Fountain City's second euphonium player Nate Gay then took to the front of the stage to present the 3rd movement of the popular Cosma Euphonium Concerto. Any questions which people might have asked as to why the second and not the principal euphonium would have been playing a solo were immediately cast aside, as the Nate's playing was simply superb from start to finish. The many technical hurdles in the piece were overcome with consummate ease, and the performance simply exuded confidence from start to finish.

Therefore it was no great surprise when Nate was awarded the Best Soloist prize later on in the evening; no-one came close to touching him all day. William Himes' beautiful arrangement of 'Amazing Grace' followed. This is one of those pieces which is always at risk of being overplayed by bands, but the performance Fountain City gave was at times breathtaking. From the wonderfully controlled cornet chorale to a well shaped ending, this oozed class from the word go, and was possibly the best band playing to be heard all day.

Next followed a romp through another much-played item, 'Bugler's Holiday'. The band's cornets were always in control, with balance and clarity in the triple tonguing being the order of the day. There also were some very impressive xylophone passages (played by the now pyjama-less percussionist) which augmented the band's sound.

This only left the final item, and it proved to be a great finisher to an impressive programme. 'March from Pines of Rome' started atmospherically, and the band created just the right sense of menace and foreboding in the opening sections before leading to a committed ending. Sometimes one could have wished for a bigger overall sound to make the louder passages more exciting, but this was the only complaint in which proved to be a fine close to the band's playing. At this stage 4BR had Fountain City a nose ahead of BBCF, with only one band still left to play.