Live Review: The Hot 8 Brass Band, The Seven Ups, Horns Of Leroy

The mood for the evening is well and truly set as the brassy jams of Horns Of Leroy greet the beckoning crowd. The timely entrants are treated to a tasty sample of what’s to come, with the full-bodied funk of I Wanna Meet You and Get Rekt giving punters an early chance to get down. As if that weren’t enough, the band close with an epic rendition of their 2017 track Let Me Go, complete with the incredible Thando making a guest appearance on lead vocals.

With such a big start, the energy drops slightly with the arrival of The Seven Ups. While their Afro-funk style is undoubtedly present, the stilted performance feels nervous and a little awkward. Nonetheless, the band pick it up by the second half of their set, with The Woods showing just why they were picked for this show.

It’s a cool half-hour of high octane brass and jazz before The Hot 8 Brass Band get the chance to wipe their brows. The band flawlessly blend their opening numbers into an incredible extended overture, with band leader Bennie “Big Peter” Pete leading the crowd in a booming call and response. Hitting the crowd early with a southern take on Snoop Dogg’s Who Am I? (What’s My Name?), the band get an immediate and perhaps even surprising response from an audience so far from home.

As the night continues, the brilliant covers keep on coming, each bringing with them a uniqueness and soulful glow that makes the track the band's own. Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart suddenly becomes a mammoth party track, The Temptations’ Papa Was A Rollin' Stone is now a jazz masterpiece, and the Cab Calloway standard St James Infirmary gives the band an opportunity to breathe some Louisiana verve into the blues number.

If nothing else, Hot 8 Brass Band are the perfect encapsulation of the spirit of New Orleans. Through tragedy, heartache, and constant change, their love and resilience only grows, and the spirit of the almost mythical French Quarter flows through their fingers. Every show, every song, every note is a celebration of life and music, the two inextricably rooted together by decades of togetherness. When Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing starts up, suddenly the whole room is transported to Bourbon Street, exploding into a singalong groove party of hip-shaking and loss of inhibitions. Hot 8 close out with a sensationally danceable version of When The Saints Go Marching In, before returning for an encore of Rastafunk. Big Peter leads the audience in one last call and response round for Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up, and the crowd walk away with the spirit of NOLA pumping through their bloodstream.