"...who knew you could come to the library and dance..."
The library, blogspot readers, is more than a place where you can check out books and movies or surf the net. Did you know you could also rock out to lively energetic live entertainment (say polka) there too? Polka? Inside the library? Well, yes, you can ...unless you attend the annual Polkaholics Halloween show at the Austin-Irving branch of the Chicago Public Library. This free, kid-friendly version of their adult show (later that same night on North Lincoln and Foster) was open to anyone of any age to attend the hour long (or so) set as part of the branch's Polish-American Heritage celebration. And that's what SouthSide and her young daughter did on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.
SouthSide highly recommends checking out her rockin' polka-loving friends, The Polkaholics, wherever and whenever they perform again. Not a big fan of polka? No problem, this trio combined the basic element and music of the polka sound with other rhythmic genres (mainly rock) that might include punk, metal, classic rock ...even country and Irish too. Don't know much about polka history? Her friends during their performances will slip a fact or two about the song or person who wrote it in which they borrow the tune to perform under a different name (for example The Cleveland Polka by Frankie Yankovic was turned into the Transylvannian Polka). You can say The Polkaholics' mission within Chicago's local scene is to spread the word about polka to everyone around the world through their unique polka-style music. And you're absolutely correct. Polka is a good foundation in getting children (especially the pre-school age) interested in music since there's more than one type of polka, blogspot readers. Besides Polish, there's Mexican, Bavarian, German ...and the list could go on of how many versions of polka there are in the world.
The Polkaholics, during this special show dressed in their costumes, performed classic polka favorites but with a spooky, kid-friendly Halloween theme attached to the song titles. For instance, they turned the Leichtenstein polka into the VFW (Vampire/Frankenstein/Werewolf) polka, The Baby Doll (in memory of the Baby Doll dance hall on the Southside) was called Voodoo Doll polka and the famous Who Stole The Kishka (also by Frankie Yankovic, written by Walter Solek) was Who Stole The Candy. For the parents and other adults in the audience, The Polkaholics mixed a bit of Ramones's Blitzkrieg Bop with polka into a song titled Kids Want The Candy meanwhile Iggy Pop's Lust For Life was Lust For Blood. And for everyone, there were fun songs in which we were encouraged to dance along with the band. Yes, that was SouthSide doing the Hokey Pokey polka with a few of the audience members as well as enjoying polka versions of The Munsters and Addams Family theme songs to Living Dead polka (you don't have to be alive to have a great life). Other popular favorites during this special afternoon show included The Monster Mash, The Polkaholic original Happy Halloween and There's No Candy In Heaven (which is why we go trick-o-treating, according to the band.
Visit http://www.thepolkaholics.com to find out where they'll be performing again - be prepared to dance and have a fun time with SouthSide's friends. Also say "hi" to the friendly staff and people of the Austin-Irving branch of the Chicago Public Library. SouthSide's looking forward to next year's show.
Until next time, support your local scene (and library),
SouthSide
Whenever I think of Polka in Chicago, I think of John Candy in the movie Home Alone. He and his travelling polka band!
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