Scene of the Crime Rovers

Help Send The Rovers To HONK in Austin TX!!

2011-01-13T08:49:00.008-05:00

The SOCROVERS are trying to get to HONK, TX in Austin for a massive festival of like-minded street activist bands. We'll use this trip to energize our current members, and recruit newbies for our 2011 street roaming season in Durham and around the triangle region of NC.

By the first week of March, we'll be ready to plot and plan our musical onslaughts, and will be gearing up for our Texas pilgrimage from March 11-13. We already have a few dollars in our account, and are seeking funding to ensure our members $250 each to offset their HONK expenses.

Any additional funds raised will be used to reduce the cost for each member to make the trip. If we do really well and raise enough to pay for each member's trip in entirety (estimated expenses are at about $400 per band member, with 8 of us currently planning to attend), we'll use additional funds to pay for our indoor winter practice space, and save any remaining balance for our HONK trip to Somerville, MA in October!!

Making music in the streets is a powerful way to remind ourselves that public space is ours! No sound is illegal. Our sounds may not reach the top of the pop charts, but they beat the sound of car horns, spinning tires, construction work, and lawnmowers hands-down...Fund our 2011 season and help keep public space vibrant and alive with the sounds of music!

It's easy to give, just click here.

2010-04-19T08:44:00.004-04:00

Here's a video of "Cobra" gestures. Three minutes to learn all the gestures you need to start off playing our improv game. These gestures are based on Soundpainting, a sign language developed by Walter Thompson to facilitate instant musical composition.

SOC Rovers & a real orchestra

2009-07-23T11:45:00.003-04:00

Video from our Third Friday show at the Durham Armory. We played together with the Really Terrible Orchestra of the Triangle www.rtoot.org

Third Friday Roving

2009-07-17T12:11:00.003-04:00

You will find us out and about in downtown tonight, joining the Really Terrible Orchestra of the Triangle at ~~CCB plaza (or the Armory, in the event of rain)~~ the Armory, later playing at the Scrap Exchange, and probably making a general spectacle of things at points and times in between, after, and around.

Video from Bombadil show

2009-07-13T11:59:00.002-04:00

SOC Rovers--tonight!

2009-07-11T12:28:00.003-04:00

Hmm...seems we forgot we had a blog. Sorry about that.

We're playing tonight at Golden Belt for Bombadil's CD release party along with Luego and The Tender Fruit. Starts at 7pm. Come on out!

Caught on camera

2009-05-06T09:44:00.001-04:00

Via

(p.s.: Despite the youtube title, this is not our theme song.)

No Practice Tonight!

2009-05-03T13:52:00.000-04:00

We're taking a break after doing TWO shows yesterday.

Plan for Saturday 5/2

2009-04-29T12:16:00.003-04:00

10:00 meet at the Scrap Exchange to review set list
10:45 start parade at farmer's market
11:00 play at Strawberry Festival (724 Foster St, we can also park our cars in their lot)

3:00 meet at Club Blvd Magnet School (400 W. Club Blvd, can park at Northgate park)
3:30 play at the Manatee Mayfair

Set List

1. Dixieland
2. Wild Rovers
3. Vlasti (begin while marching, vamp in to courtyard, form standing half circle, then solos start)
4. Witch hunt (need to review format)
5. Funky Dance song (with audience participation)
6. She Shimmy (maybe)
7. Exit with Minimalism/Maximalism
also Cobra at some point

words to Wild Rover

2009-04-27T11:40:00.002-04:00

I've been a wild rover for many a year
And I spent all my money on whiskey and beer
But now I'm returning with gold in great store
And I never will play the wild rover no more

And it's No, Nay, never,
No, nay never no more
Will I play the wild rover,
No never no more

Can we play this?

2009-03-31T22:49:00.001-04:00

	Takayuki Hattori - Godzilla's Theme (Akira Ifukube)

	Found at skreemr.com

If you can't read the skreemr bar, this is the theme to Godzilla.

New Central Park Show Doodle Thingy

2009-03-12T19:40:00.000-04:00

SOC Rovers ca. 2006

2009-02-27T23:00:00.001-05:00

Benefit Show for Central Park School Poll

2009-02-27T16:25:00.000-05:00

I'm guessing this will be at a family friendly hour, but after work?

Mardi Gras

2009-02-22T13:39:00.002-05:00

Wild Squatoolas
Originally uploaded by Barry Yeoman

More photos here. Plus some great shots of Brian's zebra pants!

No Roving due to cold tempertures - we'll rock mardi gras tomorrow even harder!

2009-02-20T18:14:00.001-05:00

ok...maybe not - EMERGENCY DOODLE POLL!

2009-02-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

tonight we rove

2009-02-20T16:14:00.001-05:00

I get the feeling the general consensus is that tonight WE ROVE! 7:00 PM at TSE - Bundle up!

Next practice -- Sun March 1

2009-02-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

We'll also have our bi-monthly band meeting during the first hour of practice on 3/1.

No practice on Feb 22 since we have 2 shows that weekend.

Next weekend things

2009-02-15T22:09:00.001-05:00

So, Friday, it looks like we will meet at the scrap at 7.00 to 7.30 to
do the rove around downtown ( Revolutions is a must!! ) set list to be
decided that night.

Saturday, meet at Richard Hart's house at 4.30 to
get ready to march in the parade which starts at 5.00 pm.

Set list, start with the Dirge to get the parade moving then jump into
Dixieland, back to the dirge depending on how long the parade takes.
When we get back to the house we will do She-shimmy in the street in
front of the house then end it. We are then free to drink and be merry.

ROVERS!!!!

Rob.

Poll for 3rd Friday random roving show

2009-02-09T00:41:00.000-05:00

tonight at practice...

2009-02-08T21:13:00.002-05:00

we worked on:
SCOR Slide
Omshar (dub style)
SOCR Theme
Oh Bondage

Amy, a new clarinetist or clarinettist came out to practice.

Did I forget anything?

Here's the poll 'embeded' - I just wanted to see if this would work

2009-02-06T13:47:00.001-05:00

Show Offers

2009-02-06T10:18:00.002-05:00

We received 3 show offers this week.

Please use this Doodle poll to say whether or not you can make it.

http://doodle.com/kiu8mmdre35agtfd

Can we play this?

2009-02-03T13:19:00.000-05:00

No Practice -- Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-01T16:54:00.001-05:00

It looks like a lot of people won't be there tonight. Let's practice next week.

(as of 5pm, the votes are yes - 4/no - 7)

SOC Rovers Slide--updated

2009-01-26T14:49:00.004-05:00

I'm re-posting an edited version of my previous comment and taking the opportunity to point out that this piece is at the bottom of "potential pieces" on the wiki--please take a look at your part and see if it in any way reflects what you've been playing (and please feel free to correct it accordingly if it does not).

Last night SOC Rovers Slide was arranged thusly:

Start w/ drums, horns counted into "A" riff (more or less as written in condensed form on the wiki) which is played 4 times. Then the "new "B" riff--which ~~we need to write out~~ I think I have written out on the wiki now--but it's basically a call and response between the high voices and the low. This is ~~played 4 times~~ too complicated to explain in text, but it should make sense as written out on the wiki now. Then 3 beats of silence precede "SOC Rovers Slide" sung on beat 4, the low riff resumes with chanting and dancing, which morphs back into the "A" part (in classic SOCR fashion) and we jam our asses off on it.

Practice: Sunday, January 25th - Open Thread

2009-01-25T19:36:00.001-05:00

I could not make it to practice tonight, so if you were there -- please do tell us all what happened in the comments.

Business/Recruitment Cards by Nicolette

2009-01-21T18:52:00.004-05:00

Many people were partial to the pink, I kinda liked the white one to. Tell us all what you think in the comments.

Practice: Sunday, January 18th

2009-01-18T20:55:00.002-05:00

Light turnout tonight so we worked on some old hitz.

Brian, a new trombone player showed up. He saw us at the Farmers Market once upon a time. We worked on some refreshers and showed him some songs. We mostly worked on stuff that didn't require sheet music.

-She Shimmy
-Oh, Bondage
-Minimalism, Maximism (sp? -- is that even a word? I never really gave it any thought...)
-Valsti

Shannon, Robert and Melissa worked on tossing drum sticks on the floor and making them bounce backwards. It was excellent danger!

Nicolette worked up some lovely recruitment/business cards. She's gonna send out an electronic copy so the folks who weren't there can see.

We talked about doing some roving for the next 3rd Friday (February 20th).

We were also offered a show via MySpace that Dave sent an email about a few days ago. This show is Saturday, February 28th. They asked us to play last, which at Nightlight means very late. Jeff is going to email Clarque B - the show organizer - and ask if we could do some short sets between bands. In other words, we're still mulling it over.

By request, I'm going to try to figure out how to embed the google calender into this crazy blog thingy.

Check, check

2009-01-17T11:33:00.003-05:00

Just seeing how the posting of videos goes.I can't make it to practice Sunday, but I'll leave you with this...

Fanfare Ciocarlia doing "Asfalt Tango"

TSE agreement

2009-01-16T12:03:00.002-05:00

Here is a summary of our new agreement with TSE. It's very similar to our previous arrangement.

EVENTS
We agree to perform at 3 TSE events and 3 offsite events in 2009. We will choose the TSE events from their calendar in advance. (One of them will probably be the Durham holiday parade.) The 3 offsite events are performances where we choose to promote TSE by carrying the banner/giving out postcards/making a speech/etc. We will decide which events are appropriate for promoting TSE and will discuss with TSE in advance as to whether it would count as an offsite event.

MARKETING
We will promote each other on our respective websites.

BUILDING ACCESS
SOCR can practice in TSE space Sundays 7-9pm. If anyone other than Shannon uses key, they need to sign up at TSE and get trained on opening/closing procedures.

VISUAL ART COMPONENT & ACCESS TO MATERIALS
SOCR can use materials in the open studio room, but need to purchase itmes from the retail store.

(this part is more of a long/term plan)
SOCR will begin the process of creating a visual art component as part of the band & to invite visual artists/creative individuals who are interested in designing visual works that function as part of the ensemble.

Our Long National Nightmare is Almost Over....

2009-01-13T20:26:00.002-05:00

new music!

2009-01-12T09:14:00.003-05:00

A draft of the SOC Rovers Squirm(?) is up on potential pieces over on the wiki.

Of course, if you want to see it, you have to join the band. You know you want to.

Who says fliers don't work?

2009-01-11T21:09:00.002-05:00

Tonight at practice we went over the new agreement with TSE. The major take away is this part:

"SOC ROVERS agree to perform at 3 TSE events, and 3 events offsite in 2009. To be determined ahead of time. Pre-authorization is required from gallery artists....blah, blah, blah."

I took that to mean we do 3 TSE events - the X-mas Parade being one, then 2 others that will be chosen by us from their calender. The other 3 "off-site" events are shows that we set up but we agree to promote TSE (make a speech, pass out post-cards, etc.)

Anne came up with some more precise wording of all that, but I wasn't really listening so maybe she can speak to that in the comments. Kerry was also bustin' to break out the red pen and fix some word usage issues but I think we held her back.

We had a new sousaphone player show up! Yeah! Her name is Larkin and she attends Durham School of the Arts. High School Sucks. She saw one of our year-old fliers that was hanging up in TSE - go figure...

Then we worked our the dance number we started last week. I believe it's now called the SOC-Rovers squirm. Nix wrote down the steps and might follow up with some pictures. I know there was a "spy" move and a "spirit-fingers" (not to be confused with "jazz hands) move.

Then we did a long, fun cobra and she-shimmy and called it a night.

how does this crazy thing work!!

2009-01-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to figure out how to find the "layout" tab. It looks like you have to "update" this version of blogger to insert a poll. While I figure that one out, post a comment if you can't make practice tonight...(Sunday, January 11, 2009).

In the meantime I'll play with this thingy and see if I can get it to do what I want it to.

Buskin' and Rovin'

2008-09-20T09:25:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the so many people that supported us last night as we Roved about downtown Durham!
We'd especially like to that Rue Cler for not calling the police when we, unannounced, decided to serenade their patrons.

Keep those Honk donations coming!

We Are Rainproof

2008-09-06T19:29:00.000-04:00

Despite the hurricane, we played the market today....and you came! Thanks to the many folks that braved Hannah's "little gift" to take part in local produce and to donate to the bucket. If anyone out there has any pictures of this, we'd love to see them.

Thanks again! And don't forget to check out our yard-sale next week.

Events, Events, Events!

2008-09-03T11:18:00.000-04:00

When we began this fundraising campaign some two and a half postings ago, we had grand plans to submit proposals to local granting agencies, National Endowments, local businesses, etc.. Then we had some realizations:

1) We possess no stationary suitable for such a task, and anyways, stamps are now $.41 (which is more than the cut paypal takes [hint: see button on right])
2) There is power in them there internets.
3) Writing letters is kind of dull.

So we've come to directly to you, the people, to ask for money. But wait, there's more! We realize that in this modern economy, good-will isn't enough. You have to have a product. So we're offering you three (3) chances to exchange your donations for music, fun, knick-nacks, chotchkies, and coffee.

Saturday, Sept 6th at the Farmers Market
Around 10:30am, we'll be busking at the Farmers Market. Come see us play. Enjoy our amusing antics. Grab something from our "box of found sound" and play with us. Meet the donation bucket. The donation bucket is your friend.

Saturday, Sept 13th...YARD SALE!
2417 Shenandoah Ave (Northgate Park). 7am - Noon.
Groovy clothes, cool music, vintage thing- a- ma- jigs, small appliances, art, and more. We are such a hip bunch - you know you'll want something from our "collection". Oh- and we'll be serving local fair trade coffee for a dollar a cup!!!

Saturday, Sept 20th at the Farmers Market
We love the Farmers Market so much, we'll be doing another show there. The exact time is yet to be set, but since we're not good at early mornings, 10:00am is probably a safe bet.

We hope to see you soon!

You Know...

2008-09-02T23:22:00.000-04:00

...you want to click the donation button.
The donation button is your friend. And it is lonely.

CLICKME
says the button
clickme

Heading To Honk-Fest

2008-08-26T22:15:00.001-04:00

That's right, we're heading to HONK FEST, a three-day long musical extravaganza of bands just like us! Yes, its a dream almost too good to be true, and we're just pleased as punch to have been invited to participate this year.

But its a long road to Boston, and the job of playing music for the masses and making children smile just doesn't pay as well as it used to. Won't you donate to our HONK-fund? You know you want to....that button on the right just calls to you.

Image courtesy of the News and Observer