Day 10 - Wednesday, May 27, 2009: Vitoria, Brasil, "The Office"

by Josh Nightingale

Professor DiSalvo has long said that a major function of law school should be to make each student into a “public person.” A public person, Professor DiSalvo explains, is one who can lead groups of people and can comfortably speak in front of any group of people, be it a small church group or 10,000 people. On Wednesday night, Kevin Watson and Kurt Doiron showed that the West Virginia University College of Law also helps produce public persons that are ready to hop onstage at a moment́s notice, strap on instruments, and put on a display of great rocking power in the city of Vitoria, some 4500 miles away from home.

We had been hanging out in The Office, a local club, listening to the live band́’s mix of Brazilian and American music late into the evening. During a break between the band́s sets, KJ and Kurt asked the band if they could use their instruments and play some tunes. The band agreed, and Kurt got behind the drums, while KJ picked up an electric guitar. KJ and Kurt have never played music together, but that didn’t stop them from putting on a great show of some choice cover tunes. They started with Sublime’s "What I Got" and Lynyrd Skynrd́s “Sweet Home Alabama” before ending their impromptu set with a mandatory “Country Roads” jam session. The audience - particularly the WVU students - were loving “Country Roads” and had all gathered near the front of the stage for some ragged group vocals. Clearly, West Virginia is always in our hearts, even when we’re far from home.

Admittedly, KJ and Kurt́’s set was rough around the edges, but so is all of the best rocḱnroll! The “feel” was there and it was an amazing thing to see our classmates on stage in Vitoria, putting on a great show. It was an event that none of us - particularly KJ and Kurt - will soon forget.