Category Archives: Occuponics at Federal Hall

GUITARMY In The “Freedom Cage,” May 5th, 2012

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Braced by its success on May Day, Occupy Guitarmy made its way to Federal Hall this past Saturday to jam on the steps of the building where the Bill of Rights is housed, guarded by General George Washington. One-half of these steps has been designated by federal authorities as a “First Amendment Area,” and this small space, ringed by barricades, has been dubbed “the Freedom Cage” by demonstrators.

Here, the GUITARMY jams on a chant-oriented song loosely based on the Pointer Sisters’ 1972 hit, “I’ll Take You There.” The Guitarmy version simplifies the song to a C-F chord progression, accompanied by whatever lyrics are on protesters’ minds at the moment.

NOTE: THIS IS A FIELD VIDEO RECORDING AND WAS UPLOADED WITHOUT EDITING. The music begins about 25 minutes in.

The really cool part is when that gang of high-schoolers comes through and cheers. That truly made everyone’s day.



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Occuponics, at Federal Hall, Play “Wall Street, Your Kingdom Must Come Down”

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The Occuponics perform “Wall Street Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” a song based on an old gospel song that was taught to the group by Painless Parker, AKA Noam Berg, back in November of 2011.

This song is regularly performed by The Occuponics because it is so aligned with the charter of the band to be “inclusive and participatory.” The song allows people listening to it to sing along with each verse and also to interactively contribute lines to it. It’s also easy to teach to other instrumentalists, because if follows a very simple Dm to A7 to Gm chord progression.

This recording of the song, captured by videographer CocoAndBrownie, includes lyrics calling out Monsanto, Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, as well as unspecified “plutocrats.” The guitarist vocalist is Stephen Carl Baldwin, accompanied by Carlos Mandelbaum on tenor saxophone.

 

Musically Occupying Wall Street, April 19, 2012

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The Occuponics’ Steve Baldwin, with Carlos Mandelbaum on sax, lead a micro-march on Wall Street before historic Federal Hall. The song is “Wall Street, Your Kingdom Must Come Down,” which was taught to the group back in November 2011 by Painless Parker, AKA Noam Berg. Thanks to Jennifer Maskell for getting our procession on tape. The acoustics at Federal Hall are excellent, and the band will attempt to play down there as much as possible.