Such excitement! Did you see the picture in the Derby Evening Telegraph of us playing at Pride Park on Easter Monday for the match of Derby County versus Coventry? The band also appeared on YouTube - how cool is that? (www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6i4fyzciiM). The match wasn't all that brilliant but it was wonderful having an audience of 30,000 people! We played at first outside the grounds to the entertainment of the ticket queues. It is not easy in a high wind and standing up all the time especially for those playing large instruments like tubas and baritone saxophones - not to mention bass clarinets!

Then we were shepherded through labyrinthine passages under the stands for miles it seemed and then suddenly out into the brilliant sunshie of the stadium itself where a wall of sound met us - and they were only chatting to each other compared with the singing later on. Derby County have an anthem called "Steve Bloomer's Watching" which we had to play umpteen times. It was gratifying to learn that Steve Bloomer was Centre Forward for Tutbury Football Club before going on to lead Derby County to great things in the 1920s.

We must have done something right as we have been invited to go back there on the 6th of May for the match against Ipswich. See you there?

David Walford.