Brass Solidarity’s crew of 15 took the stage at Somerville’s Seven Hills Park on Saturday, decked out in black and gold, tuning up their instruments and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets” – a war cry practiced from their presence at political unrest in their hometown of Minneapolis.
“When ICE was snatching people up down in Minneapolis, man it was crazy,” the band’s Butchy Austin told the audience. “I know it’s happening in a lot of your communities too, so keep the faith strong, keep taking care of each other, loving your neighbors.”
The band broke into the raucous and triumphant “Hold On (Change is Comin’)” by Sounds of Blackness – a duality embodied by Honk!, the 21-year-old festival where activist street bands combine their music, usually brass, with protest.
Honk! brought thousands to the streets of Davis Square from Friday to Sunday to experience the music of more than 30 bands from around the country.
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Wheelwright's One-Man Marching Band plays on Elm Street in Somerville during Honk!. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
The audience dances to "O-o-h Child" by the Five Stairsteps during a Honk! set by Brass Solidarity.(Photo: Emma Clement) -
Honk! volunteers fold and organize T-shirts at the merch stand early Saturday at Honk!. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
A Honk! attendee scans a QR code on a donation bucket. (Photo: Emma Clement)
Honk! is “reclaiming public space with a sound that is in your face and out of this world,” according to its website. The bands don’t perform above audiences on stages; they play among them, inviting them into the experience of making music and sound.
Jen Murphy, a member of Sass-a-Brass from Kansas City, Missouri, said music-based activism plays a unique role in local organizing, a role that feels more important now. Band members “don’t take that responsibility lightly,” she said.
“We play at protests and things in our local community, and when there isn’t a band at the protest, people miss it,” Murphy said. “It really feels like we need to be more available, and we need to be showing up. We are a really big source of energy for the folks who are going out and making their voices heard.”
The Good Trouble Brass Band, formerly the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band, was around from the festival’s beginnings. Its opening set also featured call-and-response chants, including “melt ICE” and “people, power.”
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A member of the Forward! Marching Band holds a trumpet high in Somerville’s Statue Park on Saturday at Honk!. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
Seattle's 8-Bit Brass Band plays its repertoire from video games, anime and movies. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
The Bread & Puppet Circus Band performs in Davis Square Plaza.(Photo: Emma Clement)
“Its really fun being at the intersection of music and activism,” said Eitan Paul, a member of Good Trouble. “Especially now, being able to be a part of the resistance and bring our peaceful voice to amplify messages we believe in, I think it’s so important.”
Performing at the intersection of music and activism is a way for many at Honk! to “build community and bridge gaps,” said Laura Bailey, a member of Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, which is based in Somerville – a city that has seen several neighbors disappeared off its streets by federal agents.
“This is part of it – just playing music and bringing joy in the face of everything else that’s happening today,” Bailey said.
Anna Purnell, a member of the Forward! Marching Band from Madison, Wisconsin, said the ability to perform is “worth a million dollars.”
“To be able to use my abilities as a performer in the interest of giving people joy, especially in times like these, there’s nothing like it,” Purnell said. “There’s lots of things I can’t do, but I can do this.”
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Raycurt Johnson of Minneapolis’ Brass Solidarity on Saturday at Honk!. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
Brass Solidarity performs "Hold On (Change Is Comin')" by Sounds of Blackness after Austin’s starting remarks. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
A Brass Solidarity trumpeter joins in during the band’s set Saturday. (Photo: Emma Clement) -
Alsa Bruno, a vocalist for Brass Solidarity, holds the megaphone microphone to the bell of his fellow band member's clarinet. (Photo: Emma Clement)
Purnell said Brass Solidarity is especially inspiring given its role in the resistance to increased ICE activity in Minneapolis and its founding in 2021 in response to the murder of George Floyd. The band played events including an “Abolish ICE” fundraiser and a memorial for Alex Pretti, a nurse shot and killed by ICE agents in January.
“[The band] is known because they’re one of the bands that helped chase ICE out of Minneapolis,” said David Blank-Edelman, a Honk! organizer.
Flying into a friendly, festival atmosphere in Somerville from tension on the streets of Minneapolis didn’t change Brass Solidarity’s approach or performance, said Alsa Bruno, a singer with Brass Solidarity.
“Anybody’s politics won’t change that we are here for Black liberation,” Bruno said. “Our approach is the same. It’s real love forward. Even if someone is being vitriolic or hateful or cruel, it doesn’t change that we are here lovingly.”
Whitney Kay, a Honk! organizer who gave the year’s welcoming remarks, said Brass Solidarity’s work over the past year is a reminder of why activist street music matters.
“Seeing what they could do with music just reminds me of why we do this, of why most of us got involved in this in one way or another,” Kay said.
To the sounds of trumpets and drums, Brass Solidarity asked its Honk! audience to “tell me what community looks like.”
The audience responded: “This is what community looks like.”
The festival’s impact lasts beyond just one weekend, Purnell said. “That kind of joy resonates beyond this event, and we carry it home,” she said. “It’s a really beautiful thing.”
This post was updated Oct. 13, 2026, to correct that Raycurt Johnson appears in a photo.
