At about 9.30am, on Saturday 19th December, Katrina (our flugal player) got a call from her brother in law saying that there was an appeal on BBC Radio Devon for a Brass Band to support Coldplay in their charity gig for Mencap that night at Exeter Castle,as Lilly Allen was ill. So, without any haste she spent the next 20 minutes making many calls and say a big YES! Tiverton Town Band willsave the day.....
Sadly due to space restrictions on the stage, Graham had the difficult job of choosing the six players who would be performing that evening.
From left to right - Tina Pillivant (cornet), Katrina Barker (flugal), Chris Martin (FROM COLDPLAY!), Liz Payne (tenor horn), Leah Ellis (baritone), Graham Pillivant (bass/bandmaster) and kneeling at the front was Dan Ellis (trombone).
As the Band were playing that morning at Exeter Airport, it was a rush to make sure that everything was ready for the Gig that night! After a quick rehersal at Graham and Tina's house, the players hit the road (well, 20 minute drive down the M5) to Exeter Castle in time for the allocated Soundcheck.
On the way there, Katrina had the bright idea of calling Radio Devon to say thank you for the opportunity, and she was promptly put live on air with Ian Brass, where she had a very excitable converstation with him all about what she could see as they were walking up past security (and a huge queue of cold people waiting to get into the gig) up toward the white marquee where they would be performing that night
It was SO cold... They were glad of the free food and hot drink vouchers!
(Dan & Leah enjoying a scrummy hot chocolate!)
This was taken just after their "warm up" which was for about 3 hours....!.. strangely they lately discovered that they were being listened to by Coldplay and other members of the production team and were being blogged about! Fame at last.....
The players on stage - apologies for the lack of quality of photo, it is from a "tweet" on twitter who said "no Lilly Allen... Tiverton Town Band supporting @coldplay.... really. *** brilliant!" now, that is praise.
What an opportunity to spread the brass word and get the name Tiverton Town Band out there once again. The Band have been mentioned on BBC Radio 1 by Jo Whiley (who was heavily involved in organising the gig for Mencap) the local and national press have also picked up on the story and will be running various stories in the near future... we'll keep you posted!
Saturday 5th April,2008.... 06.30am, and our Blakes Coach was waiting for bleary eyed band. Instruments and music were loaded and it was off to Truro for the 53rd Cornwall Brass Band Championships.
Contesting was a new venture for the band and nobody knew what to expect from the day. After many weeks of rehearsals, under the baton of Gilly Taylor, the band were ready to enter the Ungraded section with Alan Fernie's tets piece Anglian Dances. The same piece was to be played in the Fourth section and the band had also entered the Entertainment Section.
Trophies won at CBBA contest in April 2008 (l to r) Paul Gilbert with Challenge Cup. Liz Payne with 3rd place shield for entertainment section and shield for highest placed ungraded band. Graham Pillivant with the St Agnes Band Centenary Cup.
We arrived in Truro in plenty of time and unloaded the bus, then proceeded to find a cafe for much needed bacon sandwich and coffee.
Graham and Mandy proceeded to the draw , hoping not to get last in the Ungraded and first in the Fourth, and guess what ? They did . Never mind it was now time to prepare ourselves for the rest of the day.
Graham has the knack off getting the band into shape by giving one of his renowned 'Team Talks' , Then it was time to take the stage.
The acoustics in the church were fantastic and really made the bands sound linger around the room for what seemed like an eternity.From the first note to the last , all the hard work the band had done in rehearsals seemed to be paying off.
The final note seemed to last for ages, but we had played our best . Every player had done their best, and had played from their hearts.
We played the same piece in the Fourth section and again the band played well. The nerves had gone and everyone was enjoying themselves.
Our Entertainment section programme included items such as The Cossack, Albion Treasures, Penny Lane, Where e'er you walk and The Grand Old Duke.
It was then time for the results .
Ungraded section third place and second place were announced. Then it came '........the winners of the ungraded section are the band that played ..........fourth' .We had done it we had won.
Fourth section results were next '......and the winners of the Fourth section are the band that played ..........first'. We had done it again, another win.
More trophies came our way, with Gilly winning a shield for being the conductor of the winning band . We were also placed third in the Entertainment section and were also the highest placed Ungraded band.
We took on board the adjudicators remarks and felt that above all we had done Tiverton proud.
Tiverton Town Band recently had a very special conductor at the helm - the brilliant singer Joss Stone. Tiverton Town Band, were led by the guest conductor when they played recentley for the opening of a new supermarket, in nearby Cullompton.
Guest conductor
The band had been booked to entertain shoppers on the opening day of the new Tescos store, when un-announced Joss Stone, who's home is nearby, appeared from the car park,and proceeded into the store to shop.
On her exit from the store she asked which charity the band were collecting for and was told it was Marie Curie Cancer Care, she was then asked if she would like to conduct the band, which she agreed to.
New experience
She admitted that "...she couldn't play an instrument" to which members of the band said "they couldn't sing", and for a while a whole new musical experience could be heard around the store with the band playing and Joss giving some interesting backing vocals whilst conducting.
WELLINGTON MUSIC FESTIVAL 2007
WELLINGTON Music Day will be a feast of performance with some local and international stars taking part in the extravaganza.
The day will be held on October 27 and local singer and restaurant owner Sarah Cunningham will be presenting an hour with her big band.
The internationally acclaimed singer and bass player Miranda Sykes will be performing as well as the Bill Jones Band, folk-rock band Pressgang and the Celtic music band Firebrand.
Other line-ups include Bella Tromba, a quartet comprising of postgraduate students from the Royal Academy of Music, harpist virtuoso Jade Hamzelou, Wellington's very own female close harmony group Electrogirl and The Tiverton Town Band.
Children's Hospice South West will be the beneficiary of the event.
The event will be attended by the Mayor of Taunton Deane, MP Jeremy Brown, Wellington Town Council Chairman Dave Mitton and Taunton Deane council leader Ross Henley. .
Sadly due to space restrictions on the stage, Graham had the difficult job of choosing the six players who would be performing that evening. 
The players on stage - apologies for the lack of quality of photo, it is from a "tweet" on twitter who said "no Lilly Allen... Tiverton Town Band supporting @coldplay.... really. *** brilliant!" now, that is praise.
Trophies won