Let’s get down to brass tracks, March Fourth Marching Band is a “trombona fide” blast. March Fourth, for short–is the Boba Fett and The Americans of Portland. Actually, more accurately, Boba Fett is the M4 of Denver, as they long preceded D-Town’s bounty hunter-clad drum major and his guerrilla marching band brainchild. Anyone who’s witnessed Boba and company in action will understand exactly what I’m talking about. Last July, they descended on an already lively Double Daughters anniversary soiree I was hosting, instantly transforming it into a full-on raucous ruckus.
Fresh off their Memorial Weekend slot at SoCal’s Lightning in a Bottle festival, M4 is parading through Colorado this week. Aspen’s Belly Up Tavern, Boulder’s Fox Theatre, Denver’s Gothic and Poudre Canyon’s Mishawaka Amphitheatre are all part of the parade route. March maestro John Phillips Sousa might come to mind, but M4’s got original material capable of going toe-to-toe with time-tested standards. In fact, saxophonist Robin Jackson placed third in the instrumental category of an international songwriting competition a few years ago. In addition to the musicians on stage, stilt-walkers, hula hoopers and various dancers flesh out the collective. M4’s stilters are no ordinary over-sized eye candy, either. As someone with experience in the art of “height enhancement”, I can definitely attest to that. Acrobatics aren’t out of their league. It can be difficult enough to maintain one’s balance on pegs sometimes, let alone perform a ballet-caliber lift. Antics like that are simply par for the M4 course, though.
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