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Indybay Feature

Love Gutter played on Pac. Ave. 6 years until a $450 ticket

by Brxnt Adxms
Love Gutter was a favorite downtown act for many years, until they were driven out.
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They played an average of 50 days a year for 6 years. They gave away free CDs and left a large pile
of coins on the sidewalk for others when they left each performance as a offering to the street they loved so much.

Love Gutter was the practice and result of live experimentation. They never had a practice session, only playing together in live settings.
Over time, they honed a vocabulary of exclusively odd metered rhythms that they played interchangeably. With an instrumentation of 55 gallon plastic barrel with carpenter's hammers and kitchen cooking pots played with special metal tipped gloves they espoused a strict DIY ethic.
Often they were joined by Breakfast on saxophone and for several Burningman and festival performances, by Igliasion Jones on electric bass.

They had a loud sound, and it must be said that odd meters can be disconcerting for some.
Love Gutter would move from one end of Pacific to the other as to not disturb anyone. They took great pains to play as far away from dwellings and only in areas where they would have ample space so as not to crowd anyone. They intentionally distanced themselves as far from other musicians as possible to prevent the drum's bleed over into other acts.

They often were stopped by police, who told them that there was a complaint, but the complaintant was always left a mystery. Everytime they had a complaint they elected to stop playing and move down the street... except for the last time. They had gotten tired of hearing about some mysterious person who called the police on them. They decided to stand their ground and risk a ticket. It was signed by an attorney named Penrose whose office is above Forever 21 (back then it was Borders Books). It was a surprise because the ticket was issued on a sunday at 4pm. They had intentionally played at that time so as to not disturb business.

The law cited was Unreasonably Disturbing Noise.
The law office was more than 100' from the performance and behind a double paned window on a second floor. There was doubt that the music was disturbing to the point that the law had intended.

They were met by Penrose in court and Commissioner Baskett decided that Love Gutter was guilty of the crime. Love Gutter was charged $450. This was a big factor in the act ending its performances on Pacific Avenue.
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by Brxnt Adxms
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by Brxnt Adxms
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§Complaintant's office
by Brxnt Adxms
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