One drippy weekend a couple years back, I loaded up the minivan, stopped at McDonald’s, and took the kids to the Portland, Oregon Earth Day celebrations  (I parked a few blocks away and made the kids leave their food in the car, understanding that not everyone would appreciate the irony).   We were recent Portland transplants, still adapting to the local culture and scene, getting used to the green and gray.  So, I was a bit surprised to lead my troops around the corner and come face-to-face with a tricked-out fire truck and two tail-coated stilt walkers, one in a black top hat.  Women in short skirts and striped stockings, men in ruffle shirts and military band coats carrying horns and drums, an attractively faux-hawked trombone player, and more…wherever they were going, we gladly followed.

Under a handcrafted band shelter in one corner of the park, the band collected and started to play an amazing, riotous noise that one band member recently described for me as, “a big band experience that takes the marching band aesthetic and twists it, adds all the influence of world music, and throws in circus and cabaret.”  And in the muddy grass, the crowd gathered. 

That’s the thing about MarchFourth Marching Band, they play and the crowd gathers, stupefied by this extraordinary spectacle.  This past March, for their fourth anniversary, they booked two shows at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, the largest ballroom venue in town.  To their surprise, they sold out both the all-ages matinee and the 21-and-over evening show.  After getting together as a ‘one-off’ band for a Fat Tuesday show in 2003 and spending their first few years playing local shows and festivals, in the last year they’ve been playing gigs all along the West Coast.  They’ve built their reputation at the Burning Man experience in the Nevada desert.  They’ve represented the real spirit of American revolution at the Altoona Fun Parade during last year’s World Cup celebrations in Germany.  And this year, this year might just be the year they start getting paid.

For a band this big, 34 active band members who won’t play with fewer than 18 or 19 members available, and a show that is never just music but dancers and stilt walkers as well, clearly this has been a labor of love.  Fortunately, love is part of their vision.  When they talk about their place within a growing genre of street bands and alternative circus, MarchFourth differentiates itself by not being politically oriented, but spiritually oriented - not in the religious, dogmatic sense, but playing music and creating an experience that is about people expressing their joy.  Or, as “Cymbal Dan” Herrick described their intentions, “People are constantly looking to be surprised, to see new and innovative forms of art, and to connect with the wonder and awe that we experienced when we were young.  M4 brings that spectacle and big show, and then makes you shake your ass!”

Putting that big show together, though, comes with huge investments of time and talent.  The band rehearses weekly, with smaller groups of dancers, stilt walkers, drummers, etc., gathering for additional sessions.  With at least 16 music writers in the band, compositions draw from a widely inspired set of influences.  Other members bring their day-job skills as local artisans into the mix as metal workers fashioning drum carriages, or clothing designers crafting dancers’ costumes and stilt walkers’ long pants.  These musicians wear a lot of hats.  Literally.  While a couple of people have quit their day jobs, most have modified their work lives to accommodate the schedule of weekly practice, shows, and out of town traveling.  It’s probably good, too, that many of their day jobs have some flexibility, as the performing schedule has moved to upwards of 100 shows a year. 

Talking with the band members, it’s clear that many of them feel they are reaching the crest of the wave that has been building since that first show four years ago.  Performing so much more has made MarchFourth a tighter, sharper group.  They’ve honed their repertoire to accommodate wildly different kinds of shows, taking their cues and fine-tuning the set list, clothing, and professionalism (read:  amount of drinking and revelry that happens pre-show) depending upon their audience.  The trip to Germany in 2006 left them with tales to tell (German beer!  German groupies!), and acted as a transformative experience for the band.  “We spent two weeks together, every day, and played a lot of shows there,” commented dancer and co-manager Faith Jennings.  “We didn’t have the responsibilities of our daily lives as a factor during those two weeks, so we really just got to be in the band.  And that was a great thing.”

Oregon.  Texas.  California.  Washington.  Nevada.  More Oregon. Back to California.  The 2007 schedule is getting serious.  Their new 47-person bus is being decked out with a kitchen, and features that luxury of luxuries, a bathroom, “so no more 45-minute pee-breaks!”  With their growing reputation, the band has had more opportunities to turn one-show road trips into multi-venue adventures.  They’re featured on one cut of Pink Martini’s new CD ‘Hey Eugene’.  They plan to be back in the studio soon to record their own sophomore album.  Now in their fifth year together, they admit it’s a marvel the band is still around, with relatively little internal drama.  They credit their all-ages appeal to the non-generationally alienating combination of band instrumentation, world music, and circus atmosphere.  Best, it seems like they’re all still having fun.  The beat comes down, and the crowds gather.

I’ve caught MarchFourth Marching Band at various shows around Portland since that first encounter when I really wanted to leave my children and go join their circus (hey, I’d look good in stripey tights!).  I also underestimated their ability to fill the Crystal for their birthday show this year, and ended up acquiring tickets the night of the show on the street outside.  Once inside, I wormed my way past people who appeared to range in age from about 15 to 65, and staked my claim right up front.  It was getting late in a long day of performances, but the band was still red hot.  Feeling the music cascading in through my ears and back out through my fingertips, drums building second heart rhythms, horns lighting the air with their brilliance, beauties, tumblers, stilts, motion, music and delight all converged ecstatically and exploded from the stage.  Dan Herrick stated that the climax of the MarchFourth experience is a “glorious place where the music, the crowd, the band, all come together as one.  That truly rarefied place where we all get to kiss peace, if only for a moment.”  Celebrating their fourth birthday with this unique Portland treasure was indeed a glorious place.  And I danced my ass off.

The name of the band itself is merely a hint at the nature of the MarchFourth musical experience, but doesn’t come close to doing it justice.  This is a group of individuals whose collective passion for pushing beyond a conventional, passive performer/crowd dynamic has created multi-generational entertainment that fascinates audiences ranging from diapers to, well, Depends.  While they have all the pieces in place for this to be a pivotal year for the group, in listening to their ambitions it becomes clear they will have to find their balance between performing and the rest of their lives, both individually and as a band.  They’re confident this organism is continuing to grow, and have a strong vision as a group of continuing their deep connection with their music and their audience.  But each of the folks I listened to eventually brought it back to what’s really at stake as they move into year five together:  “Maybe we’ll all make enough to get paid!  In order to conquer the world, we’re going to need to do that.”  Fortunately, with the enthusiasm these performers bring to their shows, their genuine love of creating an amazing performance experience, and the growing numbers of fans and followers, it is only a matter of time until they do march forth and conquer the world.

For more information on MarchFourth, including tour dates , streaming audio and even ringtones, visit their website or official Myspace page!

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All photos courtesy of Nik Wilhelm.