Live!

Who: Auktyon Where: The State Theatre, Falls Church When: 8:30 tonight

Auktyon, a Russian experimental rock ensemble, has built a following throughout Europe. (Vadim Shesterikov)

For more than 20 years, St. Petersburg's Auktyon has been the Russian experimental rock ensemble, building a cult following throughout Europe and wowing critics. The band will display its quirky eclecticism tonight at the State Theatre.

On its infrequent swings through North America, Auktyon has drawn audiences mostly from Russian immigrant communities. But you don't have to speak Russian to appreciate its imaginative music and emotional delivery. Those rock fans who groove on the progressive weirdness of Frank Zappa or the psycho circus theater music of Tom Waits will feel comfortable at an Auktyon show.

The eight-piece band includes several percussionists and horn players, along with the traditional rock stable of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. There are two frontmen: guitarist and singer Leonid Fyodorov and percussionist, dancer and mad poet Oleg Garkusha.

They fuse disparate elements such as North African and Middle Eastern sounds, reggae, ska, jazz and pop. Music by a band born behind the Iron Curtain might be expected to be dark and dissonant at times, but it also is frequently melodic and jubilant.

The whole of the band's sound is more than the sum of its parts, and the group is happy to demonstrate that: Much of its music from the past two decades is available to download at its Web site, http://www.auktyon.com , including some freebies from the 2002 album "This Is Mom." Auktyon will play more U.S. shows after the summer release of "Pioneer," the band's first album to be released by an American label, the New York indie Circular Moves.

The State Theatre is at 220 N. Washington St., Falls Church. Tickets are $23. For information, call 703-237-0300 or visithttp://www.thestatetheatre.com.