gARTen mUSic: Matthew Frantz

Joe Harvard
Jul 20, 2017
2 min read

It all began about 6 weeks ago, when the agent for Phoenix, AZ's Matthew Frantz reached out about having one of my solo acts, either One Banned Man or Doctor Danger, open for him when his upcoming tour reached the Brighton Bar, in West Long Branch. Although I accepted the gig, when I checked the Brighton website this week, to see who else made the bill, there were 5 bands listed on our night -- and neither of them was us. Here's what WE look like ... I'm on the left:

So I offered to host Matthew at the gARTen @ 713 Cookman instead, & it was a blast. Our friends Mark Brunetti and Don Mayer were in attendance, and attendees were wowed by the new lighting inside the lot -- all thanks to electricity from our Johnson family friends at Cookman Creamery. We managed to send Matthew home with enough to fill his tank thanks to audience contributions [it was more than I've ever made at a Brighton gig], and I'm sure we'll catch up with him on his next trip through the east coast.

Wednesdays seem like a good night for music at the gARTen, maybe we'll make it a regular thing. It'd be great to try to catch more talented out of towners as they pass through, too. Below are some shots from inside the gARTen last night: July 19, 2017.

[above] One black light LED spotlight, one color-changing LED light in mid-gARTen

[above] Testing the black light LED fixture I plan to mount for the Well Known Fence & our performance area at the gARTen. These aren't made for outdoors, & too big for my usual bottle enclosures, so a plexiglass-paneled box seems to be the way to go.

gARTen at night: Matthew Frantz casts shadows

[above] Phoenix, AZ's Matthew Frantz casts shadows during a free, hour-long gARTen @ 713 Cookman set

gARTen at night: new work, July 19, 2017

[above] Synchronicity: a new piece goes up in gARTen @ 713 Cookman last night, & this morning the news reports a study citing that we've made 9 Billion tons of plastic since 1950, & only 9% has been recycled, with 78% sitting in landfills & the rest in the ocean.

Well Known Fence, gARTen @ 713 Cookman: July 19, 2017

[above] The Well Known Fence of the gARTen @ 713 Cookman, with our new Toy Town growing under the Welcome Wall, behind the rocket & the gARTen Express.