12/05/2026
Illegal Eagle joins Police and a plea for your help... 🎶🚓🥁
Those of you who have been following the Illegal Eagles for a while may wonder what IE creator Phil Aldridge has been up to since leaving active service as drummer with the band.
Well, you'll already know that he still manages the show, looking after arrangements, rehearsals and the day to day running of the production, but you may be surprised to hear that he is also a proud member of the mighty South Yorkshire Police Band, regional 1st Section champions 2026 and UK champions at 2nd section finals 2025! 🏆
Here's a pic of Phil with his son Christian at the UK Brass Band Championships in Cheltenham last year.
Phil says: “Playing with the band is amazing, the musicians are astonishing! I’ve missed drumming since leaving the Illegals as a player, so this has given me the opportunity to get my chops back and use all the percussion knowledge I gained at conservatoire in my teens.”
He continues "About 34,000 people play in brass bands across the UK currently and all the bands are extremely competitive- but when the chips are down, we’ll always support each other."
"So, when we heard the news that there had been a devastating flood at the headquarters of Marsden Silver Prize Band, our neighbours from West Yorkshire, which destroyed their sheet music - some of it 100 years old - damaged their instruments and rendered their rehearsal space unsafe, our Police Band bass player Alan Rowe immediately decided he had to help.
To help raise funds to repair, recover and rebuild, enabling our friends at Marsden to get back to what they do best, he’s going to walk an incredible 39 miles from his home in Rotherham to Wetherby Bandstand arriving in time for the start of our concert there on 24th May! 👏
Alan has set up a Just Giving page, aiming to raise funds for Marsden, so we all wish him the best of luck.”
We know you all love music and will understand how important this is to the musicians affected, so if you feel you’d like to help, then a contribution, no matter how small, will be very greatly appreciated.
Just click on the link below to make a donation. Thank you. ❤️
https://www.justgiving.com/page/alan-rowe-1
