RNC 2008: "Rude Mechanical Orchestra" (Who Are We?)

Photo By John Hoff, September 1

According to their flyer--which I strongly suspect was mass produced on a "liberated" photocopier--"The Rude Mechanical Orchestera" is a...

30-odd piece New York City-based radical marching band and dance troupe. Through our music and performance, we strive to support people and communities working for social justice. We play songs of resistance from around the world as well as originals inspired by Brasilian samba, Balkan brass, klezmer, Latin grooves, New Orleans jazz, American pop, funk and hip hop, all wrapped up with a punk rock attitude.

We're a democratic collective with a diverse membership made up of individuals of various musical abilities. We formed in the spring of 2004 for the March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. and solidified to support people protesting the Republican National Convention in New York.

Since then we've played literally hundreds of marches, protests, direct actions, and picket lines against war, corporate greed, union busters...(rest of this portion of the flyer is messed up from being in my backpack with...not sure...shaving cream?)