Here’s what it looked like as we played the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Prospect Hall during Golden Fest.

Here’s what it looked like on the floor beneath ours at the same moment, as our friends in Veveritse rocked out; our stomping threatens to drop the chandelier!

Meanwhile, keep yourself occupied by reading some of the stories of worker abuse in the hotel industry over at Joey Quits!

And here’s our appearance on Good Morning America:

Saturday, November 19, 2011: Providence, RI Firehouse 13 (map)
What Cheer? Brigade with:
Brunt of It
DJ Schleifdog
Special Guests TBA!!!

Pre-sales available through Firehouse XII!

In six years, these are the first shows we’ve ever canceled, and we apologize to all of our friends who were planning to come see us. We love you and appreciate any sympathetic messages you might have. We’ll be back soon.

Sunday, October 30, 2011: New York, NY Tompkins Square Park (map)
FREE Daytime show with:
Reverend Billy & The Church of Earthalujah!
Morgan O’kane
Apocalpyse Five and Dime

PLUS, in case you don’t really “do” the internet except to check our website, What Cheer? is featured in a viral video that has gotten nearly 2 million views and garnered international attention. If you haven’t already seen it, here it is; please click through to youtube to read about the context because this video, as Joey puts it, “is a hilarious byproduct of a long and ongoing struggle” for labor rights.


Joey has been interviewed already by countless US news sources, as well as newspapers, and, at last check, television stations and newspapers in Germany, Australia, Brazil, the UK and Serbia have covered the story.

So far the best coverage has been the Huffington Post, which foregrounds the issues of labor, unions, and hotel working conditions.

Anchor Brain Records and Ballistic Missile Booking present a CMJ Showcase:

Are you ready?  For a little this:

Ahh yes, the memories. Now its time to make new ones. Here are three quick and dirty ways to prep for the mayhem. All are important, all are at your fingertips!

1. Come to our Fundraiser this Saturday night – 8pm – 11pm at Dusk on Harris Ave. in Olneyville. Details are here. $7-10 dollar donation gets you in the door and this close to the band:

2. DONATE! PRONK! needs to raise $1,250 from individual HONK lovers between now and October 10th so we can put on a good show for our Providence friends.  Here’s an amazing video capturing  the fun from last fall: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/782810310/759696216 – give freely and spread widely.

What Cheer? has been there since the beginning and six years in, it is still so good that we are doing it again! Starting Saturday October 1st – Monday October 3rd, we will be playing no less than 7 times. All in the name of HONK! And as you know, we only play as hard as you dance so you best start stretching now.

Our Saturday show was canceled due to all of lower Manhattan being evacuated. But we were already there so we decided to brave the traffic (actually history’s easiest drive into NYC cause no one wanted to be on the roads today!) Our 3 minivans and sedan parked in a row 1 block from Times Square and we played a pre-hurricane surprise show for whoever wasn’t afraid. Everyone was into it til a bunch of cops threatened to arrest us for acting too fun while the mayor was trying to sell ad time.

And it’s Tal’s birthday- happy birthday, Tal! See his birthday solo at 5:10

But we’ll be back to play that show once everything’s back to normal! Good luck, have fun, be safe to everyone along the coast.

Friday, Aug 26, 2011: Baltimore, MD
Current Gallery (map)
With: Dan Deacon
Future Islands
Ed Schrader

Saturday, Aug 27, 2011: New York, NY
C-Squat (map)
with: Yula Be’eri
Wood Spider

Friday, Sep 09, 2011: Portland, ME
Space 538 (map)
ARTIST TALK. (Not a show). A few of us will be talking about Providence, brass band traditions, contemporary street band culture, pop, punk and so much more. If you’re in Northern New England and have an interest in hearing our take on such matters, this is your chance!

Saturday, Sep 10, 2011: Portland, ME
Space 538 (map)
Space’s annual big street fair!

Here’s some cool videos over the past month:

We played the Newport Folk Festival and Paste Magazine captured an awesome live performance of us in the ruins of Fort Adams!

In Kingston, Ontario, we played on the Wolfe Island Ferry

Hey kids, What Cheer’s going on tour! This August, this time blasting off to new territory in the midwest and Canada, with fellow Providence partiers Math the Band! All shows guaranteed to be nutz.

Pass it on, bring a friend, see you there!