Hot 8 brass band.
There’s 8 of them, they are a brass band and man, are they
hot!
Watching the Hot 8 Brass band last night at the Phoenix,
Exeter, was more than just an enjoyable night out, it was an experience… This
morning I woke with, what I can only describe as a music hangover - I had only
one Corona, so it obviously wasn’t the booze – my head is throbbing, my bones
ache and a fry up was the only cure. The bands rhythmic sounds and unrelenting
zeal was electric and I haven’t danced like that for many a year! My feet just
wouldn’t stay still, even as I was trying to take notes, my body jiggled like a
toddler after chocolate… And I wasn’t alone, the whole place was moving, you
couldn’t help yourself!
This is a big band… Not just due to the large number of
members, but the mere size of some of the guys, I’d hate to see the rider bill
for the tour! But if that’s what needed to produce some of the finest music I
have heard coming from that stage, then bring on the cake, I say!
The band, originating, 20 years ago in New Orleans and have
had their own personal tragedies during their career. There have been 16
musicians involved, past and present, they have lost members due to illness and
street violence, but the music stays as strong and energetic as ever. Their
blend of the traditional New Orleans brass sounds, hip-hop, jazz and funk are
usually found in the clubs of New Orleans, so to hear them play here is a
privilege.
They started the show with a 20minute long track that
invited us, the audience to ‘Yippee yo, yippee ya’ and I Yippee-ed and yo-ed along,
how could I not, and when I was invited to ‘Shake it to the left, shake it to
the right and shake it to the one you like’, my hips couldn’t help but jiggle
towards the hot, Marvin Gaye look-a-like on the saxophone. While the drummer at
the front of the stage, flashing his gold grill, called for the audience to
work their bodies and that’s exactly what we did…
It wasn’t too long into the gig that I forgot what I was
there for and found myself just getting excited by what I was seeing and
listening to, so there maybe gaps in this review, due to pure enjoyment and
that’s probably the best compliment I can give.
The guys used tracks like James Browns ‘Get on up’, The
Specials ‘Ghost Town’ and The Temptations ‘Papa was a rolling stone’, to create
their own distinctive style, and I grinded and sweated along with the band,
enjoying every moment.
Towards the end of the evening, some lucky bastard was
treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday. But with a New Orleans twang, this
was, by far, the best version I have ever heard… Now, I’m afraid, when it gets
sung to me in September it will sound like a bag of crap in comparison.
The guys ended the show with a song which got us all
twisting to the ground and singing along and with a peace and love sign off.
Then the boys were off and I was left with ringing ears and a memory never to
be forgotten.
To be honest this whole review could have been summed up in
two words, one of those is amazing and the other is not so polite…
Post originally seen in Music Muso
Photos by Rhodri Cooper