Review of 2008

2008 has been another very busy year for the band. As always we kicked off the year with Market Day during ‘O’ Week. This is usually the first band event of the year and our main recruitment day. This year we even had an official stall.

In March the band played in the St Patrick’s Day parade in the city which is always a lot of fun, as are the celebrations at the Irish Club after the parade.

A week after the St Patrick’s Day Parade the band made the trip down to Maclean over the Easter weekend to compete. This weekend brings together pipe bands from all over Queensland and Northern New South Wales and is eagerly anticipated by everyone. Competition weekends are a lot of fun, except for maybe the sleepless hours in the school hall when the alarm goes off.

The next event on the band calendar was the ANZAC Day Parade through the streets of Brisbane where the band looked and sounded great. We then headed to the Irish Club for some refreshments and to play again for the crowds.

In May we all packed our stuff up in the little bus and made the trip down to Glen Innes in New South Wales for the Celtic Festival. It was the first time the band has been to the event and we all very much enjoyed it. We played in a street march on the Saturday morning, then we played several times during the day at the grounds. The day ended with one of our more memorable massed bands. Then that night there was an impromptu performance on the roundabout by quite a few pipers and drummers from other bands. On the Sunday we had our first shower in almost 3 days!! And then we played again at the grounds before packing up the bus and heading back to Brisbane.

The next event was the annual Tartan Day celebrations at Southbank in July. Tartan Day celebrates the lifting, in 1782, of the proscription against the wearing of Tartan and celebrations similar to that at Southbank happen around the world. Due to this event being held in the uni holidays we had a depleted band but for those who were able to make it, it was an enjoyable day out.

The next main event was the Queensland Pipe Band Championships at Redlands. The band put in a lot of effort leading up to the competition with extra practices on the weekends but unfortunately we didn’t place. However, several band members played in solo events and did very well. Places: Tim came 3rd in the Elementary Snare. Spotty came 2nd in the Sub-intermediate Snare Peter, Spotty and John came 3rd in the trio. Special mention goes to Asela who came third in the heats of his event, the Elementary March, and so made the finals. And also to Tim, Kat, Chris, Jess and Alex who all played solos for the first time.

Throughout the year the band also plays at other events such as ones here at college like the swimming carnival, Founder’s Day, Bannockburn dinner and the Cultural Awards dinner. The night before Founder’s Day the band played at the Cancer Council Relay for Life, we played the first lap around the ground after the candlelight ceremony.

Also in September we played at the International House Soiree. We also played at retirement homes and we have recently played at a church fete in Indooroopilly.

Finally this year we are looking forward to playing in Andrea Rieu’s two Brisbane concerts in December. I think it will be an amazing experience for the band and one that doesn’t come along very often. So I’m sure that after exams, we’ll be into full practice for that.

Despite the hectic schedules of many members of the band, everyone still manages to put in a lot of time and effort to make sure things run smoothly. The College kindly provides us with dinner every Tuesday night and also puts on this special event for us each year. Band events are always eagerly anticipated by everyone. So I’d like to say thanks to everyone for their commitment and dedication to the band which has made 2008 another great year. And I am very much looking forward to next year, let’s try and place at a competition!!