Balkan Beat Box Lollapalooza - Parkways Foundation Stage Chicago, IL August 6, 2010

Decked out in high heels, crazy dresses and huge glasses they made their presence known. Gaga didn’t come out until 8 p.m. and they had quite a long time to wait before their idol took the stage. Thankfully there was something for everyone as Balkan Beat Box converted literally hundreds of people who had never heard of their music into long time fans.

The band, comprised of former punk saxophonist Ori Kaplan and drummer Tamir Muskat of Firewater came together in 2006 to create a sound the bridged both their various cultures’ traditional music with a deep infusion of modern styles. The result is nothing short of genius.

With the addition of the fast-talking, drum playing MC Tomer Yosef the band managed to take their sound in revolutionary new directions. Add one part hip-hop, one part electric klezmer with a large dose of Middle Eastern influence and you get a sound unlike anything else out there. The crowd took to the sound immediately and locked into Yosef’s hip-hop groove.

The GaGa heads originally fought the sound at first, it was clear. Their music couldn’t be more different and styles were bound to clash. Still, the mostly young fans could use a musical education and there was no one better to school them than Yosef. For a band that promotes peace, and their cross-cultural sound truly can bring people together, Yosef is pretty gangster. He has an intense presence on stage that grabs you and never lets you go.

I admit I was only a casual fan of Balkan Beat Box before the show. I’d heard them sporadically but didn’t know their musical all that well. After today I’m hooked.

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