Some photos from Honkfest West 2010
Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:10 pm
A few interesting Sousaphone snaps - looks like the weather was dry (unusual for Seattle in April!) Sorry I had 2 conflicting gigs or I would have been there.
Best Honk Fest West, I think - all outdoors for the first time, which as you surmise was a big risk, April in Seattle! Good time was had by all.
I was holding up a sousaphone for one show on Saturday, bari for the rest of the weekend. My tuba in the second picture, but not me - note the left handed technique. He started on French horn. Good player, on alto horn and Eb tuba, and also front man for the band, Brass Messengers from Minneapolis. The band also has a great tuba player on Bb sousaphone.
Emperor Norton Stationary Marching Band showed up with a slender young man on sousaphone, I think borrowed from another Boston area band, plays very well and he's a real live wire - very liberal interpretation of "Stationary". Anyone who has been to a HonkFest in the last couple of years probably will know who I'm talking about. Like a lot of the tuba players in this genre, he has a tight, dry, spitting sound that works great with a small band with 3 reeds and an amplified violin.