M.E.M.E. Performances

On Saturday, January 23, 1999, M.E.M.E played their first date at the Logan Beach Coffee House. The stage was a bit too small to hold the entire sextet so the performance was broken up into three forty minute sets involving two members for each set. Each subgroup of two members planned and performed their set independent of the remaining members. The following were the personnel and composition titles for the sets:

Jack McCarthy & Michael Firman

• Ocha21 - Exploding Cherry Blossoms

• Thunder Piece #2

• No Solicitors Invited

• Thunder Jam

John Papiewski and André Stordeur

• An East Indian Theme

• Composition for Serge Synthesizers

Darwin Grosse & Grant Richter (aka Black Helicopters Inc.)

• Nein Danka

• Belagong My Eye

• A Lump Of Shiny Coal

On Saturday, December 11, 1999, M.E.M.E had an in-store appearance at the Kiss the Sky record store in Batavia Illinois. Kiss the Sky has a large stage, so everyone was able to get their equipment up there in some form or fashion. We opened the set with a short piece by John, Darwin, and Mike which faded into a 45 minute set by Gabe (doing some fine solo Drum/Bass work). The rest of the evening was a mixture of various compositions and improvised works involving combinations of personnel. The following were the personnel:

• Grant Richter

• Darwin Grosse

• Jack McCarthy

• John Papiewski

• Michael Firman

• Gabe Catanzaro

The 1st 2000 M.E.M.E. performances was on Friday February 4th at Feast, a restaurant in the trendy Wicker Park area of Chicago. This event was part of the Around the Coyote Art Festival which was extended for the first time in February of 2000 into the Winter. Feast is located at 1835 W. North Ave. in Chicago and their phone number is 773-235-6361.The gig featured a smaller version of M.E.M.E. consisting of:

• Jack McCarthy

• John Papiewski

• Michael Firman

The 2nd 2000 M.E.M.E. performance was on Saturday February 19th at The Nervous Center a coffee house with a basement performance space. The Nervous Center usually features cutting edge Jazz and Electronic Music artists, so this was the space where M.E.M.E. stretched out. The Nervous Center is located at 4612 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago and their phone number is 773-728-5010. The Nervous Center gig featured an almost full M.E.M.E. (everyone but Jack). 

• Darwin Grosse

• John Papiewski

• Michael Firman

• André Stordeur

The 1st 2001 M.E.M.E. performances was on Saturday, January 6th at Quenchers Saloon in the Bucktown/Logan Square section of Chicago (this is near the corner of Fullerton and Western). The address is 2401 N. Western Ave. This gig featured a smaller version of M.E.M.E. consisting of:

• Jack McCarthy

• John Papiewski

• Michael Firman

• Nick Wilson

The 2nd January 2001 gig was Saturday January 27th at The Nervous Center, a coffee house with a basement performance space. This was a return engagement for M.E.M.E. (we played the NC last February.) The Nervous Center usually features cutting edge Jazz and Electronic Music artists, so this is the space where M.E.M.E. usually stretches out. This performance was part of a two week long Electronic Music Festival at The Nervous Center which, sadly, marked the closing of this fine experimental music space. The Nervous Center was located at 4612 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. This gig featured:

• Jack McCarthy

• John Papiewski

• Michael Firman

• André Stordeur

• Nick Wilson