Orkestar Zirkonium + Reptet - The Mix (Seattle, WA; Jan. 23, 2009)

This was a night I will not soon forget. And one my already battered eardrums won’t either.

For starters, we got lost. Neither Nicole or I had been to The Mix before. Thankfully, after numerous wrong turns down darkened Georgetown streets and a few irritated back-and-forths between passenger and driver, we finally found our The Mix and Orkestar Zirkonium. Or more approriately, the band found us. As we pulled up the venue, members of Orkestar Zirkonium were performing, marching outside and around the venue. When we finally made our way inside, I knew we were in for something exciting.

When inside, Orkestar Zirkonium’s two rows of brass instruments and percussion took up the entire front half of the small work loft known as The Mix. Orkestar Zirkonium originated in 2003 as a small collection of musicians and has grown to its present day membership of nearly twenty.  Although the group does not share a Balkan heritage, you might be fooled by looking at their attire. I suppose their costume could be described as “Eastern European working class musician,” romantically shabby, but still looking quite dapper.

Their sound was equally hard to pin down. Warm, happy, and hopeful are three adjectives that immediately came to my mind. Devotchka’s sound comes to mind, but triple the number of musicians and strip it down to a much more raw and organic level. Basically, it made me want to dance and drink wine and wave a tambourine. There were trumpets, a tuba, cymbals, a bass drum, trombones, snare drums, cymbals and on and on. Orkestar members laughed, danced, and waved their instuments about theatrically - it was clear that every member of the group loved the music they were playing, and were having a great time doing it. 

Orkestar Zirkonium opened and closed the evening, but in between their set, Reptet haphazardly stepped their way in. Unlike Orkestar Zirkonium’s stylish choice of dress, Reptet opted for a marine animal theme. This included a clarinet playing crab, a trumpeter wearing a frog hat, and a scuba diving bear that sometimes performed solos with a conch shell. The “jazz” music they played was also a little unusual. It was atonal at times and the lead singer (a flipper-wearing penguin) would squawk and/or scream into the mic. Occasionally our flippered friend would push his way through the crowd muttering lyrics no one could understand. I’m not sure I understood the point of all the avant garde shenanigans, and I am not convinced that they weren’t more of a distraction than an addition to their set. Despite this, Reptet were talented musicians. And I enjoyed their closing song, the catchy “Chicken or Beef.” But thoughts of their set faded as Orkestar Zirkonium marched onto the stage to end the evening.

Without a doubt, Orkestar Zirkonium is something to be experienced and hopefully, you will see them soon in a neighborhood near you.

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