GRIMETHORPE Colliery Band held a virtual lockdown concert last week to help spread joy following the coronavirus outbreak.

The award-winning band’s musical director, 42-year-old David Thornton, was a big part of the concert, which included music from their current programme as well as pieces closely associated with the band.

He said: “Due to the lack of live performances as a result of lockdown, we decided to put on the event in a hope of cheering people up.

“It’s not just about being able to listen to quality brass music, there’s a visual element involved too, and with a Grimethorpe show that will always be prevalent.

“We collected all the material from previous shows, and unseen content, so we managed to make the show a decent length for the viewers.”

The concert wasn’t just a one-off event, as performances are already being planned for the future, following fantastic feedback from the first.

“We definitely want to do something like this again because of the success of the previous one.

“This is kind of an experiment I guess, we obviously haven’t done something like this before, but it’s unprecedented times and we received a great response.

“We’ve had thousands of viewers on the video, and the feedback on the social media page has been wonderful, we just want to spread joy through our music.”

To watch the concert back, visit the band’s social media pages.