Not just whistling Dixie!

Bringing Crystal Palace energy to a daytime cabaret stage with mojitos, Cuban cigars and pole dancing girls has got to be one of the best additions to the festival in the last few years. It’s a place for a certain kind of music — acoustic dance music, what people used to dance to before electric amplification.

The Black Bottom Brass Band was first up on Sunday, and had at least 200 people squeezed inside with a few more spilling out the front entrance and peeping in. The group is hardly composed of virtuosos, but that is not the point. They are more like a street band, and to prove it they entered the room marching band style, already playing as they drummed their way through the front door. They are a fun emulation of New Orleans brass, though the sound is also very Quincy Jones, a mix of zydeco, 70s soul and TV jingles. On this day, they played everything from the New Orleans classic “Iko Iko” to the soul oldie “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire. They have been going for close to 20 years and the current version has five horns and two drummers. They know how to woo an audience with I-say-you-say, sing-after-me and other varieties of call-and-response. In an intimate venue, they inspired plenty of smiling faces, and even more happy, dancing feet.