BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION
Featuring Vagabond Opera and Jason Webley

WHO: Vagabond Opera, Jason Webley, and special guests
WHAT: A celebration honoring the dead, with theatrical cabaret music, punk accordion songwriting, and festivities.
WHEN: Saturday, November 1st Doors at 8pm, show at 9pm
WHERE: Wonder Ballroom. 128 NE Russell St. Portland, OR 97212. (503)284-8686
HOW MUCH: $13 advance, $15 day of show - prices subject to service charges.
Tickets available at the Wonder Ballroom Box Office, Café Wonder, and all Ticketmaster outlets (503.224.4400 or ticketmaster.com)
All-ages, 21+full-bar.

On November 1st the Wonder Ballroom celebrates the day of the dead like no other place in town. Portland’s own Bohemian operatic Eastern-Euro cabaret ensemble joins forces with accordion wielding songwriting powerhouse Jason Webley for a long awaited collaboration. The fiesta will include Dia Do Los Muertos traditions such as alter installations created by local artists, and Mexican hot chocolate provided by luluchocolates.com. Also featured will be fire eating and hoola hoop by Amy Hotfield, Halloween theater, and a parade which will culminate in a ritualistic fire ceremony. Costumes encouraged.

About Vagabond Opera
Bohemian Cabaret ensemble Vagabond Opera is described by the Washington Post as “A band of ceaseless charisma, boundless energy, impeccable musicianship and more than a little touch of both the naughty and exotic.” The group delivers passionate offerings of Bohemian cabaret for young and old. Paris hot jazz, gut bucket swing, tangos, Ukrainian folk-punk ballads, klezmer and vigorous originals meet a world of riverboat gambling queens, Turkish belly dancers, and the enigmatic Marlene Dietrich. Weaving elements of Kurt Weil, Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf with absurdist flair, theatrics and an old world mood, Vagabond Opera presents the new wave of opera--lusty voices singing in 11 languages and presenting a cabaret of rich musical phrasing, sparkling lyrics and indomitable stage presence, all played with exuberance, skill and a gritty Vagabond edge. This is Opera liberated and reinvented for everyone!

The band's lineup features trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor saxophone, cello, stand-up bass, drums, and tonight, a burlesque hoola-hooping fire performer.

Vagabond Opera is at the vanguard of a growing popularity in the Neo-cabaret phenomenon, and through their theatrical performances, lyrics in 13 languages, and an eclectic repertoire, they liberate opera from its usual construct, expanding musical and theatrical biodiversity. Vagabond Opera has performed all over the USA and in Europe. They have been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post and Jazziz Magazine, and have shared stages and players with Pink Martini, The Decembrists, Al Franken and the Oregon Symphony. Vagabond opera has two full length albums and will be releasing their third album in the Spring of 2009.

For more information on Vagabond Opera, including HIGH RES PHOTOS please visit:
www.vagabondopera.com
www.myspace.com/vagabondopera

For further press inquiries, please contact Robin Jackson.
Email: publicity@vagabondopera.com

About Jason Webley
Punk accordionist and world troubadour Jason Webley is described by the Seattle Times as "one of Seattle's most talented musicians, a singer-songwriter with a rare gift for crafting timeless songs that
approachs Waits and Leonard Cohen territory." His relentless touring schedule has built him a cult following all over North America, Europe and Australia, as well as a bizarrely large and loyal following in Russia. Known for bellowing out apocalyptic dirges in a sandpaper baritone to the accompaniment of his squeezebox and the stomping of his feet, Webley's true specialty is involving his audience in his music. Almost all of his concerts end with the entire crowd locked arm-in-arm, ecstatically singing at the tops of their lungs.

Webley frequently tours with his friends the Dresden Dolls and has recently shared stages with Architecture in Helsinki, the Avett Brothers and Regina Spektor. He has just released his fifth full-length album, "The Cost of Living" on his own independent Eleven Records label.

For high res photos, press and mp3s please visit:
www.jasonwebley.com
email: Jason@jasonwebley.com

For further inquiries about event, please contact:
caroline@wonderballroom.com or visit
www.wonderballroom.com