this is for John, so he knows it happened (and thanks for the tip, bro!).

If you missed this show – and I know many of you did, but I’m not rubbing it in – you missed one of the best shows in NYC this year (I know I wasn’t here the first two months of 09, but I still think I can make that claim because Mucca Pazza fucking rocked, okay!).

I had heard of this Mucca Pazza before you see, because their guitarist, Jeff Thomas, grew up in the STL area so there are many mutual friends between us (not many freaks like us get out you see!) so I was warned, but still didn’t know what to expect. For brass bands, in NYC there’s the Hungry March Band and you’ll often encounter What Cheer? (from Providence) on the streets or at shows, but Mucca Pazza might have stolen the brass band crown that night, and hustled it all the way back to Chicago – thanks to their outfits, their songs, their cheerleaders, their total ensemble… WOW!

Embedded audio on their website (powered by WordPress I might add!) or even the video I’ll post below simply do NOT do this band justice. the Energy live is SO captivating, so infectious, those in the crowd who had never heard Mucca Pazza before, not even a song, were dancing, going crazy, from the first tune.

show was on 13 September 2009 @ Mercury Lounge, East Houston Street, NYC

PS – Mucca Pazza unfortunately won’t be playing, but if anybody is headed to HONK! this year, see you there!