Not quite marching band

Cultural Lesson # 4: Fanfare

 So, I had always learned that the French word for Marching Band was "fanfare." This word pleased me (hello, French syntax!), because it brought to mind images of valiant trumpet-bearing soldiers marching down the Champs Elysées. But, when I first saw a fanfare in France, I realized that, while the two groups have similar spirit, they are not quite the same.

This is from a music and lights festival in the Cartier de Beaux Arts

A fanfare, as I have come to experience and understand it, is a type of street band. A lot of the times they'll wear silly costumes (I think that my pictures were taken on a fire & ice theme night). They have pep-band instruments (trumpets, trombones, sousaphones, clarinets, saxophones, and a drum set). They also play "popular" music. I put popular in quotes because I heard Rock Lobster at least twice (that's for you, Tim!). They also played a lot of 90s grunge music. This may have just been the repertoire of this particular group.

You can see some of the silly clothing people were wearing in this picture

 The pictures I have aren't wonderful for a few reasons. This was back in January when I was still terrified of being mugged at any given moment (thanks to our program leader, for that pep talk). But also because there was a delightful man who was way past inebriated who was swaggering around our group the whole night. It was a bit of a challenge to keep out of his way when he would fall backwards like a tree that's just received the final blow from an axe. There were several men who tried to relocate him to sit down a park bench, but he wouldn't have it. His belligerence was a telling sign of his love for Rock Lobster and fanfares.

We could not figure out why, but there were feathers EVERYWHERE

 

 Ignore the images on the video, this is just to give you a taste of what it sounded like. They had been playing for awhile and it was pretty cold, but you can tell that this group is a casual, just-for-fun thing. Definitely can't stand up to the Pride of the ACC.