An intellectual property attorney in New Jersey performed an unlicensed concert this weekend — and that turned out to be the least of his worries.
Complete with two guitars, an amp, and a microphone, the rock n’ roll barrister set himself up on his front porch for a series of Pink Floyd covers. He supposedly was performing to lift the spirits of a Facebook Live audience whom he could have reached from inside his house…but it was so nice outside!
The problem was that the performance attracted an in-
person audience from around the neighborhood, and New Jersey (as are most if not all states) is on lockdown. The police were eventually called, and when they arrived they were greeted with jeers from the gathered audience, which had swelled to as many as 30 people. According to police, they were cursed at, and one individual shouted: “Welcome to Nazi Germany!”
I would imagine that the people who had gathered probably thought they were invincible — or at least above the law. Non-participants commented that the party-goers were in an “entitled” neighborhood. Before the night was over, the lawyer and the attendee who confused totalitarianism with COVID-19 health restrictions were arrested for creating a disturbance and disorderly conduct, among other things.
After obtaining his own lawyer, the attorney/musician recounted his side of the story. According to him, he had not seen that 30 people had gathered because it was dark out, the gathering was spontaneous, and he certainly didn’t condone insults hurled at New Jersey’s finest.
As a musician, I understand the desire to be heard, especially during this pandemic — and how this desire might draw someone to sit on their porch with an amp and microphone. That said, elite musicians of every genre have been sidelined by this public health emergency and it has not resulted in any in-person public gatherings, let alone verbal attacks on first responders. What’s more, neighborhoods around the country have figured out ways to rekindle their sense of community without putting anyone in danger.
The New York Times School published a piece by school teacher Tim Donahue “My Coronavirus Routine: A Neighborhood Primal Scream.” Every evening at 5:29, Donahue (who lives a few blocks away from this writer) and others in his suburban neighborhood step outside to engage in primal screaming — or bang pots together, or hoot, or holler, etc. For them, it bolsters a sense of community.
And besides the obvious catharsis, primal screaming has the advantage of not requiring a performance rights license from ASCAP or BMI.
