| Hi Concord family you may or may not know me (it’s been a while)… I’m Rob(Bob) Buckle and I have been asked to write a little piece about myself and times memories, experiences whilst involved with Concord and where this has lead me to today. I was an original member at the birth of Concord from the joining of Vulcan Corps and Shades of Blue in 1984 and marched the 1985 inaugural Concord season as well as the later end of 1984 when we finished the season under the Shades of Blue name. Prior to this I was a member of The Sheffield Corps of Drums from the age of 11 and through its morphing into Vulcan Corps . I’m a Baritone player through and through as we say “Low Brass Kick Ass”  It’s been my pleasure to march with some ridiculously talented people and can 100% say being a member of Concord has given me the drive, character and confidence in my life to become the person I am today.I have many many happy memories from my days marching and teaching. The trips to Holland for European Championships the crowd going mental for us! Storming into the open Class finals 1985 after winning A Class by a landslide, The performance at Federation Finals 1988 was as good as it got for me, I honestly believe that was the best all time performance in the history of Concord the music was outstanding and musicians equal to it.Parties and nights out stories and memories? Well as parents and under 16s will be reading this , yes we did have parties and nights out nuff said! (Don’t think I’ve ever recovered from them) I aged out for the first time in 1988 and went onto brass staff the year after along under the apprenticeship of the brilliant Mick Jenkins. Working with Mick on the 89’ show was amazing as we took on the most complex show visually and musically we had attempted to date! The season culminated in the “Great missing equipment truck finals” where we had to beg steal and borrow instruments to perform at prelims! The corps still went out and played absolute storm! Year after due to an max age increase and a very small brass line I marched a second age out year (1990) as well as teaching Brass, this was another one of the highlights of my time with Concord as we won High Brass that year with a small but tight and talented line.As Brass line Director and had the absolute pleasure of creating the monster that was the 1991 brass line (I felt like Dr Frankenstien at times ). |
| I left after the 1992 season as most of my close friends at the time had drifted away but looking back the disappointment of the quality of judging at finals 1992 was such a disappointment it knocked the wind from my sails(I’ve never told anyone that).After leaving Concord I didn’t play for around 15 years but then was asked to join “The Anchormen Ensemble” which re-lit my passion for playing so I bought a cheap trombone and taught myself to play, this led to me joining one of Sheffield’s most popular gigging bands – Junglelion – a Ska and Reggae band and I gigged with them for 6 years which was and amazing experience topped by playing to around 4500 people on tramlines world stage (I think about 100 of those where very drunk Concord Alumni from what I could see and hear).Unfortunately due to work commitments (I work in USA for 3 months of the year) I had to leave Junglelion last September. I also played in Papa Soul funk and Soul band for a few years. More recently, when I can, I go and have a jam with The TinSoldiers which is good fun, and I have a new “Brass” project I’m working on (waiting for lockdown to finish as we all are) the that will involve my trumpet and Sax players from Junglelion and a few Concord alumni – so watch this space!I’m still very close friends with guys and gals I marched with – you make friends in Concord, then it’s for life. A few years back I created and still administer the Un-Official Concord Alumni Facebook page, that’s been challenging at times I can tell you – like being a nursery nurse !I also, with the help of others, organise the annual Alumni get together at Christmas, but this as everything else has taken a hit over the last year.It’s a great time for recalling memories and telling stories that we have told hundreds of times but we don’t care, because each time the stories become more elaborate! One of the testaments of these friendships is that when you meet members that you haven’t seen for years it’s like you where only chatting yesterday – I can hand on heart say that my time in Concord mixing with a large group of individuals of wild and varied character and also having the to experience of standing up to address a large group laid the foundation for my current career as a tutor and my confidence as a person to do this.I’m so proud to be part of this family and get quite emotional when I see the current bunch of kids perform as it’s our legacy – they have a bucket load of talent and more than that enthusiasm. You can see how much it means, they get it they still get it, they are just like us all those years back!  We are all from the same Concord mould and may that continue for many many years! Keep the dream alive!Come on mi’ babbies ! |
