'We were trying to do a good thing': Brass band booted out of Wetherspoons for performing war songs after D-Day event

Pub-goers and musicians have branded a Wetherspoons as "mean-spirited" after a brass band was ordered to leave mid-song following a D-Day commemoration.

Darwen Brass Band had performed in front of Blackburn Cathedral for around 25 minutes during an event in the town centre on Sunday afternoon (June 9). Dignitaries and veterans gathered to pay their respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and took part in the Normandy landings during the Second World War.

After completing their set, members of the brass band decided to "continue playing for the public" by making their way through the town centre. They then headed inside the nearby Postal Order, where pub-goers were delighted by the performance of old-time war songs.

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However, mid-song, staff from the pub interrupted the band and asked them they had to leave the premises. Customers in the pub said the explanation offered was that the Postal Order "doesn't have a licence" for live music.

One woman who witnessed the incident told LancsLive: "We attended the D-Day commemoration at the Blackburn Cathedral, whilst the ceremony was going on myself, my daughter and my parents called into The Postal Order in Blackburn.

"As we sat having a coffee, the Darwen Brass band came in and decided to do a good deed [and] started to play some old war songs. It brought the moral of the pub up, lots of people joined in singing.

"Then to our absolute disgust, the staff barged from out behind the bar along with the chef [and] shouted that the band needed to leave, and kicked them out.

"Their excuse was they didn't have a music licence. Fair enough but the pub wasn't broadcasting music? I'm sure they could have allowed them to finish the song then calmly explained why they couldn't carry on playing. I find this shocking.

"The way the band was treated was appalling, the staff attitude in general was damn-right rude."

Following their ejection from the watering hole Mandy Pickles, chair of Darwen Brass Band, said many of the groups members were shocked - and believed they were doing a nice thing for people who had been paying their respects to the fallen.

She told LancsLive the songs she and her colleagues performed were "out of copyright anyway", although she acknowledged that specific permission to perform live music might have been required from the local licensing authority.

"I can't imagine the council, or any other authority, would have taken action anyway," Mandy said. "It was a shame, we were trying to do a good thing, and the songs are out of copyright anyway!

"We thought it would be well received in the pub, and it was by those who were in there, so when they interrupted us and ordered us to leave everyone was very disappointed."

A spokesman for Wetherspoons told LancsLive: “Almost uniquely, Wetherspoon does not play music in its pubs. There have been occasional exceptions for special occasions which, due to live music sometimes needing licensing permission, have been agreed in advance.

"If the organisers of the brass band would like to contact Wetherspoon , we will certainly consider making an exception.”

Although many suspect Wetherspoons pubs don't play music due to licensing and performing rights regulations the story goes that the chain's founder, Tim Martin, read a famous essay by George Orwell called "Perfect Pub" which advised against music with meals.