HERE IT IS! Photographs by Kelly Karivalis April 2009 Closing reception Friday April 24
featuring LIVE MUSIC by: Abserdo SexOffice **PRFSR*DRSZ** Storm Team 8
ALL AGES $10 The Black Lodge/White Lodge Gallery 1508 Brandywine Phila PA 19130
Saturday 04.11.09
Friday 04.10.09
Hip Hop Recording Workshop
Friday Apr 10, 2009 08:00 pm ALL AGES $10
This season School of Rock students collaborated with students from Youth Empowerment Services to compose, arrange and record original material, create backing tracks and focused on modal playing, rhythm patterns, percussion and basic recording/editing technique. Come see our students perform these tracks live with some of Philly's premier Hip-Hop and spoken word artists including Benni E, Ag3ent MoE, Lost Docs, and Rainbow Destroyer!
Saturday 04.04.09
Saturday 03.28.09
Brendon Small: A Seminar His Music and How It Came To Be!
Have you ever wondered how you're favorite Dethklok songs came to be?
Or how the Metalocalypse musical transitions were really put together?
Or even how Duane's Guitarmageddon solo from Home Movies was recorded? WELL NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO FIND OUT!!!!
Brendon
Small, writer of some of YOUR favorite music, will be here to give a
seminar on writing and recording. But even more than that, he will be
taking the seminarists (that's you) through the engineering process and
dissecting ALL of your favorite music from Metalocalypse and Home
Movies!
All Ages $10 Saturday, March 28, 2009 8pm
The Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine St
Philadelphia, PA
Sunday 03.22.09
A production to raise funds for anti-domestic violence programs in the area.
Sunday, March 22, 2009 7:00 p.m.
The Black Lodge The Paul Green School of Rock Music 1508 Brandywine Street Phila., PA 19130 Tickets are $10
For more information and tickets contact: Barbara K. Tarnoff 215-683-5545 267-972-0766
Saturday 02.14.09
Friday 01.13.09
Composition Workshop Winter 2009
Friday Feb 13, 2009 08:00 pm
In January, we will welcome John Richey (Lunar Ensemble) to the Black Lodge. Participating students will work directly with John, focus on improvisation, musical narrative, and creative songwriting while interpreting the most recent work of John's current project, Lunar Ensemble. John "Lunar" Richey and percussionist Richard "Bear" Graham started as Lunar Bear. They soon evolved into The Lunar Bear Ensemble which included Martin Atkins of Public Image and later Killing Joke. John Richey went on to join Machine Gun with Robert Musso, Lance Carter and Tom Chapin. As a writer and poet John Richey's words are wise, very real, thoughtful, sarcastic yet never difficult or oblique.
The Black Lodge 1508 Brandywine St Philadelphia, PA 19130
Friday 01.30.09
THE LADS DOPE SICK GIRLS
PARACHUTING APOSTLES
$10 ALL AGES
Friday, January 30, 2009
8pm-11pm
The Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine St
Philadelphia, PA
Sunday 01.11.09
A night of music and art not to miss!
Performances by Julia Rainer, Sarah Zimmermann and Teddi & Gina (E Lois)!
PLUS A White Lodge Gallery show by Maddy Wieand! $6 @ the door (a bargain!)
ALL AGES!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
8:00pm - 11:00pm
The Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine St
Philadelphia, PA
Friday 12.19.08
Saturday 11.15.08
Friday 11.14.08
OPEN MIC NIGHT with Nero Catalano featuring Students and Staff from the Paul Green School of Rock Music! 8pm ALL AGES $5-$10 donation
Friday 11.07.08
THE MATHEMATICIANS w/ Special Guests: **PRFSR*DRSZ** Vermicide and solo percussionist, Ricardo Lagomasino
doors @ 8pm show @ 8:30 ALL AGES $10
Wednesday 10.29.08
Adam Smith and Simone Weisnefels perform with Special Guest Elliott Levin
PLUS the Students of The Paul Green School of Rock Music present the works of Frank Zappa, Shostakovich, Charles Mingus and more! doors 8pm show 8:30pm ALL AGES $10
Friday 10.24.08
Saturday 10.18.08
Winter Sessions CD Release Kevin Ricci Lee G Sonni Shine Funkharp
doors 7pm show 8pm ALL AGES $7
Friday 10.03.08
Paul Green School of Rock Music presents: THRASH ATTACK!!!!
featuring the best of Metallica, Slayer, D.R.I., Exodus, and more
Fri Oct 3 2008 8pm
@ The Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine Phila., PA 19130 ALL AGES $10
Saturday 09.27.08
Sat Sept 27th 8pm
Bob & Friends Bob Musso Elliott Levin Dave Dreiwitz Eric Slick
Lunar Ensemble John "Lunar" Richey Tom DiEllo Doug "Slugger" Vizthum Chris McKenna Greg D Dave Dreiwitz
PLUS an exclusive performance of School of Rock students with Elliott Levin
ALL AGES $10 ($5 for SOR students)
@ The Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Friday 09.26.08
2 + 2
A special reuniting of musicians, friends,
and brothers from distant lands.
Diego Manuschevich (Santiago, Chile) - Tenor Sax
Hugo Manuschevich (Santiago, Chile) - Drums
Mark Ettingoff (Philadelphia, PA) - Keyboards
Joel Altman (Philadelphia, PA) - Cello
The Play about The Coach In the final three minutes of the defining game of his career, a
coach's world comes crashing down around him. As the clock ticks away
the coach comes head-to-head with a backstabbing assistant, a gifted
adversary, a God-like referee and a mysterious stranger who repeatedly
phones down to the bench - all the while trying to pull his team
through to victory.
The Play About the Coach is the first of its kind...a one man show that
takes the audience into the final, crucial minutes of a high stakes
game through the eyes of a desperate man.
"A powerhouse performance!" - Off-Off-Broadway Review
"A one-man tour de force!" - New York Press
"Tom Ridgely's direction is very strong." - Off-Off-Broadway Review
Fort Washington Night
@ The Black Lodge!
Friday August 15 8pm
ALL AGES $8
Featuring ORIGINAL MATERIAL BY:
Jaded Fusion
Panic at Nabisco
Blase Porretti
The Highly Anticipated
Fargus
Mauve Storm
Hadley Stacks
Abserdo
SUMMER BOOT CAMP 2008! Students perform original material LIVE plus the BEST of Sabbath, Rush, The Beatles, and MORE! Sat Aug 9 1pm ALL AGES FREE
ALL SHOWS-ALL AGES-8PM DOORS-8 DOLLARS
THE BLACK LODGE-1508 BRANDYWINE-PHILLY
Paul Green School of Rock Music presents: A Soundtrack Workshop
This season our students will endeavor to compose, arrange, and perform an original to the Classic silent era masterpiece NOSFERATU by German Expressionist, F. W. Murnau. The focal points of this project will be on creative composition for a large ‘rock ensemble’, Accapella vocal, instrumental song writing, and improvisation.
The film, released in 1922, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Following a heated lawsuit, a court ordered all existing prints of the film destroyed. Fortunately, around the world, distribution had already begun and these remaining prints were then copied over the years, helping Nosferatu gain its current reputation as one of the greatest movie adaptations of the vampire legend.
This workshop is open to all ages and skill levels. It will run through the spring season and feature composition seminars, guest instructors, and tutorials on gear and equipment. Two live performances of the finished piece while viewing the film will be presented in The Black Lodge on Friday May 09 and Saturday May 10 at 8:00pm. Tickets will be available from the office for $10. Live recordings will be produced throughout the rehearsals and a DVD of
the final performance will be pressed for each participating student.
-Dylan Sherwood Mcconnell Director
BLACK LODGE PRODUCTIONS:
Steve Howe @ the Black Lodge
FRIDAY 4/11/08
Guitar Workshop with STEVE HOWE from YES
Friday, April 11th 5-7PM
Black Lodge
1508 Brandywine St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Steve Howe, guitar player from YES, will be conducting a guitar
workshop at the Black Lodge in Philly this Friday April 11th from 5PM
till 7PM. Please
spread the word and make sure your school is here for this fantastic
and unique opportunity!!
** FREE ADMISSION ** $10 SUGGESTED DONATION **
This is open to Rock School Students, Families and Staff only.
No photography, press, or recording of any kind.
Friday Feb 22 6:00pm @ The Black Lodge Modern Composition Workshop featuring Evan Lipson and NORMAL LOVE
Join us at SOR Philly in the Black lodge with NORMAL LOVE for an indepth discussion and demonstration of their compositional processes, use of musical thematics, narrative, and interperetive prowess.
NORMAL LOVE (Evan Lipson-bass, Carlos Santiago-violin, Alex Nagle-guitar, Amnon D. Freidlin-guitar, and Eli[minator] Litwin-drums) has been described as “poised and polished”, "loud and brutal”, and “a breed apart, ripping through hypercomplex scores with the chops of a chamber ensemble and the intensity of a metal band”.(LISTEN HERE)
This workshop is free to ALL SOR Students and is manditory for all students participating in SOR Philly’s Spring Soundtrack Project in which students will compose and perform an original musical score for F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film masterpeice NOSFERATU.
Following the workshop, there will be a live performance at 8pm. $8 Admission-All Ages featuring:
NORMAL LOVE Black Lodge Ensemble Seven Twins Dre Time Ryan Jewell
@ The Black Lodge 1508 Brandywine
REVIEWS
REVIEW - The Black Lodge 07/19/07
Thursday nights Black Lodge show highlighted collaboration,
songwriting, arrangement and song-craft. A quartet of performers in a
mostly acoustic
setting presented the craft of songwriting and the discipline of
collaboration in its most direct form, performance on stage.
After a long hiatus and some personal turmoil Paul Green
once more focused on his creative output. Such long periods away from
the process of organized creative thought often result in a complacency
and
artistic inhibition. I don’t want to say laziness, rather a dulling of
ones creative radar often sets in allowing the mundane, and clichéd to
creep by
unnoticed or unchecked. The higher one aims, the more detritus has
accumulated and settled. The harder it is to see. These are the cobwebs
so often
referred to and they are not easily expelled. One simply has to work
thru them. Paul Green and Sarah Zimmermann performed a set rich in
content with
songs and instrumental compositions that were mostly on the mark with
one exception, a misplaced ballad with keyboard accompaniment that left
me
standing on the bow of a large ship with my arms outstretched. Its
placement in the set indicated it was meant to be an emotional high
point in the
show, but it weakly leaned on overt pop cliché’s and detracted from an
otherwise good performance of hard earned material.
Sarah Zimmermann’s voice was clear and contained as she delivered
lyrics filled with questions, regrets and second thoughts. Well tread
upon
territory by some of the very best songwriters and most of this
material holds it’s own. The duo’s acoustic playing was tight. Some of
the songs
deserve larger instrumentation and all of it sounded like a work in
progress.
The Black Lodge is very much a workshop for performers.
We hope to see this project back again in our fall season.
Second time on our stage for this duo, who in their first time out
brought us rich and textural songscapes. This is a strong project that
gets better
each time out. Their collaboration has developed a vocabulary that is
unique and instantly recognizable as their own.
Their songwriting is strong but most impressive the arrangements
felt absolutely integral to the content being performed. Weather
performing covers
or original material this duo has a sound that belongs completely to
them. The best set of the night.
Always rewarding to listen to these two present traditional folk and bluegrass music.
James Seward is one the best pickers around and this duo’s set is never
without a surprise or two. Tonight’s surprise: James Seward’s powerful
voice.
Yanni Papadopoulos and Charles Cohen collaborate on this improvisational joint venture.
I was very pleased to see these guy’s in The Black Lodge and even more
so to see that most people stayed on to see them. This kind of
improvisation is
rare and these two are
in fine form right now with upcoming CD release in October.
Their performance was mature, often funny and rich in ideas. Planet Y
will celebrate their CD release with an October performance at The
Black Lodge.
Don’t miss it.
Pads and Steel provided a refreshing fun filed jazz flavored
set of originals with some silly satirical twists and a free, loose performance style.
Engaging and intelligent their set was my favorite of the night.
Once again, strong musicianship, but it's their candor, honesty
and directness that make this trio unique and engaging.
Oh Boy� What to say about this?
We often have unknown quest simply show up and ask to perform at The Black Lodge. We always accommodate.
Such is the case for KAZ the tiny Japanese man-boy with his big guitar
and little yellow suitcase of miniature and impenetrable homemade T-shirts.
Kaz also known as PWRFL POWER performed a Sesame Street like set
of simple minded, self indulgent, self-help, feel good regurgitation to small
built in crowd of enablers.
By evenings end I witnessed most of this crowd carrying gear for one or
more of the other three acts of the night, so I can only assume they
are in on
the secret.
These are same people who understand the Teletubbies.
Kaz performed 8 songs from his personal diary of whimsical observations.
Feel good about yourself. Try to feel good about others. Eat your vegetables.
Kaz is from Seattle (of course) were this kind of thing is a common cafe experience.
Oh Brother�
EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA:
iPHONE!We love youtube!
SCISSORING!
Be my advisor!FORESTGUMP!
Field of Cream!Couples counceling!
Paris Hilton GO TO JAIL.
Do not collect $200.
Goodnight.
This trio came to the Black Lodge, like so many of its
wayward visitors, drawn into our harbor like a lost
and rusty schooner bobbing along in the black and
watery night.
Steeped in melodrama and swathed in vintage
dandy-garb, this group laid out a buffet of
goth-tinged crooner-tunes which, despite its fierce
chain-rattling, failed to spook the usual creeps who
feast regularly at the Black Lodge.
These silly aesthetic aims (read: RESTRICTIONS), leave
the players, Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff (guitar
and bass, respectively) and Nick Tamburro on drums,
kicking against the inside of a pine box with
little-to-no room to stretch out.
The band is lacking neither in talent nor in vision
but it tragically choses to task this vitality in
service to a predictable and theatrically adolescent
construct. There it is left to claw at the lid and
gasp soundlessly in the dark.
These boys could stand to throw their maps overboard
and spend a few nights lost at sea. But, as is often
the case with a trio, there seems to be an unfortunate
fixation on the destination rather than the long haul
itself.
CAPILLARY ACTION began their fall tour at The Black Lodge Friday night
With a managerie of stone skipping, genre pond hopping post-rock.
Jonathan Pfeffers material and musical direction were explosive and tight.
His guitar was a little overstated and showy but held in check by very good
trio led by Ricardo Lagomasino's high-speed percussion.
Ricardo was the real show for me as his percussion was a flurry of touches
that reminds me of Denardo Coleman with the impact of late 80's speed metal.
This quartet rounds out with Spencer Russell's frantic bass
and the deep amplified sax of David Fishkin.
These genre jumping post-rock bands always seem to attract the best and brightest and CAPILLARY ACTION is no exception.
The problem lies not so much in what's there but rather who's there.
Who is CAPILLARY ACTION?
I dont know.
All I heard was an impeccably presented resume of references.
-mdl
Black Lodge Productions presents:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDHA BASH!
$7 donation ALL AGES Thurs 5/24 8pm
featuring School of Rock All-Star graduates
Sarah Zimmermann Trio w/Eric & Julie Slick
Parachuting Apostles
The Joe Reno Band
The Feathertop$
TEDDI
BLACK LODGE 05/18/07
siLTmaN (listen)-
the second incarnation
of BO is running along the edges of song destruction but with a
somewhat uncertain plan in mind. However, they move fearlessly onward
from the
wreckage of the ‘mission impossible’ theme to ‘iron man’ to ? Gina
Gleason splits her time between self referential guitar work and
enthusiastic
drumming while Zack Block manages to always inspire laughter and
applause. their performance is a chinese fire drill of changing
personnel and
instrumentation which always pitches a big sneaky curve when you find
yourself asking “what's next?”
Sioux City Pete and the Beggars (listen)- Satanists sure are sweethearts and gracious to the very end! A LOUD (LOOUUUDDDD!!!) four piece (3 guitars/1
drummer) came all the way from Iowa and delivered gutsy, muscular guitar playing. A glorious r&r spectacle...
“you think im a very nice man...YOUDONTFUCKINGKNOWME!” ...Something BAD
happened to this man, which is GOOD because NOW he makes sludgy
swamp-rock
full of swagger and sneer with zero pretense and reminds me what i love
about r&r and its legacy of raunch, volume, depravity and
goat-heads.
Rasputin’s Secret Police (listen)- Wynne
Record’s darlings (guitar and drums duo) served up a long winded set of
seriously limp wristed suburban
anthems. Brendan’s simpering vocals were barely audible but whose
content, from what i gathered, were as pointless, boring, and
noncommittal as his
guitar playing. Josh, on the other hand, beat the living crap outta our
drums, screeched and slobbered like a maniac and all the while, kept it
inna
nice tight pocket...excellent work. Suprizingly, ambivalence is a GOOD
thing to inspire in your listeners, kids.
Black Lodge Ensemble (listen)-
The second installment of WDCD’s “Teeth” was a complete 180 degree turn
from the previous evening’s disastrous
performance. The group read each other well and moved fluidly through a
clear collection of scenarios which they constructed with staccato
sound
assemblage, analog sequences, magnetic tape manipulation, and good old
fashioned electric guitar, to name a few. The strengths of this band
lie in a
broad accessibility to instrumentation, acute listening skills, and
ultimately their fearless approach to new ideas.
New Ghost (listen)-
Elliot Levin
(vocals, flute, soprano & tenor sax), Rick Iannacone (guitar),
Steve Testa (bass), John Testa (drums)...this group unleashed a
blistering 2 hour
set of cutting-edge free jazz and avant-funk pieces many of which acted
as formidable under structures for the Beat poetry of Levin. Elliott
swapped
sax for flute for word all night without missing a step.
The Testa brothers held court confidently with a choppy and thickened
rhythm section but loosened the reigns a bit when they invited Eric
Slick to sit
in on a second drum kit for a portion of the set. Rick Iannacone’s work
on guitar clearly illustrates 40 years of technique and attack, speed,
feel,
funk and squeal.
There is an immense and specific satisfaction which comes from watching
musicians work at this level. They easily move beyond the formal
aspects of
the piece at hand and can draw stylistically from many sources at once
without succumbing to the trappings of affectation. The result is an
intense
compression of time/history and the multiplicity of forms created in
this heated environment by the hybridization of improvisational styles
of melody,
rhythm and attack.
-dmc Thursday May 17th Review Black Lodge 5-17:
Thursday May 17 saw a totally different kind of animal come through the Black Lodge. An ALMOST entirely acoustic evening was enjoyed by a comfortable and appreciative crowd as the Lodge was filled with VERY new sounds.
JAMES SEWARD (listen)- began the evening hacking through his severe allergies to deliver a beautifully arranged set of traditional bluegrass, jazz, and origional material. He was accompanyed by an enthusiastic, if somewhat unprepared, dmc on bass. It had been over 3 years since the two had played together but both fell into stride with the opening phrases of Irving Berlin’s “Russian Lullabye”. James’ playing style is steeped in old school flat-picking, peppered with muting and popping, and yet his phrasing constantly reaches outside the modal limitations of the material. There is always a sense that he has gone off the deep end during his quick and angular solos, but always manages to use a more traditional hook to swing back onto the bridge, winking slyly to the audience and leaving them wondering; “Are you psychic? ...or psycho?”
FLOATING STONE (listen)- Guitarist Jeff Aug and percussionist Niko Lai delivered an A-List performance of entirely origianal work. Jeff’s unique style is at times aggressive and terrifically brutish and, at others, sensitive and tactful. His finger picking technique is an entirely homegrown, and baffling spectacle and reveals very little about its lineage. Nico sat surrounded by an arsenal of interesting, small, sometimes hilarious percussive instruments (the thing that goes ‘doo-weeee!’ and the one that sounds like a door creaking....and that can-thingy that sounds like thunder!). His main axe, however is the African udu, a simple clay sphere with two sound holes. In the hands of its master, it propelled Floating Stone through a 60+ minute set of extended compositions, storytelling, and humorous on stage inter-play between the two who clearly enjoyed themselves beginning to end.
Black Lodge Ensemble- An ‘off’ night for the BLE performing an origional piece called ‘TEETH’ by WDCDRADIO. Volume issues, missed cues, and good old-fashioned stage fright successfully unwound the cummulative efforts of the eight ensemble members and weeks of rehearsals. Chalk it up as a ‘learning experince’ because this performance by the BLE paved the way for its total and collective redemption the following night (see Review 05/18/07).
-dmc
REVIEW-BLACK LODGE SHOW 4/27/06
BO
Percussionist, Baseball addict,
and doorman extraordinaire
Dave Papp has joined Black Lodge Productions
as a manager at large.
His first project was the unlikely pairing
of All-Star Gina Gleeson and
heretofore-unknown
Zack Block in the instant group BO
(pronounced like Moe).
This project took two weeks of preparation
and culminated in a very good performance
of a couple of originals and one cleverly
placed piece of “Song-Destruction”.
Guitarist/Composer Gina Gleeson
is quickly building an impressive resume of work.
As a member of The Black Lodge Ensemble,
and a regular guest of wdcdradio
Gina has been asked to stretch out
and take on some difficult music.
These experiences, her hard work
and natural leadership is evident in BO.
I like this bands ideas and want to hear more.
**PRFZR*DRSZ**
The narrow view of eighties pop culture
is a pervasive virus among many students of
The Paul Green School Of Rock Music.
Third rate sub-culture co-opted and force fed
to eager and willing stooges who happily
gobble and regurgitate it over and over
without bringing much to it and,
in my view, taking very little from it.
Cultural placeholders, droogies of the status quo,
unwilling and perhaps unable to grow.
Hand-me-down kids wearing second hand
ideas and dressing up to a vanguard
that comes with an instruction book.
Fortunately, every three months or so, depending upon Brandon King’s latest career, PRFZR*DRSZ sends a memo
to remind us of what was yesterday and what today is.
The Professors craft their influences (see above)
to their own agenda.
Concerned with all that is overexposed detritus
PD feeds on eighties DNA, and the nature
of recycled culture. PD are never aloof or cryptic
and always “of their time”.
PD uses the same toolbox available
at every eighties lending library.
The difference is in the leaning, and PRFZR*DRSZ
always lurches forward.
So the next time your bobbing your head
and extending your index and pinky at The Black Lodge
consider that these guy’s just might be talking to you.
Have A Nice Day.
MAX THE DORK
A simple idea, cleverly presented and well performed.
Maureen Hayes, Brett and pre-recorded drums.
Highly entertaining stuff.
THE FEATHERTOP$
The Feathertop$ performed a very professional set of
slightly southern sounding blues-rock songs
airmailed from the 1970’s
For all I know these guy’s are from South Philly or New Jersey
so lets not get to carried away
with how well they copped their sound.
A good set from a band that has been working hard
on well-developed material.
Good song writing, well delivered
with a classic southern rock approach of dual guitars.
When they run out of steam they tend to rock out
and lose the focus of their sound a bit.
A nice set.
THE JOHNSON-MARUZELLA TRIO
A competent rock trio
with ever so slight progressive leanings
A bit to common for my taste but well performed.
It’s tough to go on last at The Black Lodge and these guy’s
Did a good job of keeping people in the house.
REVIEW – THE BLACK LODGE 3/30
MEG CALLEN Meg Callen and dmc started the evening with a set of songs which included guitar, bass, vocals and live interactive Reel-to-Reel tape loops. We here at Black Lodge Productions have been looking for ways to get students who have composed songs but do not belong to a band, on stage to present their material in new and interesting ways. To that end thanks Meg for your good faith and especially for a great set of songs. Last week MoeJiggetts and Aaron Sheehan delivered equally interesting sets of non-hop hip-hop and solo bass respectively. Two weeks prior to that show Foster Longo performed a wonderful solo piano exploration along with his ipod. Matt Hollenberg, Dylan McConnell and Yanni Papadopoulos each performed with solo guitar and effects.
It is time that more Rock School students get involved with developing, recording and performing their ideas. You don’t have to be in a band to do it. I would much prefer to see a good performance then a poorly pre-paired band. If you would like to perform but are not in a band Black Lodge Productions is currently developing 2 new programs for performance.
SONG DESTRUCTION – Sign up now and begin destroying songs immediately
EXQUISITE CORPSE – What is it? Send us an e-mail and find out.
THE TRIO NERO A very nice set delivered with the kind of command we love here at The Black Lodge The Trio Nero like The Allen Holdsworth Trio sounded great in our little room. With a nod to Carlos Santana’s mid 70’s guitar work Nero Catalano and company explored mostly new territory kept the quotes to a minimum and played their material extremely well. Quite an enjoyable set.
ELLIOTT LEVIN and The Black Lodge Ensemble
Finally, and with great effort, The Black Lodge has a working ensemble. The purpose of this working group is to develop original material, perform with special guests and to go where no band has gone before. The first fruits of this project were performed onstage Friday night with Elliott Levin.
Elliott Levin is a Philadelphia native, published author and renowned performer on saxophone, flute and spoken word. Elliott has performed throughout the US and the world with many groups, including: Cecil Taylor’s Unit Core Ensemble,Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Scram!, New Ghosts, Atzilut (Fourth World) and Talking Free Bebop.
Elliott graciously joined our project approximately one month ago at the request of Eric Slick. We then did a series of live improvised radio broadcasts from the studios of wdcdradio. These included solo performances and ensemble improvisations with Rock School students alumni and quests. This workshop stressed improvisation, extended technique in all instruments as well as the use magnetic tape loops, pre-recorder Reel to Reel tape and studio as instrument applications to live performance.
Friday night’s performance was a seamless forty-five minute exploration of avant-free form music, delivered with energy, wisdom, humor and confidence. A mesmerized crowd of mostly students (about time!) and guests cheered Elliott and company to The Black Lodges first ever encore. Hands Down, the best performance I have ever seen in The Black Lodge.
For this project The Black Lodge Ensemble was:
Elliott Levin – Saxophone, Flute, Spoken Word Eric Slick – Drums, Percussion, Sheet Metal, Ladder, Organ Dylan McConnell – Bass, Guitar, Tape Loops, Keyboards, Magnetic Tape Dominic Angelella – Guitar, Percussion Daniel Nitz – Guitar, Water Bottle, Percussion Gina Gleeson – Guitar Foster Longo – Keyboards, Prophet 5
The Black Lodge Ensemble’s next project will a be: THREE COMPOSITIONS Works by Dylan McConnell, Eric Slick, wdcdradio
Anyone interested in joining The Black Lodge Ensemble need only an open mind.
CETUS It’s no secret that I feel that The Black Lodge has seen too much metal. However if Matt Hollenberg’s band had joined us sooner I may not have been beaten to the point of metal fatigue so quickly. This is a smart inventive and original band that, although not “out” enough for my tastes are very good. They performed in a tough spot Friday night yet kept me, and many others, in the room, and attentive. After my brain recovered from the volume. I was glad I stayed.
WOMEN Women took a stab at being whimsical while performing a set of originals and some covers. I like the concept and I believe that the talent is in there somewhere, but this band needs to work harder. Bill Rooney’s a smart guy who needs to be using both sides of his brain. Write some material, practice, and get back to us.
mdl wdcdradio
REVIEW: Black Lodge Productions Friday March 30
The Mighty Third-
Agent Moe (aka: rock school alumni Moses Jiggetts) and DJ PHSH
set up and threw down with a conservative set of songs.
Crafty, edgy yet eloquent, deliberate and delinquent...
no one escaped when PHSH began to cut wax.
Few things please me more than the ritual slaughter of a sacred cow now and then....
thanks, Mighty Third, for taking the first few bars of 'Stairway' down that long walk and offering its throat to the blade.
In a genre entirely dominated by virtuosity (and thats HIP-HOP, by the way,
not RAP), Moe most definitely has skills.
Despite the lack of hands in the air waving as if they had not a care in the world,
he delivered without the least hesitation, apology, OR bravado (!)
Crisbie and the Original Recipe-
Ive been a fan on CATOR for years and they played all my favorites last
night, as well as some fresh material (...new album soon?!).
While the horse they have been beating has long long since flat-lined,
they manage to overcome the rancid fumes of its reanimated frame with a brutish and pre-pubescent vigor remenissent of many early So-Cal punk bands.
m'gusta mucho!but please...More snot and less posturing...
and NO MORE STICK TWIRLING!!!
Stone Mountain ? (aka: Noizy Ahboorshinz)-
Arron aggressively annoyed and entertained the Black Lodge crowd by cursing, stomping on disobedient effect pedals, pulling his hair, playing bass,
and demanding calisthenics from the audience.
A MASSIVE leap from his last appearance (up? down? sideways?)...
IMPOSTOR-
Despite a scathing, mean-spirited, and totally wrong-headed review
of myself AND the Black Lodge (WTF, Brian?), I still stand by my original
impressions of this three piece. Who needs a bass player when you have a 7-string and a formidable vocalist belching out gut rattling roars in a thundering, inexhaustible peal! Their compositions were lengthy and complex but executed with precision...
really, not bad for a first time out!
This band would have KILLED if not for two things:
1) a drummer who clearly knew the material yet lacked the confidence and BALLS to actually hit the drums and be heard over the HEAVY guitar...WHICH IS WHAT THE GUITAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE, FOR CHRISSAKES!
and
2) a blind inconsistency in vocal delivery (seriously, stub-zilla, learn how to use a mic!) all that fake screaming never translates in a live setting unless you know what your doing.
I'll let you know when we have the 'screamo' seminar!...so you can come, you can take notes, (NOT thank me for it) and you can have even MORE cheat-sheets to fumble through on stage next time.
DYSLEXICON-
Princeton SOR ran out their 'best-in-show' last night with a clean but
somewhat bland array of genre hopping.
This steam-table buffet contained:
a slab of 'maiden' song here, a little 'baby-face', some 'beetles' ...
(you know what I like to do? I get the meat and mashed potatoes and peas?
...mix it all up and have a shepards pie! yum...now thats good!)
The members of this band are WAAAYYY qualified to play whatever is on the menu, and do so with competence and flair and enthusiasm.
Kaleen, I hope IMPOSTOR's drummer was watching you closely
cause you beat those drums like they stole yer purse, WITHOUT MERCY!!
(in fact, you could stand to play a few of those songs with a little more feel
and a little less fury...).
And singer (Andy?) clearly knows how to finesse a mic, as well as a crowd.
What this band needs a direction, an identity, some glue to stick the pieces together...I say, look to your name...'DYSLEXICON'...the answer is in there...whatever that means...
REVIEW - ALLAN HOLDSWORTH TRIO The Black Lodge
Jazz and Rock Guitar Innovator Allan Holdsworth stopped by The Black Lodge with his Trio of Jimmy Johnson on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums. Allan Holdsworth has always been outside the mainstream His resume includes numerous historically important recordings and he brought much of that resume to The Black Lodge. Holdsworth’s rich harmonic swells and sonic craftsmanship were attentively appreciated by a sold out crowd of devoties. Considering Holdsworth sparse touring and lack of live recordings This was a special glimpse into what this important guitarist can do live onstage. If your interested in Jazz, Fusion or Progressive rock you should explore Allan Holdsworth’s vast catalog of recordings.
BLACK LODGE 2/23/07
FOSTER LONGO performed a full
set of classical gymnastics
on piano (a few too many in my opinion)
and held the confidence
and and ears of everyone in the
room for a full 30+ minutes...
a determined and classy act all the way.
foster tipped hes cards a bit with an original
composition utilizing pre-recorded
'found sound' in an elegant
but poorly mixed deut (piano & ipod).
i hope he pursues this path with vigor.
DYNAMIC MONOTONE started off
on the wrong foot
with a limping zeppelin cover
complete with pedal failure,
underwhelming guitar solos
which were stepped
on by the rhythm section,
and apparent lack of footwear.
they more than made up for this with
a broad collection of original material
which drew heavily upon the
curriculum of rock school (hendrix/zappa/metallica/etc)
without stinking of plagiarism. the stitching they
use in piecing this monster together, however, is
heavy-handed and abrupt.
MATT H delivered a solo set of undulating
sound slabs produced by a 7-string guitar
and an array of effects through a very very loud amp.
a froth of psycho-delic aggressive relentless
harmonic sequences poured over a packed room.
while some realized the wisdom of sitting down
for this, most scratched there heads raw trying to figure
how one guy could actually be heavier
than all the bands on the bill combined...
i, myself, wonder what a full band may
sound like under this impressive guitarist.
for those of you that dont know, matt has been
teaching guitar at rock school philly for years.
after friday nights performance,
there should be a line of you suckaz around the block .
THE ASSTRONAUTS (seriously...) are here to have fun! a
trio with plenty of 'pop' with none of that annoying 'edge'
performed well crafted and well executed songs about girls.
some cover material makes sense in its context:
beatles = yes
check berry = yes
outcast = no!
rethink these smash and grab shots at pleasuring a crowd...
your own material has legs, guts, and above all, heart.
these guys had the best draw, by far,
and as soon as the 'fun' was over, they took the party with them.
(note to bands performing in future shows:
bring more people out to see your band, besides yer two friends and yer mom).
SCYTHE OF ASRAEL...
q-tip once asked:
"What is a party if it doesn't really rock?
What is a poet? All balls, no cock
What is a war if it doesn't have a general?
What's channel nine if it doesn't have Arsenio?
What is life if you don't have fun?
What is a what if you ain't got a gun?
What's Ali without Shaheed Muhammad?
Nothing.
What is a Quest if the players ain't willing?
What is a pence if you don't have a shilling?
Excuse me if I'm chillin, hey what, say what
What's a fat man without food in his gut?
What's a child birth, without the umbilical?
What's United Parcel, without the deliverer?
What's momma-san, without poppa-san?
What's martial arts without Daniel-San?
What's Rasheed without Tonya, Tamika?
What's orange juice and Doug E. Doug without Shaniqua?
Not a not a not a, not a damn thing
What's Duke Ellington without that swing?
What's Alex Haley if it doesn't have roots?
What's a weekend if you ain't knockin boots?
What's a black nation, without black unity?
What is a child who doesn't know pubery?
What is my label when I exit boom status?
What's menage-a-tois, or, that is What is sex when you have three people?
What are laws if they ain't fair and equal?
What's Clark Kent without a telephone booth?
What is a liquor if it ain't 80 proof?
What are the youth if they ain't rebellin?
What's Raplh Cramden, if he ain't yellin at Ed Norton?
what is coke snortin?
What is position if there is no contortin?
What is hip-hop if it doesn't have violence?
Chill for a minute, Doug E. Fresh said silence
....
What is a glock if you don't have a clip?
What's a lollipop without the Good Ship?
What's S&M if you don't have chains?
What's a con artist if he doesn't have brains?
What's America without greed and glamour?
What's an MC if he doesn't have stamina?
What's music fractured without Mr. Walt?
What's Trugoy without a phrase called torte?
What's Kris Lighty if he wasn't such a baby?
What is a woman if she didn't say maybe?
Baby laid down, I removed the frown
What would be my penal cord if it wasn't brown?
What is a paper without a president?
What is a compound without a element?
What is a jam if you don't spike the punch?
Was it Bruce Lee if you don't like brunch?"
to which id add.... whats an indian if he aint the big chief?
whats a hamburger without any beef?
whats a vampire without any teeth?
... scythe, thats what.
in the mornings, i cough up oysters scarier than these guys.
a major disappointment considering
the pomp and posturing leading up to this show...
and because of the fact that i know they can
do better than that, musically. maybe im just a jerk.
TREASON...you have made it official.
NO MORE COVER BANDS IN THE BLACK LODGE!
(unless it is an exercise in parody, satire,
'song destruction', or a work d'homage).
-dmc
BLACK LODGE 1/26/07
Best crowd yet at The Black Lodge Friday night
as Cherry Hill really turned out in support of their bands.
First up DMC showed off his old school tie
and gave us a genre hopping tour of improvised avant-punk solo guitar. More about him later… Next up HYSTERIA set up and delivered a set of one or two originals and a bunch of covers. I give credit to anyone who shows up to perform at The Black Lodge and these guys did a great job. More originals please. The highlight of this night was the down but not out returning champions PRZR DRSZ who sought and found redemption with a searing non-stop set of punk-jazz wathefuck. Guitarist BK dropped his Yoko, picked up his health insurance and Manned Up with an endless variety of quickie-jams, quirky melodies and amusing facial expressions. ES filled the fills and MC’d the evenings theatrical content, which was the usual tabloid dressing up and dressing down. I like complete drummers and Eric has certainly grown into that. I wish his drum kit would grow with him. The real treat of this DRSZ set was DMC who elevated the formula with an intense, complete and full on bass clinic. Colorful heated and nuanced. I share the airwaves with DMC once a week and I like to think I know when he’s good and when he’s great. Friday night he was great. The traditional PRSZ DRSZ set ends with an apology. No apologies necessary for this one. RIPLEY WRIGHT and HAGAR followed with set of progressive jazz somewhere between Weather Report and The Weather Channel. I love most things that begin with the word progressive, but this had no edge, and no soul, lost in endless and repetitive noodleing. These guy’s live too much inside the genre and need to look outside for their inspiration. STONE MOUNTAIN TERROR showed up next with their action figure lunch boxes and Riki Rachtman hairdo’s. Fake Blood, Fake Hair, Fake Boots, Fake Head Banging, Fake Metal. This kind of Metal is now officially jumping the shark. There’s a lot of great Metal out there as Metal has grown in a variety of unusual and interesting directions, from Norwegian Black Death, European progressive Metal to New York avant- punk and west coast thrash speed metal the genre has grown and it’s better for it. KISS this kiddie stuff goodbye. It’s over.
Black lodge dec 14
PLANET Y - featuring Yanni Papadopoulos
Yanni Papadopoulos is best known as the guitarist of Stinking Lizaveta.
Last night he and his Casio guitar did a short set
which was half improvised guitar and half vaudeville shtick
A highly entertaining work in progress, fun for the entire family.
PLANET Y is available for weddings.
PRFSR DRSZ
There’s trouble in DRSZ Ville as the boys decided to air their dirty laundry
to a dazed and confused Black Lodge crowd.
Open hostility broke out somewhere between Brittney Spears P-u-s-s-y
and Michael Richards’s racism.
A puzzling set.
So many questions….
Is this a new twist on usually topical DRSZ set ?
Have the PRFZ’S gone tabloid?
Will the DRSZ boys be dressing each other down every month?
Will the drummer be DRSZING up every month?
Has BK gone Yoko?
Sometimes these guys’s should just shut up and play.
BUFFALO STANCE
Jamie Robinson formerly of Need New Body was really the highlight of this show.
His set first confused but quickly won this audience with a rich and complex
songwriting style, multi-tracked vocals, and layers of interwoven keyboards.
A confident solo performer whose work I look forward to hearing again.
OODS
I like some the no frills post punk-pop references mined by OODS
I like their willingness to work out ideas on stage.
However the band lacks a bass player and it shows.
I would like to hear this band unplugged.
DOG & PONY
For the last set I was already for some space jam.
Mike Sabolick and his Roland Space Echo really know this quadrant.
Unfortunately his band lets him down a bit in the early going with a
straight ahead approach, classic song structure and over the top vocals.
Dog & Pony really shines as an instrumental unit allowing their guitarist to travel the space ways.
