Royal Marines School of Music - Summer Concert and Beating Retreat

The Royal Marines School of Music are playing at Portsmouth Guildhall on Saturday 1 August, and this one is a bit more than just a regular concert. It's their Summer Concert and Beating Retreat, and it marks their 30th anniversary in the city. The school moved from Deal in Kent to Portsmouth thirty years ago, so the whole afternoon is built around that milestone.

They're calling the programme 'packed with pageantry and passion', and that gives you a fair idea of what's on the bill. You'll get fanfares, marches, and the Corps of Drums, with the concert band, the Big Band, soloists and singers all taking turns. The whole thing works its way towards the Ceremony of Beating the Retreat, the traditional military sequence that gives the event its name.

If you're into military music and marching bands, this is exactly the kind of thing you'd want to see. It's a full-scale display rather than a quiet sit-down, with the drums and the brass taking centre stage. It's also a family-friendly one, though anyone 14 or under needs to be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.

Doors open at 16:00 at Portsmouth Guildhall, and tickets are 22.70 EUR. It's a Saturday afternoon, so it's an easy one to fit in without ruining your evening.