Live streamed brass bands… huh? What?
If you’ve landed here, you’re probably a little confused. No need to feel embarrassed. You’ve just discovered one of the world’s best-kept musical secrets, and you’ve discovered it via the universe’s best streaming service. Excellent start.
So what’s a brass band?
Brass bands are amateur, community-based groups, and there are far more of them than you’d think. Dozens across New Zealand, even more in Australia, and we’re told over 3,500 in the UK (we didn’t count them personally, but we like the number). Every year there are National, State, Regional and other high-level competitions held all around the world, and any properly registered band can enter. In Australia and New Zealand, bands compete in A, B, C or D grade. The A grade bands play at the highest standard, while the D grade bands reportedly have the most fun. We refuse to take sides.
Why all the secrecy?
Banding has a fierce competitive culture, which is brilliant for the standard of playing but does produce some delightfully strange rules. The adjudicators usually aren’t allowed to know which band is on stage, so they sit in a screened-off box where they can’t see a thing. There’s no public advertising of which band plays when, because a cheeky and corrupt adjudicator might play favourites. All very cloak-and-dagger.
The downside? Some of the finest performances you will ever hear happen inside this semi-secret world, usually in front of a tiny audience of rival bandspeople. We think that’s a crying shame.
Enter Brassbanned
That’s where we come in. Brassbanned provides a free live video stream of all the bands, in all the grades, with commentary, analysis and live chat, all without offending (too many of) the sensibilities of the competitive and secretive competitors. Pull up a seat, ask questions in the chat, and enjoy some of the most amazing music making on the planet. We are awesome, and soon you’ll understand why bandies already know it.
