We see The Young Fellaz from New Orleans dressed in matching outfits, but those outfits are not showy or extravagant like the costumes of many other bands.
We see above that The Young Fellaz' bandleader has a trumpet tattooed on his trumpet-holding forearm. This forms another category of outward expression, and one that is more permanent as compared to the ephemerality of the costumes worn by most other performers. Instead of putting his personality on his instrument, he put his instrument on himself (the vehicle for his personality). Similarly, a performer with Fanfarra Feminina Sagrada Profana (a Brazilian Brass Band) has a map of Brazil tattooed on her back. In these images, we see the meeting of cultures and traditions bound up in questions about when and where self-expression is allowed. Both tattoos exist regardless of the norms of the space these performers enter. This difference represents the larger clash (or coming together) that manifests in the HONK! Brass Bands rooted in Black New Orleans Jazz traditions, as opposed to the mostly white Somerville Marching Band traditions. Ultimately, these different forms of expression speak to the different backgrounds and struggles represented by these different bands.
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