MR2 Symphonic+ From the Palace of Arts Kerekes Band
Festival Theatre Edgy ethno-funk, invigorating Csángó boogie and in-your-face rock ’n’ roll make the concerts of the Kerekes Band throb with the intensity of a packed stadium gig infused with Hungarian folk music, and occurrences of magical healing and psychedelic visions have also been reported. With his set of flutes and a suitcase brimming with effects, Zsombor Fehér crowns the experience as he plays like a Csángó gone berserk in a Bronx funk party having grown up on Jimi Hendrix’s fiercest beats on the mountaintops of Gyimes. The true saviour of the Ethno Funk Brotherhood, Csaba Námor’s mastery of the koboz delivers a swift roundhouse kick to the face with every riff, while viola virtuoso Ákos Csarnó adds the energy and soul of an otherworldly happiness which moves the bodies of the audience through time and space. Forming the backbone of the group are the two hardest-working men in the folk business, the rhythm section of Csaba Kónya on bass guitar and Viktor Fehér behind the drums. The band already played the Palace of Arts in 2007, since when they have acquired two gold discs, a Fonogram Award and a wealth of concert experience, and they are now ready to deliver an exciting new show. What’s more, this evening, they will be helped by the Söndörgő Ensemble, masters of Hungarian tambura music, so that the song Mr. Hungary can at last be heard in Serbian, while the two front men, Zsombor and Áron, will fight a duel to Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child on flute and tambura! ––––– MR2 Acoustic+ from the Palace of Arts is a new series of performances in a concert environment and is co-produced by the public media (MR2-Petőfi Radio, m1) and the Palace of Arts (Müpa). It follows the familiar model of MR2-Petőfi Radio unplugged studio concerts. Recordings for radio and television of outstanding performers from the cream of the Hungarian popular music scene are made in the context of a series of high-quality concerts at the Palace of Arts, providing the audience with not only a concert experience but a look behind the scenes of the recording process. (Each concert in the series will be filmed for broadcast at a later date on the m1 channel in a weekend prime time slot.)