For those who aren’t familiar (and indeed I’ve only recently been introduced to more than cursory knowledge on the subject myself), Dyngus Day is the Monday immediately following Easter Sunday. There’s a whole bunch more info on it on Wikipedia here. In this particular instance, what we’re dealing with is the Polish celebration of the end of Lent. It’s a bit like the opposite Fat Tuesday, or as my friend called it, “the bookend of the Lenten season!”
Dyngus Day is celebrated in the U.S. in areas of heavy Polish population, such as Buffalo, New York, Wyandotte, Michigan, and South Bend, Indiana (where, incidentally, my clever ‘bookend’ comment friend hails from). It’s a pretty heavy political day up in South Bend, particularly for the Democratic party, as I have been told by some natives. To a larger number of folks, however, Dyngus Day gives cause for things like massive water weapon fights at Yale University (traditionally folks were doused with water that had been blessed and was to be used to bless the home and family in it), parades, and general wacky merriment.
This year I got to be part of some of the general wacky merriment by being asked to guest with a band at a bar in Bloomington, Indiana. It seems the bar’s owner was once a resident in Buffalo, New York which, you’ll recall, is a stronghold for observance of the day. I’d heard about this gig before. My friends had played at it for several years. It seemed like there were always tales of goofiness and oddball dress and behavior, but it’s a college town, so I just kind of figured that went with the territory. You give some college kids half a reason to dress weird, plus some drink specials, and, voila – instant inebriated tomfoolery.
I wasn’t prepared.
My first clue should probably have been that we were going to do an entire set of Neil Diamond songs. My second clue was when my friend the drummer told me, “We usually try to get the new guy on the gig to try and dress up like a woman.”
Still, I wasn’t prepared.
Join me now, kids, in embracing the oddity, the fun, the sheer zaniness that is Dyngus Day at Yogi’s in Bloomington, Indiana. Why more bars haven’t seized on this as an opportunity for fun I’ll never know, because it was a damn good time!
Fez-tive attire. This is the first thing I saw when I came in the door. The drummer in Where's Waldo glasses, and a fez. Something was clearly afoot.
The sax player has on a green cape and a rainbow wig. The bassist's seafoam green guitar went wonderfully with his red jacket in a not-really kind of way.
When the band got done they all took a drink from the ski. That's right, the thing they're holding is a snow ski with four shot glasses affixed to it.
I should not here, that many folks were drinking Sliwowicz (pron. “sliv-o-vitz”), a brandy made from plums (I hope I’m getting that right. It’s hard to find the info on the web, oddly.). It’s very strong, so much so that it is considered to be medicinal by traditional Poles. My friend’s wife came up with a slogan for it: “Sliwowicz, it burns!” She should be in marketing.
It looks like a paint factory exploded on these people. Outstanding.
There was no clothing too loud for Dyngus Day. The more garish, the better.
Guys are cuter through lawn-colored glasses. It's true.
I wish I'd gotten a better shot of the guy with the Care Bear top. There are more plaids and mismatched checks and stripes here than in a thrift store.
Had a blast at the show. I wish I could have taken more photos, but I was a little busy playing and all that. I missed the accordion players – and they had two of them! I also missed the guy dressed in a giant parrot suit and the guy in the wet suit. There was a woman in a full clown costume, and more crazy wigs than I’ve seen at a Ringling Brothers show. People really did take the opportunity to go all out for it. If I’m in on it next year maybe I’ll see if I can find a kilt and a perfectly non-matching neon pink and fuschia blazer.
Stay creative!