Fri, Sep 1 - 9pm - $17adv/$20door

Mucca Pazza is a 30-odd-member rock ‘n roll marching band from Chicago, IL. Inspired by the subversive collaborations of Dada and Surrealism, Mucca Pazza seeks to attain the seemingly unattainable through an ever-evolving collective of artistic voices. Trumpets, trombones, saxes and sousaphones combine with guitar, mandolin, violin, cello and accordion, all on top of a rhythmic drumline — and all dressed in mismatched marching band uniforms. Add cheerleaders performing absurdist chants and you’ll quickly understand the band’s ethos: the bigger the better, the more the merrier, collectively jumping for joy.Ever since the band assembled in 2004 in the distinctly Chicago parking lot of a steel mill, Mucca Pazza has melded original compositions with street-theater spectacle. Musical influences range from Béla Bartók to Balkan folk, Björk to Charles Mingus, Clara Schumann to Frank Zappa — they are as comfortable in a performance hall as they are in football stadium bleachers.Nearly two decades in, Mucca Pazza continues as a multi-disciplinary fantasy of original music, shouted dream poems and sweaty dance freak outs performed by a large-scale collective that exists due to the grace and love of its ever-changing roster.

 Throbbing funk grooves, fiery Balkan brass, Gypsy accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! NYC’s official #1 brass band for BalkanSoul GypsyFunk. SSP! has created an acoustic mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds with North American music, weaving the gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz, and Latin influences of New York’s neighborhoods seamlessly into a Balkan brass setting. "Of all the NYC dance bands that draw on Eastern European music, Slavic Soul Party! is the coolest." (TimeOut NY)"...a masterpiece. At times a twirling party vehicle, at others a restrained tribute that sometimes takes on a saddened tone, Taketron always manages to be the embodiment of good-natured fun and appreciation. It’s obvious that Slavic Soul Party! has worked hard to reach this level of creative synergy, with the resulting fluidity of their latest release as impressive proof." (Popmatters)