My first exposure to the music of Goran Bregovic was 12 years ago, through Polish and Ukrainian friends. I never imagined I would be lucky enough to see him and his orchestra live in Ann Arbor. I want to thank Natasa, UMS, and everyone who worked so hard to bring him to Hill Auditorium. I had an excellent time dancing with all of the other concert-goers who were enjoying themselves. This is joyous music (for weddings and funerals! and other parties) intended for singing and dancing and participation. I couldn’t imagine sitting though the entire performance.

It must be extremely difficult, and expensive, to bring such a large band and its brass instruments over from Europe and manage their transport, lodging, and everything else. It’s a necessary sacrifice to have some of the music programmed into the computer. I was disappointed at first as well, but it didn’t take much thought to understand why much of the rhythm and bass tuba were pre-programmed.

This was my first time at Hill so I’ll take everyone else’s word for it that this was the most alive we’ll ever see it. I hope my next experience at Hill Auditorium comes close; I almost always prefer dancing to music over sitting passively.