2008 has been another year of varied and prestigious engagements for The Dark Blues, with gigs all over the UK, a 5-date Italian tour in September, and a charity ball in Oman in December.

As usual there were lots of weddings - always a favourite for the band, as a typical wedding audience enables them to show off their remarkable breadth of repertoire. A particularly enjoyable one was at spectacular Bovey Castle in Devon, on August 30th, for an American couple who invited 150 guests for the entire weekend there!

There was a 50th birthday party at Blenheim Palace in May, a 70th at Forbes House in Belgravia in April, and a 60th at Leeds Castle in November, plus many fundraising balls for medical charities. We were honoured to be asked to play for the Society of London Toastmasters in January at the Cafe Royal. And of course there was our own annual "Dark Blues Picnic" on May 31st - see the separate web page with photos showing the 1000-strong-audience of all ages having a wonderful time.

For the second time the Mayor of Greve-in-Chianti, Tuscany, asked the band to close the annual "Festa del Vino" on Sunday 14 September. Once again the band stayed at Nigel's lovely Tuscan home "Ripertoli", and played additional concerts at Lamole and at Castello di Querceto with its famous white peacocks, followed by a party in Rome on September 20th, and a Duke of Edinburgh's Awards Motor Rally Ball in Florence on the 26th.

To top off a great year there was the Crystal Ball in Muscat, Oman on 4 December - followed immediately by the Mistletoe Ball at The Dorchester on the 5th. See left panel for pictures of The Dark Blues in Greve and Oman. We now have an excellent DVD of the highlights of the Greve gig - please contact us if you would like a copy.

Bookings for 2009 are already looking healthy, with weddings and charity balls spearheading the list. If that encourages you to book early for your own party, well and good. And if you don't have a particular event in mind, why not come to the 2009 Picnic on Saturday 30 May - as always, it will be the Party of the Year !

Nigel & Fiona, December 2008.