The band members, all in concert black-and-white, tuned up as the setting sun flashed off their golden trumpets and trombones. As parents set up their lawn chairs or blankets, their children ran to the nearby playground, while younger siblings tumbled in the grass. Band members conferred about a difficult passage and senior citizens sprayed on mosquito repellent. With the Epsom Town Band all in place, conductor T.J. Rand waved his baton, and the “Star Spangled Banner” filled the air. As the 30 or 40 people on the grass got to their feet, one woman snapped a picture of the band with her cell phone.

The Epsom Town Band has weathered social and technological changes since forming in the late 19th century. But they still get together, 25 strong, to play four public concerts every summer. The faithful listeners who sit in, on or near their cars reflect the band’s central truth: “If you play it, they will come.”

On a recent Friday night, Bruce Graham unpacked his drumsticks. Graham and his wife, Penny, now manage the band, he said. They both play percussion. Penny Graham’s father, John B. Yeaton, managed the band before the Grahams, and her family involvement goes back to the early years. Two of her great-uncles are featured in an early photo, he said.

The band plays for three Friday nights in July, plus on the Saturday night of Old Home Day. All concerts are in Webster Park. It’s the greatest show in Epsom on a summer Friday, and possibly the only one. Admission is free. Cars start pulling onto the grass at around 7:15 for a 7:30 start. People unpack coolers or munch on take-out. Lawn chairs snap open.younger or more agile often sprawl on blankets, or the hoods of their cars. Anything goes.

The music is like comfort food for the ears: marches, light classical and show tunes. Some of the arrangements are simple, some more complex. In the July 10 concert, Rand brought the best out of the musicians with “Another Opening, Another Show” from “A Chorus Line,” “Hello, Dolly” from the same, and a rousing “The Bear Went Over the Mountain.” “Some Enchanted Evening” brought a moving clarinet solo before the brass built to a finish. Between numbers, the band members were relaxed, joking with Rand and each other.

Though members range from 80-somethings to 10-year-old Paul Bennett, there’s no great divide of age. They chat back and forth, the older helping the younger with a difficult passage, the younger helping the older with the fine print. Bennett said he’s the youngest in the orchestra.

“My sister’s 11 and she plays,” he said. “So does my mom.” Bennett joined “just for the fun of it,” and though his peers are playing different tunes on their mp3 players, he doesn’t find the band music dorky.

“I like it,” he said with a smile.

As the sun set, a breeze came up and the windbreakers went on. An intermission brought the band members into the audience to visit with friends and relatives. In the silence, night birds and crickets could be heard. As the band assembled again, the stage was the only spot of light in the park. The music drowned out the shouts of children from the playground and the noise of cars from Route 28. Rand pulled out all the stops for the song “More,” with a driving brass line and a drum solo by Graham. The audience warmed up, adding catcalls to their clapping. Fans who stayed in their cars tooted their horns in approval, and the band members tooted theirs with even more vigor.

While many of the fans are from Epsom, the concerts draw people from all over the region. Paul Larivee of Northwood attended for the first time with his friend Sandra Martin of Epsom. It won’t be the last, Larivee said. “I just like the fact that they’re here -- and doing such great music!” he said.

“This is real music,” Flo Burgess of Manchester said. “We’re ‘groupies,’” she added jokingly. Burgess drives over from Manchester with a friend, Denise Brissett of Allenstown, to support Brissett’s father, one of the percussionists.

The band also draws players from around the region, who want the chance to play patriotic music and show tunes, or simply to play outdoors. Ralph Turmelle of Rochester said what he likes is “I get to play!” Turmelle also toots his horn with the Strafford Wind Symphony, groups in Rochester and Wolfeboro, the Exeter Brass Band and as a “sub” with the Seacoast Wind Ensmble.

Turmelle said he played trumpet originally, but got into the euphonium “when a bnad I was in ran out of euphonium players.” “That’s how a lot of us get started,” 16-year-old Eric Chase, also a euphonium player, said.

Concerts continue Fridays, July 17 and 24, at 7:30 p.m., in Webster Park. Admission is free. Bring bug spray. A concert will also take place Saturday, Aug. 8, during Epsom’s Old Home Day.