Skip to main contentMichael Taluc's big red fire engine turns heads. Careening along downtown streets last Sunday. The shiny 1976 Ford engine stands out, but it's the cargo--the 20-plus costumed members of Portland's MarchFourth Marching Band--that's truly attention-grabbing.
Whenever possible, the band rolls into a gig on Taluc's truck, sirens blaring, lights flashing, horns trumpeting and drums pounding. With all that noise, the truck becomes just another brilliant character in a group of oddballs, seasoned musicians and consummate performers who wear sliced-and-diced band gear.
On this Sunday trip to the Oregon Brewers Festival, by the time the band hops off the engine and marches to the middle of Waterfront Park, its infectious mix of afro-beat, funk and spine-jarring drumline has already gathered a crowd of revelers. A few shirtless drunken suburbanites dance along with the band's stilt-walkers. Other spectators just watch as three dancers, clad in wonderfully risqué costumes complete with fishnet stockings and bloomers, perform a triple-chair dance.
But MarchFourth is about much more than its carnival aesthetic. Born out of the performance group Kaosmosis, MarchFourth has aimed since its first show on March 4, 2003, to break down the wall between the band and the audience. Just as important, however, is the drive to obliterate barriers between performers, encouraging interaction through music and dance.
"It's a folk tradition," says co-founder and bass-drum player Dan Stauffer. "There's no ego involved. There's just a lot of great team spirit."
Locals know this thanks to the band's near-constant gigging. This summer MarchFourth has already played the Waterfront Blues Festival, the Oregon Country Fair and the Pride Parade, and it even has had an audience with the governor. The group also bears the honor of being the only marching band at the upcoming Burning Man festival, where its big-top-style whimsy will have desert folk kicking up dust.
But before that, MarchFourth will sound off this Saturday at its most important show. The transmission of the band's beloved fire truck failed earlier this summer, and part of the mission of this weekend's Flying Dream show at Machineworks is to raise money to pay the $4,000 repair bill.
"People are always bummed when they know the fire truck isn't coming," says bandleader and bassist John Averill. "The band and the truck go hand in hand. It's a fun way to travel."
And trucking in the fun isn't that hard when you're with this group.
MarchFourth Marching Band will be playing with DJ Breakbeat Buddha, DJ Manoj, Trash Can Joe and AV Club for the Flying Dream at Machineworks Warehouse, 1115 NW 14th Ave., www.kaosmosis.org . 9 pm. $13-$20, advance tix available at Dragonlily Boutique (1740 SE Hawthorne Blvd.). 21+.
WWeek 2015