F.R.I.C.S. / Fanfarra S. Bernardo / Trisha Brown Dance Company

The two heads of Soopa, in their members of F.R.I.C.S. identity, contemplate the glorious future with new, specially-made haircuts, during a break from rehearsals at Serralves Museum.

The psychedelic improvised fanfare, F.R.I.C.S., fulfilled their long-term dream of playing with a real marching band as they teamed up with Fanfarra S. Bernardo, one of Portugal's leading marching bands (and they don't just march, ocasionally they perform on horseback), to provide the musical backdrop to Trisha Brown's contemporary dance piece, “Foray Forêt”. Both groups marched around the performance space (out of the audience's sight), in a clever demonstration of archaic surround sound technology, and then played in the Museum's hall, while a raptured audience looked on.

The occasion proved memorable on a number of levels: it involved members of F.R.I.C.S. getting suitable haircuts for a proper marching band context, and also the purchase of seven beautiful silk ties that will feature prominently in the band's future,  but most important of all was the close contact with the magical world of the marching bands, possibly the last surviving portuguese descendant of the ancient universal shamanic sound traditions, a mix of sheer volume (which inspired the term “acoustic noise” from a F.R.I.C.S. member), wine-facilitated enthusiasm, and timeless integrity and class.

Stay tuned for more large-scale collaborations between the classic and mutant marching bands.