Great Northwest Oktoberfest band likes to get crowd on their feet

A staple of the Oktoberfest festival circuit, the S-Bahn Band takes the stage as the Great Northwest Oktoberfest opens in Whitefish tonight, where they plan to get the crowd up and dancing.  

The S-Bahn Band is named after the commuter train that connects cities to suburbs Germany, which founder Richard Tyce said this is a nod to how their music brings people together to celebrate. Iterations of the group have been playing around the Pacific Northwest and beyond for nearly 40 years.  

Tyce is the lead singer, accordion and keyboard player. He’s nicknamed “The Wizard” because of his pointy hat he wears during performances. He’s performed professionally since the age of 13, and his other accolades include performing with the Canadian Opera Co., Vancouver Opera and London Ontario Symphony, among many others.  

He has a homegrown love of music, starting from when he was young and wanted to make his father happy by playing traditional German tunes.  

“I also went to the local German clubs in Vancouver, British Columbia, when I was a kid, and I saw a lot of bands play. It was always busy, always full, always a lot of people having fun. And when I saw another accordionist on stage who was about my age, about 13 or 14, and he was on stage there playing his accordion with his band making money, I said, ‘I can do that too,’” Tyce said.  

The S-Bahn Band also includes Jim Hopson on the tuba, trombone, alphorn and bass guitar; Alex Flock on guitar and James Bartz on drums. All the men contribute to the vocals, too.  

The group is big on audience participation. The band usually starts with the song “Zillertaler Hochzeitsmarsch,” a wedding dance from the Zillertal Valley in Austria, to get people on their feet.  

“I will get up and try and grab somebody from the audience who's willing — sometimes not that willing, but they usually comply with a smile. And I will teach that person the dance moves. Once we've done that, and the audience sees how easy it is and how much fun we usually have, the floor gets full pretty fast,” Tyce said.  

Flock said the band is wireless, which gives them the opportunity to get up and embed themselves with the audience.  

“We look for Richard's pointy hat in the crowd to see cues to see where we're going next. But Rich will sit down at tables with groups of people, and he'll get them rocking back and forth. He'll get them jumping up and down on tunes, just tons of audience participation,” Flock said.  

In addition to the traditional songs and dances, the group performs some contemporary songs, like ACDC covers. And they’ve started writing their own music in the style of the German songs, but in a way that American audiences can better connect with it.  

“Let's play a song or write a song that's in English, but that's got the same flavor so that people can relate to it and get into it,” Tyce said. “As long as they're singing, everything is good. So sometimes that means playing songs that aren't necessarily from Germany.” 

When asked how they keep their energy going every night during their “fall crawls” through many different Oktoberfest events, Tyce said along with some help from coffee, the band feeds off the energy from the crowd every night. 

“I know it's cliche, but it's always true. If the audience is happy and smiling and rocking back and forth and singing and clapping, we have energy all night, no problem,” Tyce said. 

The Great Northwest Oktoberfest opens with locals on night Sept. 26 when Flathead County residents 21 and older get in for free. There will be keg tapping ceremonies and the arrival of the Oktoberfest Hop Queen. On Friday, Sept. 27 events continue with more stein holding competitions and dancing fun, and on Saturday, Sept. 28 young attendees can participate in the chicken dance championships while the adults watch the keg hurling competitions.  

The Bavarian Echoes and the Europa Band will also be playing this year’s Oktoberfest. The event wraps up after a second weekend, Oct. 3-5. 

Hours on Thursdays and Fridays are 5-11 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon to 10:30 p.m.   

The Great Northwest Oktoberfest takes place in Depot Park in Whitefish. Admission is $10 and kids 12 and under are free when accompanied by a parent. Tickets are available only at the gate.  

For more information about this year’s Oktoberfest, go to www.whitefishoktoberfest.com/festivalinfo/.  

More about S-Bahn's music and performances can be found at sbahnmusic.com/.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.