It’s quite a journey for The Hot 8 Brass Band to come from New Orleans and grace our modest shores in Brighton, although the band have history over here and are celebrating being on Brighton’s incredibly renowned Tru Thoughts label. If you think of brass bands you’ll hear the sound of summer street parties or carnivals where crowds of adults, teens and children dance around spilling various drinks. Or maybe that’s my own narrow-mindedness and ignorance of how brilliant these bands can be. The Hot 8 are so much more than that. They blend elements of funk, jazz and hip-hop and keep that fun side to their music but there’s also introspection added to the mix, definitely more than a disposable summer sound.

Brighton Dome is packed, it’s my first time seeing a show here. The mighty 8 come on stage and immediately kick things off. Their music fills the room brilliantly with every instrument in perfect balance with each other. It’s a vibe that manages to get a stiff like me moving and they get all hands in the air. Looking around the packed venue, the vibe is clearly rubbing off on everyone – barely anyone remains in their seats at the top and the standing section is rammed. There is a lot more at play here than one might think. It’s a hard thing to capture, but I’ll give it a go. It’s like being at a funk show underpinned by the beats and rhythms of hip-hop along with the freedom of expression of jazz.

Freedom is a good way to sum up the show. It’s very easy to get immersed in everything going on, the music and the crowd are all at one. Cheesy I know, but there’s a sense of arriving and letting go of the outside world for an hour and a half. After the show leaving the venue feels like returning to reality. It really takes a brilliant show to give that feeling to an audience and the Hot 8 definitely deliver this.

There’s a mix of jams, covers and originals. ‘Play That Funky Music’ is certainly a highlight of the show, they get the whole crowd chanting along with them and know how to pull off a massive build up. There’s also their famed reworking of ‘Sexual Healing’. It takes all the elements of Marvin Gaye’s classic, however their version expands on these ideas making it stand out on its own. They play a final encore of The Specials’ Ghost Town ending the night on a mighty high. They make their goodbyes as they are drowned in applause.

I’d not been to a show like this before and it definitely surpassed all my expectations. I wasn’t expecting a bad show, I just wasn’t prepared to experience something as exciting and as rich as this. The band make it clear that Brighton is a very important city to them, after being on Tru Thoughts for ten years and seeing the impact that this label has had culturally, outside the UK as well, fills the audience with pride. I’d strongly recommend seeing The Hot 8 to anyone with the opportunity.
Chris Middleton

Website: hot8brassband.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Hot8BrassBand
Twitter: twitter.com/hot8brassband