You didn’t have to be familiar with Mahala Rai Banda—a Romanian Gypsy band—to have found yourself dancing your head off at Cabaret Mile-End last Wednesday night. Literally meaning “noble band from the ghetto,” Mahala Rai Banda has managed to turn traditional gypsy music into a frenetic, multi-genre, club-hopping synergy that is undeniably entertaining to any discerning (or even non-discerning) listener.

The band boasts at least 11 members—each of whom triple as musicians, singers, and dancers—playing an array of brass instruments, furious violins, accordions, and stomping percussion in an effort to combine inventive arrangements with traditional elements no doubt unfamiliar to the average Canadian.At once jazzy, bluesy, klezmer, club, and rock, these incredibly gifted musicians know how to put on a show, and were a welcome addition to the slew of standard indie bands at the festival.

Though a far cry from the streets of Romania, Cabaret Mile-End was the perfect venue to sit, drink, and most importantly dance in an intimate but sizable atmosphere. Mahala Rai Banda is the rising band from the Balkans, and at Pop Montreal, locals had the opportunity to get in on the wild party.