BALKAN BEAT BOX Debut New Electric, High-Energy Live Show in Tel Aviv; U.S. Tour in Support of New Album ‘GIVE’ Launches March 8 in Baltimore

BALKAN BEAT BOX performs live to a packed room in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 22, 2012.
Photo credit: Victor Muper/MuperFOTO

BALKAN BEAT BOX debuted their new electric, high-energy live show last week in Tel Aviv, Israel. The ensemble performance leads to the group’s U.S. tour in support of their new album GIVE, out Tuesday, March 6 on Nat Geo Music. The headlining tour launches week of release, Thursday, March 8 in Baltimore before stopping in BBB’s second home and birthplace, New York City on Friday, March 9 at Irving Plaza. From there the socially conscious, ethno-electro trio heads west for shows in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco before wrapping up with two SXSW appearances in Austin March 16 at Speakeasy and March 17 at The Stage on Sixth Patio. The globetrotting band has also announced new international tour dates before returning to North America for U.S. and Canadian shows in June, including festival performances at Wakarusa and Electric Forest. All confirmed shows to date below, more soon to be added.

BALKAN BEAT BOX’s live performances have been praised as “tight, fast and powerful” (The Journal, July 2011) with music that “practically forces you to move some part of your body.” (Seattle Weekly, 9/5/10) With “bright, multicolor lights and rhythmic, buoyant music,” (Pulse, 9/26/11) their unique and special Mediterranean-inflected, globalized electronica sound “can move anyone in the world. These grooves are born of a particular people, but not confined to that corner of the globe.” (Time Out Chicago, 7/22/11) They have the ability to make any music venue feel as it “may have well been a nightclub anywhere in the world…a beautiful thing.” (Time Out Chicago, 7/22/11) See more live praise below.

This time around, BALKAN BEAT BOX has an equally powerful message to accompany the beats. Their new full-length album GIVE is the group’s most musically intense and lyrically conscious album yet. It’s a reflection of how life has evolved for each member personally and takes an honest and sobering look at current international issues. Inspired by last year’s people’s protest movements across the globe–from the Arab Spring, to Occupy Wall St., to Israel’s own massive social protests–GIVE captures the cautious hope and heated spirit of our time.

That hopefulness emerges most fully on the celebratory dance track “Part of The Glory.” Directed by Billy Levy, the newly released video was filmed in the Neve Sha’anan neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel and features performance footage of BALKAN BEAT BOX. It also showcases locals in their day-to-day lives, dancing, playing and exercising; it’s a celebration of their vibrant spirit. Watch it now here: http://youtu.be/wcVCs3MDBvI.

Other highlights from GIVE include the previously released “Political F*ck,” of which Rolling Stone South Africa wrote: “The explosive New York-based trio are at their provocative and edgy best again, with their mashup of all things exotic, eclectic and politically sensitive.” (12/6/11) Tracks “Money” and “Minimal” address the fiscal inequality affecting millions around the world while “Enemy in Economy” recounts the true story of frontman Tomer Yosef’s detention by TSA authorities after being mistaken for a terrorist on an Alaska Airlines flight.

Check out additional photos from the February 22 show here.
Photo credit: Victor Muper/MuperFOTO

“Balkan Beat Box commandeered the sound system, and we were all happier for it. Everyone on the dance floor was already moving to the bass, abandoning all inhibitions well ahead of schedule…the NYC group layers its albums with beats, horns and enough guest vocalists that I wondered if the band could pull it off live. In short, they can…Yosef quickly emerged as the frontman, harnessing the energy of the crowd with an undeniably visceral performance…And he kicked ass…Even on the floor, everyone in the audience felt like part of the show…If BBB is world music, it’s in the most literal sense—not because it comes from a relatively exotic area, but because it can move anyone in the world. These grooves are born of a particular people, but not confined to that corner of the globe. Lincoln Hall may have well been a nightclub anywhere in the world from where I stood, which was a beautiful thing.”

–Dave Satterwhite, TIME OUT CHICAGO, 7/22/11

“By the time I got to Balkan Beat Box, the band had worked the crowd into a fine froth, and I wasn’t surprised: here is a band that has managed to totally rock a sold-out Showbox on a Monday night…I refuse to miss them live, ever…Balkan Beat Box play the kind of music you only wish you’d had at your bar mitzvah: funky klezmer blended with Latin rhythms, Persian vocals…it’s nearly impossible to pick out all of the different influences that go into just one of these guys’ songs. You can dance the hora, or you can grind like you’re in High School High, but the music practically forces you to move some part of your body…This sort of energy is something that can’t be captured by a recording, nor can it be faked or manufactured…”

–Sara Brickner, SEATTLE WEEKLY, 9/5/10

“Israeli band Balkan Beat Box followed with a seemingly effortless yet excellent performance full of bright, multicolor lights and rhythmic, buoyant music.”

–Kristian Richards, PULSE (San Francisco, CA), 9/26/11

 
“…the refreshingly cool temperature didn’t last long once Brooklyn’s Balkan Beat Box took the stage. The six-piece band put on such a high-energy show that the entire crowd was quickly overcome with the urge to dance and jump, and by the end of the set The Cedar was as hot and sultry inside as the air outside. During their bouncy, sweaty show, reggae sounds combined with hip-hop, electronica, punk, rock and the aforementioned world music sounds. Whatever you called it, the music held the crowd in a trance. The three core members and the additional three live musicians kept things tight, fast and powerful, pumping out one long jam after another. The audience responded by singing along, clapping in unison and most of all by dancing like mad.”

–Jeremy Zoss, THE JOURNAL (Minneapolis, MN), July 2011

BALKAN BEAT BOX Tour Dates:

http://www.balkanbeatbox.com
http://www.facebook.com/balkanbeatbox
http://twitter.com/balkanbeatbox
http://www.youtube.com/balkanbeatboxchannel

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For more information on BALKAN BEAT BOX, contact MSO:
Angela Villanueva, 818-380-0400 x232, avillanueva@msopr.com
Bari Lieberman (Tour Press), 818-380-0400 x222, blieberman@msopr.com