Sights and Sounds of Brest

Below, an extract of France3's broadcast of Bagad Bro Kemperle's suite played on Sunday.

I'm not sure if a complete video will come out, as they were broadcast by France3, and might infringe on some contract they had. The videos in previous posts below were made by audience members.




You can hear a full version (no video) of Kemperle's suite by accessing this page at bagadbrokemperle.com

From AnTourTan, some pictures, as well as video extracts of all the Bagads' suites.

And here, a video of Bagad Bro Kemperle's drum corps warming up before the competition:





Brittany does a ceilidh (fest-noz) like none other. The beer hall (attached to the theater) has flat screen tvs throughout, broadcasting the other bands' performances live.

After the results announcements, the place absolutely erupted with cheers, random noise, and free drinks.

After the beer hall shut down, the party moved outside to the bus.






























And then, the party moved to Bagad Plougastell's band hall, which is located in an epic old warehouse. What happened there can only be described as a Breton Rave.

Bagad Sonerien Bro Dreger

Below is Bagad Perros' suite played last Sunday (sorry for the size):

Bagad Perroz e Brest 2010 / Kaouenn.net

Bagad Brieg

The video below is of Bagad Brieg's suite played on Sunday:

Kemperle has its Day!

The contest yesterday was excellent. Despite some long delays due to stage set-up for each band, it was fantastic.

Bagad Bro Kemperle performed our suite to excellent results. We achieved third place overall, and as if that wasn't enough, we took the Alan Riou trophy for 1st place in batterie (drum corps), and the Prix Terrior for the best interpretation of music from Sud Cornouailles.

More details to follow, but the results are here: http://www.bodadeg-ar-sonerion.org/2010/02/14/brest-2010-les-resultats/

An Alre

We made a trip out to the town of Auray (An Alre in Breton) to meet up with Romain Sponnagel, a man who lives Bagadou.

Romain is the Penn Soner (musical director) of the Kerlenn Pondi. A Kerlenn is an organization of Breton culture within a given area. Usually, a Bagad is part of its area's Kerlenn, along with a group of dancers, and what is called a Cirque Celtique. Bagad New York is formed under the structure of a Kerlenn. Romain is a multi-instrumentalist and works for Dastum. Dastum is the organization which preserves Breton musical traditions by recording vocal and instrumental music performances, as well as cataloguing all known historical performances, sheet music, and all sorts of other media. Dastum has satellite offices all over Brittany which focus on the musical traditions of their own areas; musicians use the resources preserved by Dastum for any number of musical projects. Romain talked about Kerlenn Pondi's upcoming trip to Nepal as part of the Bombards of the World festival.















Auray is the first port in which Benjamin Franklin landed in his long relationship with France. The town of Auray's High School is named after him, and in 2007 Kevrenn Alre visited Philadelphia.




















The Basilica of St. Anne is where the Biniou and Bombard were first played with an Organ.





















We also visited the instrument factory of Jorj Bothua, who makes Bombards and Binou out of, among other types of wood, boxwood. This is a piece of boxwood before turning. Bothua uses some pieces of boxwood which are 1000 years old.

Huelgoat

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On the first day off from band practice, we visited the town called Huelgoat. This place is known for its rocks. There is a large rock that is precariously balanced on a hill above a house, which is called the "trembling rock." It's possible to jostle the rock so it moves a bit and shakes the ground around you.

Then there is a huge ravine filled with moss-covered rocks. We got to climb around a few of the more accessible rocks. There were a couple of huge explosions as there's a quarry nearby; the Statue of Liberty stands on the stone from this quarry. This is also the origin of all people with the last name Kerouack (multiple Bretons, all Kerouacks in the US, etc.)


Pictures of Huelgoat below:



































Cameras at the ready


















There's an amphitheatre above the ravine, it's perhaps the perfect place for a bagad concert.



















There was a large building above the ravine as well.

Bombard + Bagpipe + Drums = Bagad

At band practice, each section will practice independently before the entire band comes together, much like a pipeband. These two videos capture the bombards and the pipes practicing portions of the suite separate of all the other sections.

Here, the bombardes:



And, the pipes:



The portions played are part of this year's suite, but are not the same. During the drum corps rehearsal Mike fell asleep, otherwise I'd have gotten a recording of the drums too.

Ton Da Douelan

After a whirlwind of practice this past weekend, we've come back to Telgruc to actually get some sleep. Between Friday night and Sunday afternoon the band practiced at least 12 hours, all on instruments.

The suite this year features music from Pont-Aven and Bannalec. Ton Da Douelan is an aire which is the principal melody in the suite, being played in the introduction and between the Gavotte Pont-Aven and Gavotte Bannalec. I'll try to get a video of this up tomorrow.

Some pictures below from the "Galette de Rois" party that we had Saturday night. There's a traditional aspect to it where you try to find the token in a piece of cake, but then it just degenerates into drunken craziness.

We also had the opportunity to be shown around the village of Pont-Aven (where our music originated) by Jean-Pierre and Brigitte Moign.

The photos:















It wouldn't be band practice without beer, right?, CoW folks???

















They even come in bigger sizes than Yoann!!

















Mike and the Bombardettes.

















Marine Presley.
















The village of Pont-Aven.

















Alex and Gordie after band practices.

Live from Brest!

The Breton website an tour tan will be broadcasting the Bagad Championship live from Le Quartz in Brest on France3 Online.

Starting at 7am EST on Sunday, Feb. 14th, you can stream the contest at one of the following links:

http://ouest.france3.fr/emissions/Championnat-des-Bagado%C3%B9-de-1%C3%A8re-cat%C3%A9gorie-60278086.html

or

http://www.antourtan.org/actualite/2010-01/articles/08/article.asp


Tune in!

En Route

Tonight we leave at 7 from JFK.

Luckily no one has a connecting flight in Milwaukee, nor will we be anywhere near Wichita.




Next stop Kemperle!



Our Destination:


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CoW Drum Corps Rocks Winter Storm

On January 15th, the CoW drum corps attended the MHAF's Winter Storm weekend.

In an incredible kick-off to the 2010 season, the drum corps brought the ceilidh to its knees with the drum salute(s) A Faire Groove Indeed and Flattery. The video speaks for itself. All 618 views on YouTube are attributable to the members of the drum corps that you see on screen.



Results of the Winter Steam drum corps competition:

1) City of Washington
2) SFU