Music at Noon will present carnivalesque performance

By Brittany Benjamin

The Hobo Gobbelins promise to take audience members on a strange acid trip, so get your Halloween started early during their Wednesday performance at Music at Noon.

The Hobo Gobbelins are a group of very unique individuals who come together to create a ritual of sound, an ambiance of a graveyard carnival, through their jug band music, said accordionist Skylar Fell.

Imagine walking through a childhood carnival to the sound of a carousel when suddenly the characters from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" pop out from behind a cotton candy stand and begin to sing. The blending of the two noises begins to describe The Hobo Gobbelins' musical sound.

The band is made up of about nine musicians varying in age from mid-20s to late 40s who play dark, magically spirited music. They play instruments ranging from the accordion and guitar to the saw and washboard.

Jug bands, such as the Hobo Gobbelins, typically play ordinary household instruments, including washboards and washtubs.

Guitarist Dan Abbott, aka "Zombie Dan," said the band doesn't fit into any category of music, but is influenced by old traditions, including Irish and Gypsy music, but has a modern spin. He said their performance will be unlike anything students have ever seen. "It would be like if the Muppet Show was assaulted by the gremlins," he said.

Halloween marks a special day for the band, whose members dress up in costume during every performance all year round.

"It's the day when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest," said Fell, aka "Sky Fell," who encourages students to dress up for their performance as well.

"Dress to impress the undead," she said. "We'll take you on a journey through a magical realm into a phantasmic cabaret."

Dylon McNeill, aka "Dylon McPuke," formed the band several years ago when he was working with Abbott on a solo album. They formed The Hobo Gobbelins out of the ashes of other bands. McNeill has since moved to Austin, Texas, where he formed a carnival freak show. His new band, "That Damned Band," tours with the freak show.

Like McNeill, many musicians in The Hobo Gobbelins are wanderers, meaning that they will randomly pack up and leave without any notice. As a result, Abbott said that the band has to be flexible enough to accommodate the constant changeover of musicians.

Despite the strange lives the musicians lead as The Hobo Gobbelins, they live relatively normal lives outside of the band.

Fell owns an accordion shop in Oakland where she repairs and sells antique accordions. She also gives lessons.

Abbott, who was formerly a journalist, has returned to school at San Francisco State University and is a full-time student, studying anthropology. He says that school and The Hobo Gobbelins take up plenty of his time. "It's not easy being in an all-monster jug band, but it's easier than a full-time job," he said.

Performing here at Santa Clara, Abbott promises that his band will get rowdy, saying that audience members have been known to lose their minds.

"We tend to kill and eat our audience," he said. "We paralyze them when the music filters into their puny little brains. Catatonia makes it easier to slice into their cranium. That's why we have a saw player -- we try to be as multifunctional as possible."

The Hobo Gobbelins perform at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at the Center of the Performing Arts Recital Hall. Admission is free.

For shows and more information on the band, visit www.hobogoblins.com, myspace.com/hobogobbelins and hobogobbelins.tribe.net.

Contact Brittany Benjamin at (408) 551-1918 or brbenjamin@scu.edu.