wanderers supporter). The second half, when we were joined as always by our Saturday Community Band, opened with the spectacular and thrilling 1984 Olympic Fanfare And Theme composed by John Williams and continued with What A Wonderful World sung superbly by not just the Community Choir but the whole audience, extensive highlights from Mary Poppins and concluded with a full-blooded performance of Riverdance to celebrate its 30th anniversary and featuring a quartet of four Flugel Horns from within the band played by Principal Cornet Lynsey Hayes, Becca Crompton, Hollie Lancaster and our regular Flugel player Janet Walsh, who all performed superbly from memory at the front of the band.

Amongst many superb highlights in Saturday evening’s concert, with the Community Choir performing at its best throughout once again and which included excellent performances of The Lord Bless You and Keep You, Anything Goes, Let Me Entertain You, Mr Blue Sky, Shake Rattle And Roll and Ain’t That A Kick In The Head taken from the original Oceans 11 film, Chris invited our Bass Trombonist Dec Cullen to make his concert conducting debut directing Peter Graham’s stunning Lady Stewart’s Air midway through the first half. The band played superbly under Dec’s guidance and the audience gave a huge ovation.

With the whole evening performed in front of The Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, to whom we presented flowers at the conclusion of the concert, and our Band President Gerry Russell, who has just turned 80 years of age and who shared Lord-Lieutenant chaperone duties for the evening with our Community Music Chairman David Warburton, the Lord-Lieutenant said she had enjoyed a truly wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable evening and would leave with very happy memories, certain she would be seeing the band perform again in the future. Everyone in Eagley, Community Choir, Community Band and our audience had a fantastic night and a hugely uplifting one with former Mayor of Bolton Councillor John Walsh also reporting record interval refreshment sales and bar takings due to the size of our audience.