Dan Pain, second from right on tuba, marches with the Royal Canadian Artillery Band in front of Buckingham Palace. His mother Helen Pain watched with pride. (Contributed photo)
By Richard McGuire
Osoyoos Times
When Helen Pain watched her son Dan Pain playing tuba in front of Buckingham Palace earlier this month, she was brimming with pride.
Pain, a Town of Osoyoos public works employee, made the first trip of her life to the United Kingdom to watch her son play with the Royal Canadian Artillery Band.
Her son, 38, grew up in Osoyoos, attending school here.
It was at Osoyoos Secondary School that he received a valuable tip from a teacher – if you want to pursue music, don’t play the trumpet. Play the tuba.
Dan had started on trumpet, but the teacher advised him that there are thousands of trumpeters competing for one position. A symphony may only have one spot for a tuba player, but there are far fewer tuba players competing for it.
Dan got a masters degree in music at University of British Columbia and would play tuba during the summers at the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, she said. He is now based in Edmonton.
Pain said she made the trip to London especially to see Dan play at Buckingham Palace, the home of the Royal Family. And it was worth it.
“I was bubbling with pride,” she said.
While many of the thousands of spectators remained prim and proper, Pain said she, her sister and her brother-in-law waved a little Canadian flag and showed their enthusiasm.
“I bet you there were maybe 50,000 to 60,000 people there at the palace,” said Pain.
At one point the crowds were so thick that a woman several rows back got Pain to sit the woman’s camera on her head.
“She was far back and she couldn’t reach, so she stuck it on my head,” said Pain.
“I was bubbling with pride”
The artillery band played every day, marching from Wellington Barracks to St. James Palace and then on to Buckingham Palace.
Although Queen Elizabeth didn’t watch the musical performance when Pain was there – the Queen had seen it other times – Pain caught a glimpse of the Queen when she pulled up at the palace in her Rolls Royce to attend a knighting ceremony. The Queen gave a royal wave.
Pain was impressed by the range of popular music the artillery band played. Among the songs was “When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down),” an Oysterband song popularized by Newfoundland band Great Big Sea.
The artillery band was wearing fur headdresses known as a Busby, though Pain said when her son performed in Ottawa, he wore the larger bearskins on his head.
Pain said that Dan performed at Buckingham Palace the previous year, but she couldn’t go because she had to stay behind looking after her son’s dog. This year he made another arrangement for his dog, allowing his mother to come.
Last year her son performed as a quintet where they played at a dinner for the Queen, and quintet members were interviewed by the BBC.
Pain said she wants young people to know that the pursuit of music doesn’t have to stop at high school.
“He’s had a wonderful career through the army,” she said. “A little Osoyoos boy playing on one of the biggest stages ever. I think it’s neat that he’s had such a wonderful career.”
