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MarchFourth Marching Band members feel at home while out on the road
26.08.2014 Article
Being a member of Portland’s MarchFourth Marching Band means never having to go without good sleep, at least while on the road. The group, with its 21-person crew of musicians, acrobats and stagehands, has built up a mighty network of friends and family across the country willing to offer a place to stay when the performers are on tour. After the band plays the Rialto Theatre tonight, some of the MarchFourth ensemble will recharge at the local home of a former associate who lives in town. The ...

Rant ‘N’ Roll: This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Marching Band!
26.08.2014 Article
They’re called M4 (for MarchFourth Marching Band) and it’s the closest to Mardi Gras you may ever get without going to New Orleans. Lighting up the festival circuit since their 2003 inception, they’re a nonstop action-ball, a Whirling Dervish, a Saint Vitus Dance and a carnival sideshow all rolled into one. Rock ‘n’ roll tunesmiths Leiber & Stoller wrote a song in 1961 called “Little Egypt” about a belly dancer who came out “wearing nothin’ but a button and a bow.” The two pulchritudinous female ...