TRIP OF A LIFETIME - PART 2!
For any musical ensemble the chance to tour Australia and New Zealand is one you wouldn't pass up, and this was our second trip 'down under' in a little over two years. Yet again the tour was organised by International Concert Attractions of Melbourne and promoted as the Brassed Off Tour 2001.

We set off early on Monday 22nd January from Manchester Airport, where we caught a (delayed) shuttle flight to Heathrow. This caused a problem, as it meant we only had 25 minutes to change terminals, board the new plane and transfer 25 instruments, and all the assorted cases and paraphernalia a band needs on a 3 week tour.

British Airways provided a bus to transfer us to the Qantas flight and we made it with 5 minutes to spare, only to sit on the tarmac for an hour and a half! This, we were assured, was to transfer our luggage which caused us to miss our slot over Belgian airspace. Eventually we set off for the 23 hour flight to Sydney and, after a brief stopover in Singapore we arrived on time in Sydney at around 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Have you guessed yet? That's right - no luggage!!

After exploring the sights of nearby King's Cross we went to sleep at our hotel, the Holiday Inn, Pott's Point, with no clothes, we didn't even have a toothbrush!

Our day off on Wednesday was mostly taken up with buying replacement underwear and the first lot of luggage arrived around 2 p.m. After an afternoon on the beach at Manly (42 degrees and jellyfish in the water!) we arrived back to the hotel to find all the cases had arrived with one major exception - the music!

Luckily the music had been tracked down, it was in Los Angeles! It arrived about two hours before we left for our first concert on Thursday. We travelled down the coast from Sydney to Wollongong where we played to an audience of around 3000 at the Entertainment Centre, before heading back to Sydney and the joys of King's Cross!

The following day was Australia Day, and what better way to mark this special occasion than to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge! Nine of the band members took the challenge and climbed one of Australia's most famous landmarks. Once we reached the top we realised that the tall ships race in the harbour was about to finish under the bridge. Whilst this was happening we were being filmed from various news helicopters. As the race finished the Australian Air Force did a 12 plane fly by of the bridge and, as if that wasn't enough, the Australian version of the Red Arrows did an aerobatic display over the Opera House. Just another day in the life of a Grimethorpe bandsman!

That evening we travelled up to Newcastle for the only repeated venue from our tour in 1999, and another full house.

The following day was to be one none of us would forget in a hurry. After a free day in Sydney we boarded the coach to be driven to the world famous Sydney Opera House. After setting up in the Concert Hall we had a brief photo session and a meal before taking the stage in front of a packed house of just over 2600. The concert was over in a flash, and after 3 encores and a standing ovation we went back to the hotel in great spirits, and once again, out into the King's Cross night! Jim McPherson, a director of ICA said it was the first time he had seen a standing ovation in the 2nd tier of seating in the Opera House!eft to right - Garry Cutt, Mick Kennedy, Steve Peacock Dave Barraclough, Dave Arnold, Roy Batty, Sandy Smith, Kevin (papa smurf) Wadsworth and Andy Snell

The next day was our last in Australia. After a day relaxing and buying the necessary boomerangs and cuddly koalas we set out for The Hills Centre on the outskirts of Sydney for our final concert of this leg of the tour. Another sell out and another standing ovation.

Monday the 28th saw us set out for New Zealand. A two and a half hour flight saw us land at Auckland airport where we transferred to our hotel, Sky City in the centre of Auckland.

The next day was taken up with various publicity work. Secretary Terry Webster started the ball rolling at around 7 a.m. with a series of radio interviews. At around 8.45 Garry Cutt, Paul Davies and Andy Snell appeared live on breakfast T.V. For the rest of the day various members of the band were filmed and interviewed for a number of T.V. and radio stations throughout New Zealand. That evening we played the first ever concert Grimethorpe have given in New Zealand, at the Civic Theatre in Auckland.

On Wednesday we flew to Christchurch for a concert at the Town Hall and the next day travelled to Dunedin for a concert the same night.

Friday was a day off (at last!). Some members of the band played a round of golf at Otago Golf Club, the oldest club in the southern hemisphere. The rest of the band amused themselves with a game of football. A tight, defensive game the final score was 15-11!

Feeling suitably refreshed we set off the next day for Wellington. A few of us managed to catch half the One Day International cricket match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. New Zealand got stuffed, and after our concert at the Michael Fowler Centre, we discovered that we were sharing the hotel with the defeated Kiwis. (we drank elsewhere that night!)

We played two concerts in Wellington, which meant we had a day to explore this lovely city. We saw the boats from the BT round the world yacht race, who were having a stopover. We saw Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand. We saw a lot of the sun, and felt it later!

The following two days were travelling and playing, firstly to Palmerston North and then to Napier, a pretty Art Deco town on the coast. It was here that principal trombonist Jonathan (four holes in one) Beatty won the crazy golf tournament.

The band poses in Napier

On Wednesday 7th we were driven back to Auckland by our Maori driver George for the final two concerts of the New Zealand leg at the ASB Theatre. We were treated to reception from the Dalewool Auckland Band - thanks for the hats guys!

Dean Morley and Garry Owen relaxing in style on the roof at Sky City

After two more nights at Sky City (one spent in the casino) we left at 3.30 a.m. for the airport to fly back to Sydney en route to Hong Kong.

We landed in Hong Kong and met up with Andrew Kay, managing Director of ICA who was so thrilled with the tour that he invited us to visit Australia again in 2002 - watch this space.

We stayed at the 5-star Kowloon Hotel and performed our concert at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, home of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. To finish the tour we played to another large audience of over 2000 and gained our 14th standing ovation. We went straight from the concert hall to the airport for the 13 hour flight home arriving in Manchester at around 10.30 on Sunday, and yes, we all went back to work on Monday morning!

We had a fabulous time, playing in New Zealand and Hong Kong for the first time (hopefully the first of many). We were treated as professionals by ICA, (a rare accolade for most bands) and played to full halls throughout the trip. With 14 concerts in 18 days and a total audience in the region of 30,000 we have proved that there really is an audience for top quality brass band music.

Written by Andrew Snell