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Music is all about context. Certain music is designed to be listened to as the sun goes down on a balmy summer’s eve. Other music is designed to be listened to in a sweatbox, warm beer in hand and fire in the belly.
So it was with a reasonable degree of trepidation that we drove to the La Brass Banda gig after listening to their 2008 LP Habediehre on Spotify at home, alone, on a grizzly, grey Thursday afternoon.
Arriving to see support The Resident Improv Theatre Troupe from the Impropriety night at Mello Mello. Marching onstage bedecked in lederhosen, wirtekrug in hand, the cast stirred up the Kazimier into life with an entertaining yarn of a Bavarian bear fight.
It made a refreshing change to see the crowd engage so well with a support act, for normally people chatter away or hit the bar until the headliners get on stage.
Coming on to an already hyped crowd, La Brass Banda wasted no time with pleasantries launching straight into their set. This set the tone for the rest of the night, as LBB worked the crowd into a Friday frenzy.
LBB’s sound of brass-based agit ska was perfectly suited to The Kazimier, with its Eastern European boho vibe. Set highlights included a song about the band’s appearance at a German reggae festival, where a number of reggae artists performed homophobic tracks. LBB’s response? ‘Hey Mr. Batty Man, Batty Me Banana’, a dubby middle finger to reggae’s gay-hating artists.
The crowd pogos as the trumpet, trombone and tuba weave together to create 200 brilliant beats per minute of musical mayhem. The bass and the drum underpin the gutsy ensemble upfront, and together they work a treat.
LBB are also not afraid of the odd cover version now and again, with Daft Punk and Snap! getting the LBB re-rub treatment. These guys are designed for festival hi-jinks, with top-drawer crowd interaction.
We left The Kazimier with massive grins, and have five barefoot men from Bavaria to thank for the pleasure.