We had a very successful fundraising tour leading up to Christmas playing out and about collecting for band funds.

To start our tour we were invited to play at Tyne Valley Garden Centre Xmas Craft Fair along with our friends Whittenstall Community Band.

Diane Mayes playing Gabriels Oboe (on Clarinet )

Here we see a lovely Reindeer having a nice rest building up his strength for the busy day ahead. (Reindeers are very gentle and not to be confused with the Tromso Moose which has a very nasty bite)

Whittenstall Community Band playing in the afternoon and looking very Christmassy 

Newcastle Central Station

Hexham Xmas Farmers Market

We had a lovely evening playing for the National Trust in the historic chapel at  Gibside for their annual Christmas concert.  It was chilly even inside but the band and audience were dressed in winter woolies.

Here we see the band performing at Eldon Square Newcastle.

Sharp eyed viewers may notice our MD Mr Hignett is seen here with his twin brother Zelig Hignett whilst visiting the UK from the USA for a Xmas break.

Zelig liked the band that much he came that he came to see us again at Tescos in Hexham for our last Gig of 2014 before jetting back to New York.

We resume rehearsals on the 10th January so if there are any musicians out there who would like to join us please feel free to come along , you will be made very welcome.

Thanks to all our stalwart band members who turned out week after week before Xmas to raise money for band funds.

The leaves are turning, the wasps are getting drowsy, the mists are misty, the fruit is fruitful etc, all of which means it s nearly time to resume rehearsals!

We had a busy summer ‘Car Park’ Tour playing at various venues around the region before taking a well earned break in July.

Brocksbushes Summer Fair

Gibside

Gabriels Clarinet featuring Diane Mayes

Many thanks to all those band members who turned out week after week to make the band sound great.

If there are any adults out there who fancy dusting off their instrument or any younger players who want the the opportunity to play in a large ensemble out of school feel free to come along to any rehearsal, you will be made very welcome.

We are in the midst of our Summer fundraising tour when we play at various events to raise money for band funds.

Luckily we managed to get most of our set played before a torrential downpour halted proceedings with a mad dash to the cars.

Keep an eye on our calendar for dates of other events through the summer before our summer break.

We start rehearsals again in September so if anyone out there fancies joining us come along with your instrument and have a go. You will be made very welcome.

Prudhoe Community Band entertained an enthusiastic audience at this years prestigious Northumberland County Show held at its new home in the grounds of Bywell Hall for the second year.

The previous two days of torrential rain made access tricky with many vehicles getting stuck in the mud early in the day. Luckily the majority of farmers in Northumberland, some with very large tractors indeed were on site to pull everyone out.

We were situated between the funfair and the Cumberland Wrestling ring on a small oasis of dry ground surrounded by mud, and the weather held fair for the day.

Thanks to Gaynor Shotton, Secretary of Tynedale Agricultural Society for inviting us, we had a lovely day.

We got our Summer Term events off to a good start at the weekend with an appearance playing on the Seles’ historic bandstand.  Thanks to Steve Quilliam for the photo.

This was part of Hexhams’ Spring Fair and Eating festival with further events being planned later in the Summer.

Click here for further details visithexham.net  We hope to play at the Hexham Regatta event in June.

We have our own Webshop which helps generate band funds. If you purchase goods through this link the band receives a percentage of the price of the goods taken from the retailers advertising budget. The cost to you is exactly the same as buying online directly.

The Webshop is now run by easyfundraisers who have taken over from Spend & Raise.

It works in exactly the same way as before. Why not give it a try and share the link with your friends.  Since starting the Webshop we have raised over £1400.

Click on the logo and start contributing to band funds.

There is a now toolbar on the site which can be used to let you know if a retailer you might be going to buy from is involved with our Webshop. (Please make sure you are happy with your privacy settings before using the toolbar)

We had a very enjoyable evening last night with our friends the Ponteland Community Wind Band directed by Alastair Lord. PCWB played an interesting programme to start the concert aided by our very own Jack Ruddick on percussion and Jonny Drake stepping in on Bass at the last minute.

We held a brief AGM during the interval with an address by our Chairman Steve Quill i’ am and a report on the accounts by Mr Dave Lamb. The band is now in its 21st year and continues to attract new players and in particular younger musicians who are essential to our survival.  If you are interested in joining please come along, you will be made very welcome.

After the interval Prudhoe Community Band started proceedings with an ambitious ‘Eyes Down’  attempt at ‘La Gazza Ladra’ (Rossini abridged Hignetti)  The serious bit over we escaped unscathed to relax into the rest of the set.

Before our performance of ‘The Three Amigos’, our every own amigos Baxter Fenwick, Steve Quill i’am and Dave Hignett led the audience in learning the authentic dance moves from the film, complete with genuine Mexican Sombreros from Steves dressing up box.

Another highlight of our set was a tribute to the great American Band Leader Spike Jones featuring Guest Percussionist ‘Sir’ Mark of Bolderson on Whistles (Various), nightshade (falling), bakelite phone and Inappropriate Clash Cymbal.

Thanks too to Jo on bicycle bell, Baxter on party poppers (and various noises off) and band members on rolled up newspaper.

Here we see ‘Sir’ Marks able assistant Kathryn on joke hand pointer, sharing an amusing moment whilst warming up the audience for their subsequent participation.

Click here to see our rendition of  “A Salute to Spike Jones” on Youtube.

‘Thank you Music Lovers!’

It was standing room only when, to conclude the evening, both bands joined forces for a rousing performance of  Coldplay on Stage

Thanks to all who came to watch and make the evening so enjoyable. We are appreciative of the help and support we get from Prudhoe Town Council so it was nice to see several of our local councillors in the audience supporting Prudhoe’s very own community band.

Many thanks also to Alastair Lord and the Ponteland Community Wind Band for making the journey South of the river to join us for our annual concert.

The Final Tesco Gig just before Xmas marked the end of our 2013  fund raising campaign.  If anyone who saw us play during our tour is interested in coming along to join us you would be made very welcome. We start rehearsals again in early January so keep an eye on our calendar for dates. This year we have been very lucky with the weather and managed to play all of the events that we had planned. Many thanks to the generosity of all the kind people who gave us donations towards band funds and to the helpers who held buckets at events. Eldon Square was our only indoor event this year providing a welcome respite from the usual cold and windy outside gigs.It was touch and go at Hexham Farmers Market Our luck held out and we managed to play our second set before the impending storm closed the Market early in the afternoon