Salem's Historic Grand Theatre turned into a classroom, a dance floor and a circus ring Saturday, Aug. 15, when Mr. Vale's Math Class and MarchFourth Marching Band brought a double-bill of punk-funk and brass-band spectacle to downtown.

Oregon ArtsWatch reviewer Matthew Neil Andrews reported the evening's most Salem moment came during the opening set. Jordan Vale, who leads Mr. Vale's Math Class on keyboards and trumpet, stopped the music and told the audience they had a task. He asked the crowd to name two things that characterize Salem. The answers converged on witches and cherry blossoms.

Vale's rhythm section vamped while audience members scribbled lyrics on scraps of paper. Minutes later, Vale chanted the collected lines over a groove the band built on the spot, veering from punk-funk into '90s ska. "Some witches are good / some witches are bad," he sang from one scrap, tossing each page over his shoulder as he moved to the next.

He also handed out shakers and tambourines from a bucket, turning the crowd into percussionists. Andrews noted the dancing crowd included four generations of women and a couple in sleeveless cowboy shirts.

Then came MarchFourth.

The Portland-based 13-piece ensemble packed the 380-seat venue's stage with seven brass players, four percussionists, a guitarist and Averill on bass. Three circus performers joined them: stilt-walkers Dallys Newton and Kylee Wegner carried pom-poms, while guest juggler Erin Gettelman tossed glowing bowling pins. Wegner jumped rope on stilts, then donned a furry catsuit as the band's mascot "Panther No-Pants" and waded into the audience.

Standout numbers included "Hotstepper" from their 2016 album Magic Number, featuring trombonist James Powers in a squid hat, and "Swiggity" from their 2023 album Worth It, composed and led by trombonist Anthony Meade. Averill sang lead on "Many Hands Make Light Work," which Andrews described as a vibrant Afro-Cuban anthem. The band closed with Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4," with Newton taking lead vocals from her stilts while Averill wove in a verse of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs."

The evening wasn't the only action at the Grand. A metal show featuring Amerikan Overdose, Proven and Pitch Black Mass played upstairs in the ballroom, and a night market operated around the corner, making for a busy stretch of High Street NE.

MarchFourth's tour bus, "The Highway Star," sat parked outside the venue. The bus was crowdfunded in 2012 when 805 fans pitched in nearly $50,000. The band had arrived from the Oregon Country Fair in Veneta, where they have been mainstays for decades.

Mr. Vale's Math Class lineup included saxophonist Lhanna Writesal, bassist Milo Fultz, guitarist Nick Hamel, drummer James Ford and auxiliary percussionist David Burrows. Writesal pulled double duty, also playing saxophone in MarchFourth's horn section.

Oregon ArtsWatch noted a follow-up interview with Vale is planned for later in August. For upcoming shows at Salem's Historic Grand Theatre, visit salemshg.com.