Last Night of the Proms, Cornish Style

Just a little way from Liskeard, in Upton Cross, is the wonderful performance space - Sterts Theatre. Two nights ago there was something of an exodus from Millbrook as seemingly half the village decamped and invaded Sterts for a Last Night of the Proms evening.

For anyone outside of the UK reading this, Last night of the Proms is a concert held in the Royal Albert Hall each year as the summer season of inexpensively priced concerts instigated by Henry Wood ends. By tradition the finale involves lots of patriotic fervour and flag waving as the promenaders sing along to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance (including Land of Hope and Glory) and then belt out Rule Britannia and Jerusalem.

And, my oh my, but what fun it was standing in the back row merrily waving a St Piran's flag (can't quite bring myself to do the Union Jack bit) bellowing out some arrant nonsense about ruling the waves.

The music was provided by a pair of excellent brass ensembles. First up was the Tavistock Versatile Brass Ensemble which works tirelessly to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support (the beneficiary of this entertainment). They sound damned good, too. I didn't get a shot of their performance, so I'll give them a plug by sticking their arrangement of James Bond Themes into this posting instead. There's a video of their performance of "The Theme From Zorro!" on their Facebook page: click here.

In the second half we got a performance from the highly regarded Sound House Brass Band.

And there was a terrific performance by the Sterts Singers (their version of Bohemian Rhapsody  really does need to be heard to be believed).

And then came the flag waving bit, a thoroughly enjoyable piece of English/British eccentricity...

 What a laugh. You know what - I think I'd like to go again next year. Great music, great bonhomie from the stage and a good old fashioned sing-song. Huzzah!

One more thing - the whole concert is to be performed again at Tavistock Town Hall on this coming Friday 17th September (details here). If you fancy a humdinger of a night out, get yourself a ticket and make your way to Tavistock.