Van of Band

My grown-up daughter ran up to me. "Have you blipped yet? Have you seen the van?"

I had been helping to load the van for the past ten minutes, but standing back had to admit that it was quite a sight.

We had to clear the stage in the main marquee after a weekend of brass banding at the Scottish National Mining Museum, in Newtongrange, Mid Lothian, Scotland.

We, the Newtongrange Silver Band, played three concerts there, yesterday was a competition day with bands from all over Scotland, and today we had accordion bands, ceildh bands, jazz bands, and a top-class pipe band.

In the van there are:- Four tubas, three orchestral timpani, a concert xylophone, concert bass drum, music stands for a whole brass band (25), percussion stands, grips, clamps, sticks, gizmos and thingies, a complete drum kit with pedal bass drum and tom-toms etc, as well as cymbals, bongos, a tam-tam, timp seat, and on and on.

When Julie and I got the van to the band hall, guess how many tuba players and percussionists were there to unload it all again?

Bless them, they were probably all a bit tired.