Main Squeeze to hit the road

Local funk band The Main Squeeze will perform for fans at the Bluebird Nightclub Saturday before hitting the road for a 20-date tour on the east coast, starting in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The show starts at 9 p.m. and will feature two other bands that keyboardist Ben “Smiley” Silverstein said are close to the Squeeze: Sophistafunk and IndigoSun.

“We met these guys at Summercamp music festival a couple years ago, and we’ve been good friends since,” Silverstein said in an email.

Silverstein said Sophistafunk has a sound that’s a “funky, grimy mix of hip-hop, live drum and Moog savagery,” while IndigoSun features more “ecstatic dance jams fueled by cosmic funk.”

The Main Squeeze will play two sets at the Saturday night show, and Silverstein said their sets will contain three new songs Bloomington fans have yet to hear performed live. He also said Herm Productions will provide a full light show to accompany the band’s funky sound.

In order to avoid making the audience decide between their concert and IU basketball, the bar plans on giving fans the best of both worlds. The IU basketball game against Michigan will be broadcast at the bar.

The Bluebird show will be the band’s last stop in Bloomington for two months, as their tour will take them to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other cities.
The band will play four shows in the Northeast as part of the Mardi Gras Ball Tour. Kermit Ruffins and The Stooges Brass Band will accompany them.

For more on the band and their upcoming tour dates, visit http://www.mainsqueezemusic.com.

— Carolyn Crowcroft