Stars of the AVT #25: The Hungry March Band
This post is one of a series profiling the hundreds of performers I’ve presented through my American Vaudeville Theatre in celebration of its 15th anniversary. Don’t miss the American Vaudeville Theatre’s 15th Anniversary ExTRAVaganza in the New York International Fringe Festival this August!
I first knew of the Hungry March Band by merely existing in the same aerospace as them in Williamsburg in the late 90s. Lanky, bespectacled trombonist Ben Meyers seemed to be a bridge between both them and the Bindlestiffs. Punk drummer Tim Hoey marched with the band but also backed the Williamsburg-based band Puss Pie, one of the most exciting rock acts I have ever seen.
The HMB seems to have as its mission the task of single-handedly rehabilitating the ultimate resort of nerdery…the marching band. From the beginning I have always wanted a sort of pit orchestra for my American Vaudeville Theatre. A brass band would be very consonant with the Americana aesthetic I make my bailiwick. I approached them gingerly in the early years but they were always beyond my financial reach to book as an “act”. But the group has two gears. One is street theatre — they are (or at least were) ubiquitous at all manner of parades, protests, street actions, raves, publicity stunts and the like. That’s one way I knew them. They were everywhere. And their very public presence got them great press on the local tv news, and all the major papers. But they also gig for money: they play weddings, parties, and so forth. And, as you can imagine, booking such a large ensemble is expensive.
On one occasion, however, I was able to make it happen by making my show more like the former type of performance (protest), then like the latter (a hire). This was my special anti-RNC political themed edition at the Brick Theater, July 4, 2004, which also featured Reverend Billy. The occasion was quite a delicious bedlam. The house was already full by the time the band showed up. But the HMB by themselves can fill up the 30-seat Brick. The joint was overflowing with sweaty humanity, just how I like it. It became uncertain where the stage, or the event, left off. I like that kind of ambiguity and that kind of chaos and lack of definition (much to the chagrin of many of my collaborators, I am sure).
At any rate, they have a couple of gigs coming up. Tomorrow they are playing at the annual Trout Parade at upstate Livingston Manor. And on the 21st of this month (the summer solstice) you can catch them locally at the annual Highline Parade as part of Make Music New York.
To learn more about vaudeville past and present, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
