You don’t often get the good vibes of a brass band, playing live outside in the freezing cold, entertaining everyone while they rush around getting last minute shopping on Christmas Eve in Leicestershire. They say joy is experienced in fleeting moments and this was one of those moments while I waited in the car, the driver whilst someone went into the supermarket to fight the crowds. Normally I’d be on my phone, answering emails and using the time productively, but today I was able to sit and listen, be completely entertained by the live performance, a combination of well known Christmas tunes, carols and classical pieces. The repertoire was very varied and definitely something for everyone.

But the best part of all was the happy vibes, that feeling of just stopping for a moment and listening to the music, it made me think of Victorian authors, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, conjuring times gone by when a walk out to the band stand in the park on a Sunday was a regular afternoon’s entertainment, rest and respite from the gruelling 6 days a week in the factory or down the pit so many of our relatives endured perhaps only two or three generations ago for many.

Although this isn’t a movie review per se listening to the music made me think about a film, Brassed Off, which tells the tale of a Yorkshire Brass Band, coming back to life after the workplace collieries lays off all the staff and the Bands fate is sealed.

This snoop didn’t start out as my top six feel good Christmas film review guide but listening to the Lutterworth Town band and the friends and family holding the collection boxes for the necessary financial support, transport to venues etc, made me think of the 1998 film if you need an uplifting family film over the Christmas period it’s a great choice of the Full Monty, Jam and Jerusalem, Calendar Girls, The Holiday, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black with legendary Eli Wallace as Arthur Abbot, Made in Dagenham, Pride or Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie and Imelda Staunton in Finding Your Feet 2012, type of watch. Feel good, nostalgic vibes all the way, with big life lessons on the side, perfect for the holiday season.

This is the plot line in a nutshell; In a village in Northern England, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite), the conductor of a colliery brass band, has difficulty maintaining the morale of his musicians when the economic future of the area is threatened by the possibility that the local coal mine will be closed. When a former resident, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald), returns to assess the mine, she get involved with her former flame, Andy (Ewan McGregor), and also the band, joining them in their last hurrah at a national competition.

This snoop is a tribute to local brass bands everywhere who come together to share their love of music. It’s not about being the best brass band, or being note perfect. Or even if you can’t tell the difference between a Tuba and a Euphonium, a cornet and a trumpet. It about that rousing feeling, the feeling you get listening to a brass band play together, something innately British I think and something not always appreciated or supported in the modern world.

I loved hearing Lutterworth Town band play for everyone for free and if you get the chance to support your local brass band I’d encourage you to stop and listen for a moment and check how the music actually makes you feel.

And any local brass musicians looking to join a band, Lutterworth Town Band welcome musicians of all ages. They get together every Wednesday evening at Lutterworth Town Hall, Market, Square, Lutterworth. All you need to bring is yourself and your instrument to join in the fun.