www.shuffledemons.com
Rich Underhill of the Shuffle Demons says the band's shows are beautiful controlled chaos. The band plays at the Esplanade Studio Theatre June 26 at 10:30 p.m. as part of Medicine Hat JazzFest.
cbrown@medicinehatnews.com@MHNBrown
You’ll need eyes in the back of your head and that head on a swivel if you’re going to see the Shuffle Demons at Medicine Hat JazzFest.
Leader Rich Underhill says the show is the most beautiful controlled chaos and the crowd will be a big part of the show. A march through the crowd is a part of every performance.
“That’s kind of one of our staples. I mean we started out as a street band and that’s what we would do trying to get a crowd, we’d march into the crowd and get people going,” he said this week.
The group enjoys playing an instrument right next to people because it gets them feeling like the show is coming to them, he added, saying it elicits lots of smiles, clapping and, these days, phone in the air.
“It’s really fun especially if kids are there … and older people also love it. They come from an era of acoustic instruments so it’s nice to have an acoustic instrument right up next to them … it just lights up the crowd and I love doing it.”
Of course the showmanship is only part of the experience. There’s great music, too.
Underhill says it’s “a range from funk jazz to straight-ahead jazz to far out to jazz vocals. Basically anything with jazz, be it funk or rock or blues or whatever mixed together with jazz to make a really fun show.”
From their days in 1984 at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, the Shuffle Demons have come a long way. Underhill quickly rattles off Japan, the U.S., Europe, India and South America as just some of the places they’ve toured.
Canada, too, of course. He estimated they’ve done about 20 tours across the country by now and always enjoys Medicine Hat.
“It’s not a really small place but it’s a smaller place than Toronto and I always find that when we go to smaller places people are more excited to hear you. They aren’t saturated with artists coming through like we are here in Toronto so I find people are really appreciative of the music.”
The Shuffle Demons will perform June 26 at the Esplanade Studio Theatre at 10:30 p.m. The band will also host a workshop there on June 25 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available online at tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777, and in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk. Full festival passes are also available.
