Beckenham Concert Band: Horniman Gardens Bandstand

Horniman Gardens Bandstand being prepared for a Beckenham Concert Band performance

This afternoon I had an outing with the Beckenham Concert Band. We played on the bandstand in the Horniman Gardens, where there are 16 acres of formal and natural landscapes. The bandstand is tucked in among them, and didn’t look very large from a distance, but it accommodated our whole band, so I think that its appearance was deceptive.

Here is our programme:

• 001 Blaze Away
• 044 Swingin’ Safari
• 032 Teddy bears’ picnic
• 014 Oklahoma
• 070 Bandology
• 216 Instant Concert
• 376 King Cotton
• 718 Jesus Christ Superstar

Interval

• 128 Semper Fidelis
• 275 Costa Brava
• 432 Wizard of Oz Fantasy
• 538 Raiders March
• 243 Blue Tango
• 060 Aces High
• 066 Hootenanny
• 337 High School Cadets
• 658 The Symphonic Beatles

This is a bandstand which I’d never previously had occasion to perform on, and it is in a beautiful setting. We plan on going back one day when I’m not performing to look properly at the gardens and the museum. I think I might bring my tripod: there’s a view from by the bandstand which encompasses the Battersea Power Station and the arch of the new Wembley Stadium, but even with shake reduction activated on my camera, I didn’t get a good picture.