Judge is seated behind desk in a crowd of lawyers. “Sweet Child of Mine” plays loudly from tinny computer speakers.
ENTER LAWYER 1 AND 2, front and center. They sit in the last two remaining unoccupied chairs.
JUDGE
[Loudly] Okay, everyone, quiet down. Who is ready for a conference?
LAWYER 1
Your Honor, Lawyer 2 and I are here on #49 on your list. This case was Judge Cartwright’s case, but it was just transferred to you. My client suffered severe injuries when a refrigerator fell on her. She’s currently in a wheelchair.
LAWYER 2
We have reached a tentative settlement, Your Honor; we are just waiting for approval from the insurer. As such, we are respectfully asking for a six-week continuance in order to get the money on the table.
JUDGE
Is that true, Lawyer 1?
LAWYER 1
Yes, I concur.
JUDGE
That’s fine, I will schedule the next hearing for six weeks from now.
LAWYER 2
Would you like to hear the details of our proposed settlement?
JUDGE
[Feigns self-pleasure with hand motion and facial expression]
LAWYER 1
Haha. Did you make it to the Steely Dan concert last night?
JUDGE
Yeah, they were incredible. I’d definitely see them again. Super hung over right now though.
[Steely Dan’s “Deacon Blues” begins to play through the computer speakers.]
Sidewalk Atlas, an awesome local sci-fi-themed pop band (who I happen to play bass for), is playing two shows this week:
–3/6/2014 – A charity show benefitting Feel the Warmth, which also happens to be the launch party for Philadelphia Impact Hub. We are playing with The World At Large, and Widow Maker Social Club. This is going to be totally awesome; unfortunately it is SOLD OUT.
–3/8/2014 – We are also playing at The Fire on Saturday night, along with Mike Bell and The Movies (and their difficult-to-read site), The Deadeyes, and Leaf Print. We are opening, and we’re starting around 8:30, so make sure to get there on time, and tell them you’re there for us!
If you come and find me, first drink is on me!
I promised music in this post, and I will not fail to deliver. Here is my favorite part of one of my favorite songs, Gone For Now, recorded at a recent rehearsal. Enjoy and I hope to see you this weekend!
P.S. The Sidewalk Atlas album, Stealing Time, is still free at our Bandcamp, so grab it if you like free things that are worth more than you pay for them! Your ears will thank you!
Okay, I admit it, jokes about lawyers are funnier than jokes made by them. Either way, enjoy this cover of the song alluded to in the title of this post. It was recorded last night at the Rising Star Rehearsal Studio in Gloucester. I’m playing my Dingwall ABII through a Yamaha 100W head and a Hartke 4×10 cab. The band is Goodbye Greenlights; we finally recruited a singer (you can hear Max on this track) and are beginning to rehearse.
This is a recording I took a few weeks ago with my iPhone’s Voice Memos program. It was taken at a rehearsal with the local cover band, Old Stranger. I am playing bass, my Dingwall ABII through a Fender Rumble 100 with no effects. I’m only putting it up now because I’ve been so busy working and playing, but there should be more stuff coming up soon.
Listening to this reminds me why I’m continually shocked at modern technology; a program most people probably don’t even know about on their phone can record better quality sound than a fair amount of the recording technology that came before it. I created this recording with MY TELEPHONE. On a whim. Just pulled this phone out, tapped the screen a few times, and this happened. Amazing.
I like how it turned out! Let me know what you think.
That was a delectable brunch! Thank you for your company, gentlemen.
BASSIST
No, thank you! That vegetable carpaccio was to die for.
SINGER
Speaking of dying, I had a few lyrical ideas for our latest song while we were there. Let’s start right before the second verse, two beats after that short bass solo. Whenever you are ready!
This past weekend I was lucky enough to see Opeth and Katatonia, two of my favorite metal bands. I have seen Katatonia once before, and I think I’ve seen Opeth four times before this show. I guess you could say I’m a fan.
The Town
Originally the show was supposed to be at the Crocodile Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but due to some interesting legal issues that I might write about later, it was moved to the newly-renovated (although you might not know it) Sherman Theatre in Stroudsburg. Ticketmaster sent me an email about the change and offered a refund, which I appreciated, and the theater itself sent me an email and left me a voicemail. Now that’s service! The venue change meant an extra hour or two of driving, which was a pain, but in the end I think it was a better show for it.
I’m just going to come out and say it. The town of Stroudsburg sucks. After walking from end to end, it appears that Stroudsburg only has three things: hookah bars, regular bars (mainly Irish pubs) and antique stores. And when I say antique stores, I mean weird stores with old and old-looking stuff in them. If you’re looking to knock a few back after spending the day smoking hookah and buying mid-century Grand Marnier bottle holders and Tiffany lamp reproductions, then Stroudsburg is the place for you.
The Show
The Sherman Theatre is an old-style hall like the Trocadero in Philly, except it only has seats on a mezzanine located all the way in the back. Unlike the Troc, sitting in the seats at the Sherman has a downside. The main floor, which is huge, reminds me of the Theater of the Living Arts due to the slope down to the stage. It works really well for shows in both of these places because you can see over peoples’ heads. The extremely high ceilings also made for an interesting experience, as it made the venue seem much larger than it probably was.
Katatonia started promptly at 8:00 PM. They played 11 songs, and that took about an hour. They must have had plenty of time for a sound check, because they sounded far better than the last time I saw them. They started off the set with Buildings from their most recent album, Dead End Kings. I really like this song as an opener, with its heavy beginning riff. They continued through, playing a few more from that album and a number from Night is the New Day, which is probably my favorite one of their albums. I did notice that they played one or two older songs, which was unexpected. This time, I noticed a few guitar solos which I did not remember seeing last time. Altogether, although I think they sounded much better this time, I think that their set is too.. rigid.
For example, Katatonia has no live synth/keyboard player. This is not a problem, for as you can see here, it is not difficult to hear the ambient sounds in the background which are important to set the mood in their music. The problem is that because they’re playing to backing tracks coming from a computer, everything has to be played to a metronome in their ears. It leaves no room for improvisation or changes on the fly; if they slowed down or took a few more measures for a solo, the computer will play things when it was supposed to anyway. Just about everything about the set that they played on Saturday was planned in advance, and none of the band members really needed to see or hear each other to come in at the right time or play the right thing. It’s the opposite of classical or jazz groups, where the entire performance is a conversation between individuals and small groups. Although I appreciate the work it takes to get a set of songs nailed down and play it with digital elements, I have a feeling that Katatonia’s players are good enough that they could do it without. Also, I’m sure they could find a keyboard player who would love to play with them.
The first glimpse of Opeth that I had was the huge pedalboard on top of a Marshall full-stack during Katatonia’s set. Opeth finally came out at about 9:30, and the room filled up pretty quickly. They started with The Devil’s Orchard from their newest album, Heritage. I thought this was a funky song to start with, and I also interpreted it as a reminder that this album’s prog-rock departure is the direction they’ve headed in, and that’s that. Immediately following that song they started playing “Ghost of Perdition” from Ghost Reveries. That was when it became apparent that the double-bass pedal was far too loud. That would be a theme, and later on in the set I would struggle to listen to the most memorable bass lines (for example, here in Blackwater Park, which was the encore song, and the octave shifts here in Deliverance). That, and standing close to the stage was difficult. The bass drum would vibrate in my chest and make breathing hard during the heaviest double-bass parts.
Other than those few minor complaints, Opeth really blew me away. Mikael went from soaring clean vocals to deep growls with no change in his facial expression, let alone effort. The solos were many and interesting to listen to. The band was rehearsed and tight without being perfect reproductions of the albums. And there was a surprise for us: the first song I ever heard from Opeth, Demon of the fall, performed acoustically! Apparently they played in a church and wanted an evil song to play, so they arranged this one for acoustic guitar and bongos. It doesn’t get much more evil than hand-percussion.
They played for a full two hours, which means it was a long, dark drive home at midnight, but it was totally worth it.
The Rating
Katatonia: 3.5 / 5
Opeth: 4.5 / 5
Stroudsburg, PA: 1 / 5 (and the 1 is only for Flood’s craft beer selection!)
I thought I had seen it all. And then I saw a carillon.
After having seen, in person and on YouTube, some outrageous instruments and ensembles (upright bass ensembles, prepared pianos, electric string quartets, a bass saxophone, the Wanamaker pipe organ), I couldn’t imagine an instrument that is even more unwieldy and inflexible. But let me get this straight: attach a number of bells (from approximately 23 to at least 47) weighing hundreds and thousands of pounds (the largest carillons can weigh over 100 tons: 200,000 lbs!), and place them in a bell tower or other structure that would be able to hold it and get to work playing the works of Bach. Or Lady Gaga.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. Any instrument whose proper technique includes slamming your fists on the keyboard is fine with me. But even with its understandable development from church bells in the town square, I have trouble not seeing it as a status symbol. The carillon in the video, a class gift to Princeton University from the class of 1892, was proposed as a gift “at once noble yet different from all other gifts.” It certainly makes my class gift, which was something like in-ground lights in the quad or solar powered trash cans, seem dull.
Even if it was donated less as a practical gift and more as an interesting and exotic piece, it still has a beautiful sound and is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed seeing it live. I’m not sure about when it is played during the year, but in the summer it is played on Sunday afternoons from 1:00pm-1:45pm. More info can be found here.
My old Galanti accordion has gotten a lot of use lately. Unfortunately, the case has not been up to the task. Upon seeing the nearly destroyed case sitting by the trash can, my dad decided that he’d give the separations in the case a layer of epoxy, so we can at least say we tried before buying a new one. I thought the final result of the repair was funny enough that I had to take a picture.
Everything looks better in black and white! (I'm in the middle)
Hello and welcome to little round mirrors.
My name is Matt, and I’m a law student and musician in the Philadelphia area. I have thoughts and observations about both of these things, and I want to create a repository for these musings. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much overlap between law and music (besides contracts, intellectual property and noise ordinances). But both exist in community form; both have their own languages, written and oral; both are based upon rules, and some of the best of both involves the creative bending of those rules. I hope to explore the interesting intersections and delve into the minutiae. The result will hopefully be at least a little thought-provoking. It will certainly be an interesting look at my development in both fields.
On the other hand, I will probably also write about both separately. They’ve generally remained separate in my life (except for those lyrics I just wrote for a song based on the Trial Advocacy case Dixon v. Providential Life Insurance Co…) so I imagine that they will remain separate in this blog often too. Well, too bad!
Thanks for coming, and I hope you subscribe and enjoy!
