Still getting the hang of this blogging stuff -- the cardinal rule seems to be do it often or you'll end up way behind. We've been on the road since the Mariposa Folk Festival (which was the second weekend of July) so I'm going to do a quick post and then try and get up to date in the next post -- he says hopefully.
This Mariposa was our 9th and was one of the best -- great lineup and great workshops. There was something we wanted to see or do for almost every hour of the the days. We had our usual parking spot in BlueBelle -- at the side of the lake about 50 yards from the back gate. This allows us to chill out/eat at the van and still hear music from one of the stages when we're not on the site somewhere. We have parked there every year to the point where people who have seen us in the past stop and say hi. Our friends Mike and Jenn joined us in their Eurovan camper as they have in the past and a few other Westy folks thought it was a good idea so we had this impromptu lineup of Westies........
Unfortunately we had to camp at the local Walmart every night --- this was the first year of on-site camping and though we had a camping pass we were forbidden to sleep in "anything with wheels". Mike offered to take the wheels off his van but this didn't meet with much approval. A couple of dudes did sleep in their van but we judged it not worth the potential hassle in the middle of the night.
Some of the things going on: I learned the basics of playing the Autoharp in a workshop, there was a great Steve Goodman tribute workshop led by the author of Steve's biography, great food (wood oven pizza from an on-site oven that sat on a very heavy duty trailer and fabulous 'tarts' that would put any pot pie to shame) and chillin' by the lake..............
Mikie, Jenn and Linda across the path from BlueBelle -- Mikie proves that he is the kayak guru whether on land or water
As for music.......
The amazing Danny Michel on the pub stage --- Linda was seeing him in the Beer tent while I was watching something at the main stage. The power went out and they were trying to get it going to no avail when Danny announced that he'd try to perform acoustically. He starts playing right in front of Linda who whips out her phone and proceeds to video. Danny sees this and leans down right into phone and says Hi while continuing to play -- right to Linda. I may actually post the video someday...
This dude (whose name I can't remeber -- another argument for frequent and up-to-date blogging) was an amazing acoustic player who occasionally would break forth with a blistering electric lead. You'll note that the electric guitar is mounted on a mike stand -- he'd step up to it and play it while still wearing the acoustic --- the first time he did I thought the electric had appeared out of mid-air. Neat idea.
These guys are bluegrass playing brothers who have been playing together for 30 years and it shows.......
As experienced festival goers we always take our chairs to nail down a spot at the main stage as soon as the gates open in the morning so we always have great seats. For those who don't there is the big video screen below............showing Billy Bragg here..........
I had never seen Billy Bragg live so it was a big thrill for me. I've admired his writing for years. The angry young man of punk/folk has matured into a an artist who is still angry but the anger is tinged with hope and it is reflected in his songs. He is also very witty and funny on stage -- a great set and I was glad I was there.....
Billy Bragg on stage -- apparently he travels with the 2 great big amps behind --- you can see that they are miked through the PA and he'll wander over between songs to get the sound he wants..........
The Saturday night headliner was Jann Arden. Before her set the MC's came out and began doing inane patter about a mystery guest who was going to come out and do a few tunes while the stage was being set for Jann. One of them said "Gord will be out in a minute" and the cat was out of the bag. I was heading out of the stage area at the time which tool me down to the front -- as soon as I heard "Gord" I zipped back and ended up at the fence right in front of and 15 feet away from Gordon Lightfoot...........
He did 3 songs --- Linda and I both heard the following story from the Mariposa Artistic Director (AD) separately. Apparently Gord showed up with his 40 year old daughter who wanted to meet Jann Arden. He offered to play a few tunes if this could be arranged but the AD should check with Jann first as he (Gord) didn't want to steal any thunder. The AD explained this to Jann who said "he can have the whole set" --- which the AD would emphatically not allow. Linda and I agreed the last time we saw Lightfoot that we would not do so again, preferring to stick with memories of him in his prime in the old Massey Hall days. It is sad for me to see him perform live now -- though he still tours regularly. As the AD said "some people don't know when to quit".
Johnny Clegg of Jaluka fame closed the show on Sunday --- another legend --- he was making music with mixed race bands in South Africa when to do so risked imprisonment/beatings and potential death.........
A great festival and we'll be back next year. Since then we've been on the road in Peanut the RV visiting friends around about the Ottawa Valley with a weekend at the Blue Skies Music Festival. Hope to get that blogged this week --- before we go to Summerfolk in Owen Sound this weekend...........
