No BS! Brass Band Blows The Crowd Away at The Broadberry

by | Jan 23, 2019 | MUSIC

The Broadberry was loaded with spectators last Friday evening, as fans flocked to see No BS! Brass Band, an 11-member brass band featuring numerous well-known local jazz players, perform with their ensemble of brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.

No BS! Brass have won over a lot of local music fans with their lively arrangements that incorporate a traditional jazz flavor with modern elements taken from punk rock, hip hop, funk, and soul. Having recorded five albums and several cover singles since 2007, every member of No BS! Brass has proven skill and experience in their craft.

Big No

The performance began with a set from opening band Big No, which was as stimulating as it was nostalgic. Their combination of psychedelia and traditional rock and folk sounds blended beautifully in recent singles like “Life on a String” and “When I Think Of Heaven.”

No BS! Brass took the stage next, and electrified the crowd with their performances of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, their very own “3AM Bounce,” featuring local rapper Chance Fischer, and many more hits to keep the audience raving.

Throughout the night, the band’s stage presence paralleled the audience’s intense energy, and by the end of the night, they left nothing to be desired. As the evening ended, it was apparent that No BS! Brass Band remains RVA’s own perfectly-crafted treasure, one that remains extremely beloved in the city.

Photos by Aviance Hawkes

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Aviance Hawkes

Aviance Hawkes

Aviance Hawkes is a former Mass Communications student at VCU. Aviance is an eclectic, positive, colorful being that also works at the Institute of Contemporary Art at VCU, Urban Outfitters, and Ink Magazine. Along with that, she DJs, produces, and create in all aspects whether it’s clothes or crafting. I collect and love graffiti, art, and a variety miscellaneous things.




more in music

Iron Blossom is Part of a Bigger Richmond Music Story

Ahead of Iron Blossom, we talked with veteran promoter Ken Macdonald about the city’s changing live music ecosystem, from clubs to festivals and the Allianz Amphitheater. Richmond has always been a music town, but going back decades there were gaps in the local scene....

A First Look at the New Brown’s Island

Brown's Island has been closed since November 2025 for a $30 million improvement project, the largest renovation of the six-acre island in decades. It will temporarily reopen for the Richmond Folk Festival, October 9 - 11th, giving Richmonders their first chance to...

Richmond Loves Dolly Parton

I was gonna kill my husband in a cab in Peru, but “Islands in the Stream” came on the radio, and we stopped arguing and started singing. She could do that to you. You could totally be feeling some type of way, but if you put some Dolly Parton on, well, then you got a...

Night Idea Has Been Here the Whole Time.

Richmond has no shortage of bands that arrive and then disappear. Night Idea has taken the opposite approach. They’ve been around for 16 years, and keep getting better. I sat down with Joey Anderson, Reggie Pace and Reyna Pannell ahead of Night Idea’s appearance at...

You Can Kiss Off! 45 Years of Violent Femmes

You can always kiss off into the air. Behind my back, I can see them stare. They hurt me bad, and I don’t mind. They hurt me bad, they do it all the time! Yeah, yeah. You just sang that in your head, didn’t you? I believe it is impossible not to. There’s an alchemy, a...

Read the Virginia Pride 2026 Pride Guide 🏳️‍🌈

For more than a decade, RVA Magazine has worked with Virginia Pride to produce the Official VA PrideFest Guide, bringing together stories from Richmond’s LGBTQ+ community and everything you need to know for PrideFest this Saturday, September 12,...

Virginia Film Chief Andy Edmunds Made a Movie

For context, when I’m not writing for this magazine, I’m a director and producer in the film industry. There’s one person rallying troops in the trenches for me and my colleagues all over the state. Andy Edmunds is on the front line of the conversations that bring...