[caption id="attachment_990" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="After the Shantel Concert! "]<img class="size-medium wp-image-990" title="Shantel" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/shantel.jpg?w=300" alt="After the Shantel Concert! " width="300" height="225" />[/caption]

I had a rip-roaring good time at the Shantel concert on Sunday night!  This guy (and his band) is unbelievable.  I truly had no idea what to expect.  I'd never heard of him but a group of my Spanish expat friends were going and never being one to turn down a show, I bought a ticket and tagged along.

Unlike shows in the States where the headlining group has a couple of bands that are opening acts, Shantel &amp; Bukovina Club Orkestar just jumped right in and started rocking.  The one funny thing about this is that because there wasn't an opening act people were sitting on the floor and what not so they had to pull themselves off the floor for the band.  I've never seen that before--I guess that's what the opening acts are for... getting the crowd warmed up and dancing.  But don't worry we were dancing in no time at all!! <!--more-->

So the thing that's notable about Shantel is that he and his group mix a bunch of different styles from Balkans-folk to rock and even a little hip-hop.  At the show in Sofia, he had a trumpet, trombone, guitars, back up singers and get this an accordion player.  He was by far the coolest accordion player I've ever seen.  I am not sure I would go as far as to put sexy and accordion in the same sentence but dude--he knew how to play.

The crowd got really wound up by this great song: Disko Partizani.  I think the song reveals a good sense of humor, a keen sense of wit and a strong knowledge of different styles of music.  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gViaOYgV8yI] Also, it's just a great song to dance your ass off to.  In some ways, the YouTube video doesn't do it justice.  There was so much great improvisation the night they played the song. And the energy from the crowd really make the song unstoppable.

If you get a chance to see these guys in person, I would absolutely recommend it.  I've been to a lot of great shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC and this show was by far better than anything I saw in my last year in DC.  These guys have heart, they can sing, the can dance and man-o-man do they know how to have fun.  So I guess what I am saying is that the show is part concert, part party and hell of a good time.   I guess if you can't see them in concert you should at least listen to some of their stuff and if you like what you hear, I understand they are releasing a new CD in August.