Booka Brass Band at Vicar Street Dublin, Friday 27 March, 2015

Booka Brass Band celebrated their second birthday in a way that not many bands get to do: by headlining one of Ireland’s finest venues, Vicar Street. No small feat for any Irish band, yet alone a brass band.

This performance cements a remarkable trajectory to prominence in the Irish music scene for Booka Brass Band who have capitalised on the unforeseeable amount of goodwill towards them created by successful festival appearances.

It’s one thing to pique interest at a festival with an instantly gratifying set of hip-hop classics and novelty songs. It’s another thing to maintain interest with your own compositions. And maintain interest they have, thanks to their high energy earworm originals.

Opening the show was one of GoldenPlec’s PlecPicks for 2015 Zaska. The jazz sharpshooter’s ever evolving line-up (which has previously included Hozier and Karen Cowley of Wyvern Lingo) didn’t disappoint, delivering a thoughtful set of soulful jazz and funk. Current single Different Light and tracks such as Swan indicate that Zaska is well on his way to becoming Ireland’s premier jazz composer.

Booka Brass Band added several members to their roster for the occasion. For one night only they were joined onstage by Richie Egan of Jape and Mark Austin of The Minutes, the latter giving the crowd (and Booka Brass Band) much more than they bargained for.

Egan’s classic track Floating was perfectly suited for a Booka Brass Band makeover creating a singalong vibe in the crowd that continued through an excellent version of Phil Lynott’s Old Town complete with legendary piccolo trumpet solo. This collaboration showcased the best of what Booka Brass Band and Jape are about.

From there things took a surprisingly raunchy turn. The moment that Mark Austin strutted onstage there was a sense that anything could happen. What unfolded was a sleazy romp through Bill Withers’ Use Me and The Minutes’ Supernatural. Austin was clearly living out his cock-rock frontman fantasies by strutting across stage, climbing drum risers and mounting monitors in a performance equally captivating as it was worrying. All it was missing was the words “smell the glove”. But Withers’ himself would surely have approved of the vocal, if not the approach.

Booka matched Austin’s energy though tearing through Smooth Criminal, Survivor, Cry Me A River and crowd favourites Apache (Jump On It) – complete with Carlton dance moves – and an impressive take on Rapper’s Delight, all the while showcasing each individual member’s physical dexterity with each taking a solo. Even the guest percussionist got in on the act.

However the highlight of the performance came during the encore when Egan and Austin returned to share vocal duties on a rendition of Arcade Fire’s Wake Up, in a move that must go some way to repairing Ireland’s relations with the group following Joan Burton’s recent use of the track.

Booka Brass Band delivered on all fronts, bringing the crowd through spaghetti western and film noir soundscapes, to feel good hip-hop classics, all delivered with individual panache and collective fair. Booka Brass Band is a band you should see at least once.