Although we don’t always think about it, not all street performers have a permit from the government to perform.
In some cases, having a street permit is important for public safety… and in others, it’s really just a formality. In any event, sometimes the crowd wants to hear the music so badly that they don’t want the local laws to stop them from doing so. And that was exactly what happened in this video.
At Market Street Manchester, two council workers tried to drive away a busking band called Phat Bollard from in front of a clothing store.
The band did nothing to inconvenience anyone, and they stood their ground and even asked the crowd whether they want them to stay or leave. The crowd beautifully supported the group by cheering them on—and some even booed the people trying to get them away.
Though they’re not a household name, Phat Bollard is quite prolific as far as buskers go.
They are an ensemble from England who are popular for writing songs about inequalities and injustices from anywhere in the world. They are humble musicians who travel around Britain in vans and buses accompanied by rescued mutts. Phat Bollard’s music can be categorized as folk and skiffle.
The band consists of two guitarists, Patrick Shevlin and Adam Whittaker; one mandolin player, Aaron Barnes; Ash on Banjo; stick-box bass played by Irie Reilley and Patrick Dunbar on percussion. They are talented musicians and writers which It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine describes as having “distinct musical personalities.”
As it turns out, their song fit their situation perfectly.
Remember those two councilmen? As the group stood their ground against them, coincidentally (or not), the next song they sang was an original called “Council.” Council is a song that lyrically tells the world to stand up against governments behaving unjustly. It also talks about corruption and unjustifiable actions that people in council might be guilty of.
Because of that commotion, the crowd grew even larger by the minute and some people danced around, approached them mid-song to shake hands! Overall, everyone was enjoying what they were witnessing. The song came out powerfully because of that situation, and everyone was glad it did!
Though it was a hit in person, the internet responded even more loudly!
A YouTube user, Craig Winterburn, posted the video on his channel. The video was published in 2016, and has since earned 745,690 views and more than six thousand likes. He also covered the whole story in his blog in which you can find the link in the video description.
Most of the comments had people expressing sentiments in support of the group over the council members—after all, nobody was hurt by what they were doing! What happened there made their fans support and love them even more.
Aside from this performance, Phat Bollard has plenty of other videos on YouTube as well.
They group hosts songs posted on Bandcamp, Deezer and Spotify as well. Phat Bollard also has a Facebook page where they post their announcements on which town will they appear next. For anyone who watched this video and enjoyed it, now is the time to check them out for more!
Congratulations to Phat Bollard on this surprising performance! Check out the full thing in the link below:
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