Band Details

From the Promoter

Massey Hall is excited to announce the Toronto return of contemporary composer and guitarist Goran Bregovic on Saturday, March 4 at Massey Hall.

Called “a musical spectacle unlike anything else on North American stages” by the San Francisco Chronicle, the trans-Balkan musical extravaganza that is Goran Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band features Gypsy brass players and Bulgarian vocalists in a kaleidoscope of action, color and intoxicating beats.

As the founder of Bijelo Dugme (White Button), guitarist Bregovic brought a bracing jolt of rock and roll to the Balkans in the mid-'70s, selling millions of albums across the region while giving voice to a generation stifled by communist conformity. When civil war started tearing Yugoslavia apart in 1990, Bregovic, a multi-ethnic child of Sarajevo, found himself out of the rock-star business, fleeing to Paris. He quickly gained attention for his vivid soundtrack work for over 30 movies, including on director Emir Kusturica’s surreal 1993 film Arizona Dream, starring Johnny Depp and featuring the vocals of punk legend Iggy Pop. Many North Americans first experienced Bregovic’s wild mélange of klezmer and rock in Sacha Baron Cohen’s irreverent blockbuster Borat, which only hinted at the experience of hearing Bregovic’s rollicking band live.