Review: Banders Bingo at Boarshurst Band Club
- Liv Appleton
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Banders Bingo: A chaotic, feel-good, musical night out
Banders Bingo has been on my radar for a while now, since I came across one of their videos on TikTok. The high-energy, fun-filled event shows brass banding in a completely different and wildly entertaining light. I was excited to finally see what the event was all about when I went down to their recent show at Boarshurst Band Club.Â
What is Banders Bingo?
The game your granny used to play down at the local hall has had a bonkers, brassy upgrade with wild mini games, hilarious prizes and musical surprises performed by a live brass band. The rules of the game are the same - crossing off numbers as they are called and the first to win a line, two lines and a full house wins a prize. However there are many surprise twists and turns in the form of cheeky mini-games, challenges for the audience and tongue-in-cheek bingo-calling comedy. The event was founded by Eb bass player, Chris Hall and organised by a group of brilliant young brass musicians. You can tell that a lot of time, thought and effort has gone into creating this concept and it really is brilliant.
Banders Bingo at Boarshurst Band Club
I knew when I saw glow sticks on the table, we were in for a fun night. Once settled with a cheeky drink, my bingo card and dabber, the time had come to play. Our host for the evening, Julian Bayley, who (when he’s not moonlighting as frontman and bingo-caller for Banders Bingo) is the Principal Euphonium of the Leyland Band. The tongue-in-cheek bingo-calling was entertaining in itself, with some less-than-conventional calls, but it’s when a number is called that is attached to an absolute banger of a song, such as ‘Shut Up and Dance with Me’ by Walk the Moon and ‘5 Colours in Her Hair’ by McFly and Hot to Go by Chappell Roan that the party really gets started.Â
In between the main game of bingo, there were fun mini games for the audience to get involved with, such as a very cheeky game of countdown with anagrams that would make even Carol Vorderman blush, a dance-off and a bongo contest - where three participants had to try and outplay each other on a set of bongos with varying degrees of success achieved - all accompanied with music from the band.
Speaking of the band - they may be blasting out cheesy pop hits that we all know and love, but it is made up of seriously good musicians from bands, such as Black Dyke, Faireys and Pemberton - so not only is the music entertaining, it’s top quality too.Â
The prizes on offer were also good fun and ranged from a Thomas the Tank Engine toy and a Barbie doll to free drinks at the bar and cash prizes.
It’s an event that is seriously good fun and I think would appeal to banders and non-banders alike and I look forward to going again!
Striking the Right Chord
One of the questions that gets thrown around a lot is ‘what does banding need to do to appeal to the younger generation’?. My answer is: events like this.Â
Now I’m saying we need to do away with the Regionals in favour of a brass band bingo event?Â
No, I’m not - as entertaining as that thought is. Can you imagine a spot at the Finals being won through a game of bingo. I mean sometimes results can feel like a game of-.....nope let’s not go there.Â
What I AM saying though is, speaking as a young (ish - 29 is still young isn’t it?) person, as much as I believe our existing events, such as contests have their place, its events where music, entertainment and socialising come together that strike the right chord and attract both young people and non-banding people into our community.Â
It’s great to see a group of passionate banders coming together to innovate an event that aims to bring our beloved medium and community to the public in a different way.Â
If you love a great night out, good music and just a little bit of chaos - you NEED to get a ticket to Banders Bingo when they announce their next event!
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