Knicks in 5

At City Hall for soundcheck

We are having a *year* here in NYC. Between the election of Zohran Mamdani and the Knicks winning the NBA Championship for the first time in 53 years, the vibes have never been higher. Even the weekends of endless rain that we have experienced the last few years are seemingly gone in flash! The city feels united in a way I have not experienced previously.

Last Wednesday, Brass Queens received a request to perform at the Knicks ticker-tape parade the following day. The answer was a resounding YES! I was so excited to be a part of this historic event, but also stressed out, as I had a performance in Bethlehem, PA later that night with Cinco12.

Although we didn’t play until 11:30a, we had to be at City Hall at 7a to meet our handler. As I waited for the downtown 6 at 14th street, I could see why: there were already thousands of people making their way to the parade route, which didn’t step off until 10.

Once inside City Hall, we waited, played a soundcheck, and then waited some more. Finally it was time to take the stage. We played two songs: Can’t Let Go by New Breed Brass Band and Dakiti by Bad Bunny. It’s still unclear to me if any of the audio aired, but we definitely made the news coverage as I had a barrage of texts from friends with pictures of us on TV.

with Caitlin Cawley (bass drum) and Stephanie King (trumpet)

We left the stage feeling good about our performance. As luck would have it, Mr. Mayor himself was coming through backstage when we got back inside of City Hall. He graciously shook all of our hands and took a picture with us. To say we were fangirling hard would be an understatement. This moment alone made the stress of the day totally worth it, not to mention the fact that congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a video of us playing on her Instagram story!

Zohran Mamdani with his new favorite band, Brass Queens!

I had to rush out of City Hall to get back to my house, grab my car and Cinco12 singer Jenny Luna, and head two hours out to the Steelstacks. We played a fantastic show and headed back to NYC after. It was a long day, but one I will not forget!