THE 10th annual Basingstoke Rotary Charity Concert was graced by a fitting 10 out of 10 performance from The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood.

Over the last six years, various Bands of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines have delivered memorable performances at The Anvil concert – and the Collingwood collective certainly rose to the challenge as they raised the musical bar to new heights.

Year after year, it’s easy to see – and indeed hear – why this annual event is so popular. Audiences clearly love listening to the musical magic produced by Royal Marines bands, and this year’s concert was for many the best of a brilliant bunch.

Under the engaging leadership of Major Ian Davis and Warrant Officer 2 Tim Carter, the Collingwood musicians treated the audience to more than two hours of marvellous music that spanned the genres and made the most of the excellent Anvil acoustics,

As in previous years, there was a special guest appearance by The Royal Corps of Drums, who performed with their usual first-class military precision.

As well as the band numbers, there were also several impressive solo performances – the xylophone duet-cum-duel of featuring Alisdair Chatterton and Josh Young, and Abby Bell’s barnstorming performance of Adele’s Skyfall in the James Bond Medley that closed the first half were particularly memorable.

This year’s inclusion of such an expansive collection of music – from Star Wars to Puccini to Michael Buble – was a real triumph, and it is to be hoped that next year’s musicians can scale the same heights and versatility.

As always, the rousing finale (plus three encores!) – which gave the delighted audience a chance to wave their Union flags with gusto – rounded off a wonderful afternoon.

More than £13,000 was raised for charities supported by Basingstoke Deane Rotary, including Ark Cancer Centre Charity’s £5million appeal which is helping to fund the new unique local cancer treatment centre in the Basingstoke area – once again demonstrating that the Rotary Club’s mix of great music and good causes is a recipe for success.