The Europa Band has been entertaining audiences for over 17 years in Florida and around the country. Their largest performance venue is at the City of Orange, California's International Street Fair that has average attendance of 700,000 people over the 3 day Labor Day Weekend. They have performed to a wonderful fan base there for 15 years in a row!
The Europa Band has a very active performing schedule of over 60 performances a year including Oktoberfests, Festivals, Hofbrau Beer Gardens, and Club Events from Orange County, CA to Miami, FL., Hershey PA to Mt. Angle OR. Europa specializes in German music for Oktoberfests & German Mardi Gras (Fasching/Karneval), Czech-Slovak Festivals, and general European Ethnic Club and International Night Events. "Polka Lives" is there Motto, and those that love polkas, young or old, will love the sound of the Accordion, Violin and The Europa Band's eclectic collection of over 250 songs. As one of their fan's was recently quoted saying "You never know what kind of song or style is coming next with this group!"
The band has also performed in a concert “Show Case” settings for up to two hours of non-stop entertainment with band member Milan dressed as a roving Slovak Gypsy, and band member Johann dressed as a traditional Italian Pisano Accordionist, wandering through different European countries, performing some of the most loved folksongs. The Group has released a total of 4 CD's to show their diversity and wide range of musical styles, "Oktoberfest mit Europa" in 2006, "International Hits mit Europa", and "Deutsche Schlager mit Europa", both in 2008, and a "Live at Helen, GA Oktoberfest" CD, recorded during a 7 straight day performance schedule in October of 2009, and released in August, 2010.
Just to give those few of you who may not be familiar with The Europa Band a flavor of their music, here are 2 videos, videography by Mark Arnott, of the band performing at Avalon Park's 5th Annual 2009 Oktoberfest in Orlando, FL.
|
You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.
|
You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.
|
|
|
|
Europa - Oktoberfest mit Europa! (2006)
$12.00
Although I just received it this past June, their first album "Oktoberfest Mit Europa" was the group's first album, released in 2006. This should be a mandatory "must have" for anyone who DJ's Oktoberfest events, and for all polka/German traditonal DJ's. For everyone else this is a very enjoyable listen, well produced, and lots of fun.
The cd has a very strong opening with the first track, Ein Prosit & Beer Driinking Medley, the perfect waltz for an Oktoberfest event. Then the cd flows very nicely into a polka "Wir Kommen von Den Bergen, with tracks from that point alternating polka and waltz. Track #8, Edelweiss, is as solid as any other version out there and sets up the following track, Zillertaler Hochzeitsmarsch very nicely.
The cd ends very appropirately just where it started, with a version of Ein Prosit that you DJs can use for your sing alongs at Oktoberfests. As the Europa wrote on their cd, "sit back, open a cold one, and say Prosit! Enjoy.
Add To Cart
|
|
Europa - Deutsche Schlager! mit Europa (2008)
$12.00
Two years after the release of their debut cd, The Europa Band released "Deutsche Schlager Mit Europa" in 2008. The cd title translates into English as "German Hits" which were vocal pop songs from the 1950'-1960's and were developed as a unique and distinct style of music in Germany. Thre collection of songs on this album are from before, during and after the initial Schlager era, and have that unique feel, recorded with the Europa Band's unique arrangements and instumentation.
This is an excellent cd and I truly enjoy all the songs, but I do have 4 favorites. For the first 3, track 1"Shangri-La", track 6 "Das Schonste Souvenir Vom Rhein, and the last but not least track 12, a medley, "Die Hande Zum Himmel / Anton Aus Tirol / Ziche-Zache, I am not that familiar with the originals, so all I can say is that the Europa band has outstanding versions that to me are the standards, although in the case of Die Hande Zum Himmel both Alex Meixner and the Europa Band have equally great though different versions of the song. I am sure I will come across other versions soon and look forward to comparing them.
There is one song with which I am intimately familiar, track 9, the German classic "Lili Marlene". I have grown to love this song because my own record label, DJ Companion Records, re-released a version of this song with Al Bachann and Elizabeth Stein on vocals. I will say this much. While I think the Al Bachmann/Elizabeth Stein is the best version of the song with a female vocal, the Europa Band has the best version of the song with a male vocal, and I have listened to many many versions of the song done by many artists, mostly on YouTube. Both covers of the song are far superior, in my opinion, to the original Marlene Dietrich version, the one that sold millions.
I recommend this album to both those interested in German "schlager" and those who are looking for a good "listen".
Add To Cart
|
|
Europa - International Hits mit Europa! (2008)
$12.00
This is my favourite of the 3 Europa albums that I have listened to so far. Having been a mobile DJ from 1987 on, I became familiar with most of the songs on this cd in one form or another. The Europa Band has assembled on one cd an amazing collection of songs from around the world, and these are some of the most solid versions of some of these songs I have ever heard.
Of particular note, over the years I have played lots of Italian tarantella medleys at weddings and other events and have many such medleys in my collection. The next time I am called to play an Itailan tarantella I will choose the Europa version as in my opinion it is the best. If I am asked to play more than one, maybe then I will select one of the others.
For years I used the Emeralds version of the Bird Dance as it is arguably the standard. Next time I am called on to play this song I am not sure if I would the play the Emeralds version or this one. While I am used to the version I have used for years the appeal of this version is the way it speeds up at the end. I guess I would decide which one to play on a dance-by-dance basis depending on what I felt was the mood of the crowd.
This cd is also very strong for waltzes and waltz medleys. My favorite is is the last track on the cd, the Austrian waltz medley. Listen to it an you can see that it would serve as a real good anniversary waltz. Another great waltz is track 2, Paris Skies. This is as good a version of this song as I have heard. Polkas are not left out on this cd either. Track 3 features the Svedska Polka from Sweden and track 14 is the Fiddler's Polka from Poland.
There are a few other songs of note. For Irish events, I have not heard a more suitable song than track 5, Irish Washerwoman. I really like the Europa's upbeat version of Guantanamera and for line dancers, Never On A Sunday works very well. Every single song I am sure could be used at some point or other. And every single song is a pleasure to listen to, even those few not necessarily for dancing.
As a matter of fact, this cd would also serve very well as background music at truly international events. Every mobile DJ should have a copy of this album in their collection. As I have mentioned with the other Europa Band albums, this is also a great "listen" for the general public. I have certainly enjoyed listening to this album in my car over and over and over again.
Add To Cart
|
|
Europa - Europa Live! (2010)
$12.00
Europa Band's latest album - hear them LIVE!
Add To Cart
|
|
Europa - SPECIAL - Buy ALL 4 albums
$40.00
Add To Cart
|
|
|
|
