Randall Shreve to host Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus, produce concert film

WORDS / LAUREN MCCORMICK

Randall Shreve and the Side Show will be at George’s Majestic Lounge this Friday night to perform a special two-hour show, but I don’t expect you recognize the place too much once you see what’s in store for the performance. Think vaudeville show meets rock and roll in a 1930’s carnival. Award-winning director Matthew Wolf will film the show and turn it into a concert film that he will produce this fall. Once all the footage is rounded up, this film will include interviews and documentary that chronicles the band’s rise in the entertainment industry. Tickets are $5.  Doors open at 9 PM. Surf de Soleil, Me Like Bees and Dead Indian will also perform.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Randall this week and he said that some of the footage dates back as far as two years.

One thing that Randall was very upfront about was that he and his band really thrived on stage as musicians versus how their songs sounded on recording. “We don’t have a single night that we play that somebody doesn’t say, I love the album, but it sounds so much better live. We’re never finished with a song.” It’s interesting that they use the recording as more of a guideline, per se, yet still don’t veer too far from its original sound. He puts it very well when he says, “the song just takes on a new life.”

I was very curious about how this whole opportunity of the concert film came about, and he put it plain and simple. “Well, I kind of forced it.” It’s something that has always been in the back of his mind, and the time came where if it didn’t happen now then interest would be lost. The staging of this show is a new adventure for them as well, and it took a lot of hard work for he and his team to make happen. I’m really excited to see how the burlesque dancers, fire breathers, and side show freaks all make for a new experience in watching them perform.

Be sure to come and check these guys out on Friday and take part in this whole experience with them, because I don’t know that another opportunity to see them in this light will come around any time soon. It’s certainly not going to be your typical rock show.