THE SHUFFLE DEMONS
Fri, June 18
Sidetrack Café (10333-112 St.)
Tickets: $14 in advance, $18 at the door; available at the Sidetrack
Call 421-1326 for venue info and reservations

For the past seven years the Shuffle Demons have been masquerading as straight-up jazz musicians, waiting for a time to revive the monster. That time is now.

"Once you put those Shuffle Demon suits on, you sort of become this crazy jazz cartoon character," Juno-winning songwriter (and co-founder of the Demons) Richard Underhill says of his return to the bombastic side of the genre. "We play in a lot of situations where we’re serious, and in the Shuffle Demons it’s basically ‘go for it, give it all you’ve got at all times.’"

The band was spawned 20 years ago from a group of Toronto street musicians who managed to charm their way across Canada and Europe with wacky antics and raucous crowd participation. In 1984 they pioneered Canadian rap with their goofy hit "Spadina Bus" and happily made a mockery of the classic "Hockey Night in Canada Theme."

Though Underhill admits his band of three saxes, a crazy bassist, and a dancing drummer is getting on in years, he claims they’ve still got that old verve.

George Koller even still manages to play his acoustic bass in a very unusual way.

"He puts a drum stick in the strings of the bass and then he holds it over his head and sings into it," describes Underhill. "Then he plucks the drum stick with his teeth. We fondly refer to it as a bass sacrifice."

Aside from the normal stunts, the show will include an interactive portion at the end honouring the Demons’ recent world-record-breaking performance with 930 saxophones. Underhill asks that any sax players bring their instruments to play along with "Spadina Bus."

He claims the tune is easy, but, if you want to practice, the music is available at ShuffleDemons.com.