BAR, a well-known establishment in downtown New Haven (by those of age), features free live music every Wednesday night and this past Wednesday, Sept. 9, The Funky Dawgz brass band was featured.
The Funky Dawgz hail from Storrs, Conn. but they are heavily rooted in traditional New Orleans music while incorporating in R&B, Hip Hop, as well as today’s top hits.
Although the group was smaller at BAR, the band boasts an impressive eleven members: three trumpets, three percussionists, two saxophonists, two trombones, and a sousaphone (often confused for a tuba).
As a whole the band was incredibly tight and performed remarkably well. The two percussionists synced so well with one another, had your eyes been closed you would have assumed it was one person behind a drum kit as opposed to one on bass drum and one playing the snare.
By far, the stand out member of the band, while not entirely obvious, was the sousaphonist. The entire show he played completely consistently and performed almost as if he was the bassist in a band with traditional rock instrumentation. He even incorporated a number of glissandos to end particular phrases as bassists can often be found doing.
The set list for the night was what could be expected: upbeat and funky material, with covers of popular songs played in a similar style.
The Funky Dawgz’ cover of “Uptown Funk,” originally by Mark Ronson, lent itself particularly well to this instrumentation seeing as the original already incorporated horns throughout.
A favorite of the night was the New Orleans staple “When the Saints Go Marching In,” which The Funky Dawgz played their hearts out on.
The crowd responded incredibly well to The Funky Dawgz. To begin with, it was one of the largest amount of people that I’ve seen out on a Wednesday in a while.
Not only that, but everyone in the audience was moving. The energy was contagious. A conga line even made its way around the room for a short time. The band thrived off of the energy, calling people on stage, initiating audience participation.
All in all it was a fun night. If you’re 21 and don’t have anything to do on a Wednesday night, go down to BAR they always have interesting acts come through.
