The Progressive Shamanists, including Rob Prigge, Rob Kowtko and Greg Pichler, performed live outdoors at Warren Square, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Saturday, May 15, 1982. Warren Square was at the time located off campus. The Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity was located there at 227 Warren Square.
The band opened with the Police song, Message In A Bottle, to an audience of approximately one hundred spectators on the square. The group had intended to perform a set of 17 songs at the lawn adjacent to the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, however, the open-air concert immediately drew a complaint to the authorities and the Bethlehem police arrived early in the first set, demanding the group cease disturbing the peace. In fact the group did not have a permit to perform live music on the square. The group recorded the abbreviated live performance onto cassette tape. Sound Engineer, Aaron Shefter, manned the mixing boards during the abbreviated afternoon performance.
At the time of the performance the group billed themselves as The Phoenix and only later changed the name to The Progressive Shamanists.
The Fallout Over The Demise Of The Shrooms
Again, the group, The Phoenix, was a follow on music group to the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity house band, The Shrooms, which had by that time had disbanded. Bass guitarist, Keith Swanson, no longer attended Lehigh University after the Fall semester of 1981. The percussionist, Jim Jordan, refused to continue on, citing a personal conflict he had over practising in the basement of the property at 216 Warren Square, e.g., The Annex. The sound reportedly disturbed the neighbors, The Sables. Both Scott Keller and Bob Jones were amenable to continuing on. However, Rob Kowtko, who principally formed the group and who coined the name of the fraternity house band, The Shrooms, preferred playing in a group where there was minimal personnel. Keller did not play an instrument. Keller was primarily a vocalist. Kowtko insisted that all members of the group should be able to sing and play an instrument. No exceptions. Kowtko, being a keyboardist, also nixed Jones, citing redundancy.
The group's performance at Warren Square was the last outdoor event that Kowtko and Pichler would perform at. The group only worked in studio environments from that point forward, producing original material.
from left to right: Rob Prigge, Rob Kowtko
Music Contributions
The following contributions were applied to the music video:
- Rob Prigge: percussion, vocals
- Rob Kowtko: keyboards, vocals
- Greg Pichler: guitar, vocals
List of Tracks
The list of tracks from the albumthat resulted from the work over the weekend includes:
- 00:00:02 (Track 01) Message In A Bottle (Sting)
from left to right: Rob Prigge, Rob Kowtko
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