MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA TAKES OVER THE NIGHTCAT SAT APRIL 28 feat LINDYHOP DANCERS, FASHION PARADE, BEST DRESSED COMPETITION, 2 SETS BY THE ORCHESTRA AND AFTER PARTY SURPRISE Celebrating their ‘One Year of Ska’ adventure, the Melbourne Ska Orchestra bring their amazing juggernaut to the iconic NightCat in Fitzroy on Saturday April 28 for one night of musical mayhem in the round. As the first official hometown gig of the year, the band are putting on a serious party with LindyHop dancers, Fashion Parade, Best Dressed competition, two full sets of Melbourne Ska magic and local radio DJ icons Systa BB(RRR) and Mohair Slim(PBS). The orchestra have carved a solid reputation as one of Australia’s leading live acts, flagbearers for the Australian Ska Scene and recognized around the world as part of a new international Ska sound. The orchestra kicked off this year with a serious bang by committing to record and release One Song Per week for One Whole Year. That’s 52 songs. It’s a mammoth task that pays tribute to the Jamaican Sound System phenomena, where artists would record and release tracks on a weekly basis. The response so far has been massive with far reaching DJ’s from Latin America, UK and Germany jumping on board. The NightCat performance celebrates the first 13 songs -OLD SCHOOL CLASSICS- with a CD made specifically for the event. People are encouraged to dress up for the evening with cool prizes from iworld, Mario’s, FrenchieYork, and giveaways from the Orchestra. The night is also being filmed for a documentary about the growing ska scene in Melbourne. Following their debut release in 2013 the group toured the globe playing international festivals including Glastonbury, Montreal Jazz, Boomtown and Edinburgh as well as major Festivals in Australia (Splendour, Vivid, Falls, Bluesfest, Queenscliff etc). Nominated 4 times for ARIA awards including Best Live Act and Best Debut album, the orchestra went on to win the coveted ARIA in 2016 for Best World Music Album for their second release ‘Sierra Kilo Alpha’. Both albums received the AGE VICTORIA MUSIC AWARD for Best Global Reggae Album in 2013 and 2016. In 2017 they were nominated for another ARIA for their USB spaceship release ‘Saturn Return’. Overseas, the band won the Best International Reggae Album in the REGGAE STEADY SKA AWARDS and was given respectful kudos when 3 of their original songs were used in the UK feature film about ska called ‘Beverley’.