The Church of St Teilo in Cardiff provided an impressive setting, as well as fine acoustic, for the inaugural concert of the Welsh branch of Boobs & Brass.

Organised by Lauren Chinn of Flowers Band and a student at the nearby Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, the newly formed band was led by conductor Lynne Turner.

Bomping funk

The concert opened with the bomping funk of ‘Blackbird Special’, which certainly got the collective feet tapping of the audience, before Welsh pride was shown with a ‘Men of Harlech’ medley and the traditional march, ‘Castell Coch’ - inspired by the ornate folly just a few miles up the road.  

After a suitably weighty introduction, the gentler harmonic skills of the band, which played with balance and warmth throughout, shone through with the thought-provoking ‘The Spirit Within’, ably led by the impressive principal cornet Hannah Plumridge.

Guest Soloist Helen Williams was on super form with her sultry take on ‘Georgia on My Mind’ and the beautiful shaped ‘Share My Yoke’ - the subtle facets of her phrasing a real treat for the cognoscenti and well as the occasional brass band listener.

Real treat

Guest Soloist Helen Williams was on super form with her sultry take on ‘Georgia on My Mind’ and the beautiful shaped ‘Share My Yoke’ - the subtle facets of her phrasing a real treat for the cognoscenti and well as the occasional brass band listener.

‘Hello Dolly’ was a vibrant showstopper (complete with many fine mezzo-soprano voices), before the first half closed with ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ and a thumping ‘Sospan Fach’.

Storm troopers

Storm troopers marching through the nave provided a fantastic start to the second half with a duo of Star Wars film music, before more Welshness with ‘All Through the Night’ and a bubbly ‘Happy’, which had the audience clapping along. Helen Williams then returned for a subtle rendition of ‘A Little Star Went Out’, before taking the lead for ‘Under the Boardwalk’.

‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ were a great up-beat contrast, before ‘I’ll Walk With God’, the traditional Boobs & Brass signature tune, acted as a timely reminder of the fund raising aim in aid of the charity Breast Cancer Now. 

‘An American Trilogy’ and an encore of ‘YMCA’ brought to end a joyous night.

Chris Turner