StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A most unusual "marching band"

From the looks of things, fitting everyone on stage may be a tight squeeze when MarchFourth! comes to St. Louis to play an all-ages show on Monday, October 19 at the Old Rock House.

Formed in Portland, OR for a Mardi Gras gig in 2003, the group includes stilt-walkers, acrobats and dancers, as well as up to five percussionists and six brass and wind players among its lineup of 15 to 20 musicians and performers.

Their accomplishments to date include touring the summer jam-band and rock festival circuits multiple times here in the US; performing in Germany, The Netherlands, France, Canada and China; and having their music featured in TV and film productions including a commercial for Microsoft and the Pixar film Monsters University.

But while their instrumentation and stage wear may draw inspiration from the marching band tradition, MarchFourth!'s music is far from traditional, incorporating influences from jazz, rock, ska, klezmer, hip-hop, swing, Afro-Cuban beats, and more.

You can get a better idea of how all these elements come together by checking out today's videos, starting with the first clip up top, which shows them playing a tune called "Surfunk" in 2014 at their 11th anniversary Fat Tuesday party at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland.

After the jump, you can see and hear them performing "Space Hole," recorded in 2012 at the same venue; "Delhi Belly," from October 2014 at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, FL; and "Gospel," their tune that was featured in Monsters University, recorded in October 2013 at the Fairfield Theatre in Fairfield, CT.

If you'd like to delve a little deeper, after that there are videos of two full sets, from March 2014 at The Wild Buffalo in Bellingham, WA, and October 2014 at Magnoliafest in Live Oak, FL.

For more about MarchFourth!, check out the interview they did in 2013 with Salt Lake City Weekly and this one from 2011 with MetroSpective in Boulder, CO. 

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...