Mental Blocks Rock BU
The Mental Blocks played a sold-out concert, with special guests the BUMC Band, on Saturday, April 28, in the Bakst Auditorium. Students, faculty, staff, and their friends and family attended to see the musical talent of Drs. Ira Weinberg, Fred Harrington, and Dan Moran, as well as students Chris Bickford DMD 13, Habib Tarzi DMD 13, and Shervin Tabeshfar PROS 13—who make up the Mental Blocks.
Dr. Moran first approached Drs. Weinberg and Harrington about the idea of playing music together in the fall of 2010, after discovering that they were both very talented musicians. Said Dr. Moran, “I have played harmonica since I was a teen and figured it might be fun to get together and make music. Dr. Harrington suggested that I had to be the lead singer, something I had never done before, but I gave it a go.”
After several months of playing together the trio invited Bickford and Tarzi to join the band as bassist and drummer, respectively. A few months after that, in the fall of 2011, Tabeshfar joined the band as a keyboard/guitar player and singer.
Dr. Moran explained, “The three of them were just the thing we needed to round out our sound and we old guys really drew off of their incredible energy and enthusiasm. From there, it was my intention to do something to bring the faculty, staff, and students together to show that we were all, despite our common profession, a group of creative and talented people.”
To prepare for the show the group practiced together on Sunday afternoons at Dr. Harrington’s house for several months. They took their song selection very seriously, as Tabeshfar explains, “We went through a long list and the songs were selected based on the band’s ability to pull them off well both in terms of instruments and vocals.” He added, “Of course we each had our favorites that we tried to sneak in!”
But Dr. Moran really credits the support of Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter, with making his idea of a concert at the School a reality. The show sold out in less than two days and $2,500 was raised for the BMC Food Bank.
Dr. Moran said, “It was important to us that we do something significant for the community and make of ourselves an example of what is possible when people join together to do something that is fun, inspiring, and productive. We had a blast at the show and are proud of what we have done as a band and the wonderful response we have gotten from everyone at GSDM. ”
Next up for the Mental Blocks: a show at Dr. Moran’s annual faculty barbeque.
Photos are available on facebook and flickr. Another great photo album, courtesy of Dr. Harrington is available here.