Indoor Stage | 9 P.M. | 21+ | $5 cover

Enjoy upbeat global soul directly from the mouths of this Michigan native band, October Babies! October Babies are turning 12 in this October and they want to celebrate with YOU! They will take the stage along with The Band Up, Friday at 9 p.m.!

Background:

October Babies was born when Japanese singer Toko Shiiki and bassist/arranger Erik Santos met in Tokyo in 2002, while Erik was resident composer for the notorious butoh dance/theater group Dairakudakan. Soon after Toko moved to the US to study photography in 2005, the couple produced their debut CD "Ao-zora Radio" (Blue-sky Radio), named after Toko's monthly podcast.

Joined then by electric strumming of Dale King and Mike Ouellette, and dynamic drumming of Ben Lorenz - the October Babies have singular sound and a super-high-powered upbeat energy.

Their songs are in Japanese and English - a catchy multilcultural potluck of funk, jazz, R&B, reggae/ska/dub, techno, latin, drum&bass, rock, surfpunk, hip hop, downtempo, orch pop, blues, Okinawa folk, aaaand ... everything.

They've won major Japanese music competitions, like J-WAVE MUSIC HYPER MARKET and Yahoo Japan Indies Jump, and Toko was voted the Outstanding World/Reggae/Ska Vocalist at the 2011 Detroit Music Awards.