Bobbing to Apples
March 4, 2007 at 2:02 p.m.
Every year the people of T/F and the Blue Note seem to out-do themselves as far as bookings go, and this year is no exception. The musical line up for Saturday evening was Scream Club, a hip-hop duo from Washington; Casper and the Cookies, a pop group from Georgia; Mucca Pazza of Chicago; and power-pop headliners, Apples in Stereo.
I arrived at the Blue Note as Apples in Stereo were beginning their infectious pop-rock set, and as the show progressed, the crowd continued to bob along to every song. During their set, I noticed a significant number of the audience dressed in various vintage marching band uniforms. At first I thought this to be a bit odd, but then again, this is Columbia, so I didn’t think about it twice. After Apples in Stereo wrapped up, the crowd parted and it seemed to be the end of things until I noticed that the members of the audience dressed in marching band uniforms began to take the stage.
It turned out that Mucca Pazza, a 31-piece ensemble that brands themselves as being an “astounding circus punk marching band,” would be the closing act. And what a finish it was. Mucca Pazza started their set with a gypsy-like piece that sounded as if it should have been on Frenchman Yann Tiersen’s “Amelie” soundtrack. During the opening number, the accordionist and two guitarists remained on the stage playing while the rest of the band weaved throughout the audience with trombones, tubas, drums, and a number of other instruments. Then there was a pause and an explosion of sound followed from the band members dispersed throughout the Blue Note. The show was on.
For the next hour, Mucca rocked the crowd with genre-bending, cheerlead dance grooves that even the late James Brown would have been proud of. At one point, Mucca had the entire crowd swaying back and forth to a breezy, free-floating song, and immediately afterwards the crowd was hypnotized by a muted melody. Then the dancing began again. Mucca was by far the most exciting and enjoyable act I’ve ever encountered.
If my high school marching band were even half as entertaining and innovative as Mucca Pazza, I would have attended a lot more football games and actually looked forward to assemblies.
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