THE BAND CONCERT.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 536, 27 August 1897, Page 2

THE BAND CONCERT.

The concert and dance in aid of the funds of our local brass band has been looked forward to for some considerable time, and therefore it was not surprising to see the very large audience which assembled in the Olympic Theatre last night. The Woodville band arrived shortly after seven o’clock and played a couple of selections in front of the Theatre. Their playing was a revelation to a lot of the residents here, and was the means of drawing a big crowd around them in a very short time. The band also played two overtures in the theatre—“ Verdi," the piece played by them in the recent contest at the Wellington Exhibition, and “ The Amazons.” Their playing was a genuine treat and on the conclusion of each selection they were applauded to the echo. The excellent progress made by this band during the last few years is mainly due to the untiring energy of their conductor, Mr A. E. Lawrence. Woodville can justly boast of having the premier country band of the colony. To return to the concert. The vocal contributions were much above the average, and it is doubtful whether a better amateur programme lias ever been laid before the Pahiatua public. Owing to the indisposition of three of the performers the original programme was slightly altered. Mr Hawkins sang “ Maid of Athens ’’ (with violin obligato) as his first item ; in the second lie recited “ Christmas Day in the Workhouse," for which he received an encore, responding with “ The Alarm.” Miss Waltlier was not so successful in “ Whisper and I shall hear" (with violin obligato) as she was later in the evening when she sang “ When the tide comes in ” very sweetly. Though suffering from a bad throat Mr R. P. Johnstone scored an undoubted encore for his rendering of “ Blow high, blow lowland gave “ The Friar of orders grey.” The same singer also contributed “ A Warrior Bold,” and the audience would not be satisfied until he returned, when he sang “ Father O’Flynn.” Master Quirke recited “ Charge of the Light Brigade ” in a most creditable manner. Mr W. McKinnon was in excellent voice and his rendition of “ Estudiantina ” was loudly applauded. “ The Longshoreman ’’ was given in response to an inevitable encore. Mr McKinnon was also very successful in “ Marguerita ” towards the end of the programme. The vocal duet by the Misses Hall ranked amongst the best items of the evening, but they were unable to respond to the recall owing to the sudden indisposition of their accompanist. Although down for only two songs, Mr Hamilton Moore had to appear no less than six times bsfore the “ gods ” were satisfied. Mr C. Morris was heard to b .vat advantage in “ Here upon my vessel’s deck ” and he had to again appear, when he sang “The Skipper” with even greater success. Mr Lucas gave “The Dream Angel” (with violin obligato) in bis usual finished style. “Call me back,” by Mr Butler, was a most pleasing number and the audience were not satisfied until the last verse wa3 repeated. Mr Macedo, a Woodville gentleman sang “ Oh, promise me ” with much expression, and ho received a welldeserved encore, responding with “ Sleeping camp ” equally well. This concluded the concert programme. The accompaniments were played by Messdames Ward and Lucas and Misses Falconer, Brown and Moore. Miss E. Ward, a young and talented violiniste, played three obligatos during the evening, adding greatly to the success of the items. Immediately after the concert the hall was cleared for dancing, which was kept up till nearly four this morning.

Every credit is duo to Mr Lucas (musical director), Mr Mackinlay (business manager), and the members of tho band for the way in which they worked to make the whole affair tho success it undoubtedly was.