Max Raabe & Palast Orchester

In the 1920s and early 30s, Berlin was a roiling cauldron of creative energy where avant-garde art movements intersected with popular culture, birthing theatrical and musical forms that continue to influence our world today. Walking a narrow line between madcap kitsch and sublime musicality, Max Raabe and Palast Orchester evoke the heady, dancing-on-knife-point mood of the Weimar Republic. A conservatory- trained baritone besotted with the Weimar era vocal style exemplified by the Comedian Harmonists, Raabe interprets vintage hits while also writing original songs and reinventing contemporary pop tunes in a retro style, such as “Oops!... I Did It Again” from Britney Spears and “Sex Bomb” by Tom Jones. With his slicked back hair and ingratiating stage presence, Raabe is a master entertainer whose irony-laced performances combine arresting spectacle with sophisticated, jazz-steeped arrangements. The resulting music is consistently dizzying, delightful and devilishly catchy. Backed by his polished 12-piece orchestra, Raabe possesses a supremely flexible voice, full and resonant in lower registers and pure and clear in his falsetto range. His latest album, Küssen kann man nicht alleine (One cannot kiss alone), was produced by German new wave icon Annette Humpe, who gives his music a sleek and sensuous sheen. Expect a party from a bygone era, and don’t be surprised if the audience dresses up in true Art Deco style!