There are a whole number of rituals tied in with attending folk festival. First of all, the required objects are pulled out from where they were stored last year; folk festival chair, tarp and cozy blanket. Then for the practical stuff, another layer of clothes, a hat and an extra pair of socks. I stopped at the corner store and picked up a booklet of 10 transit tickets because I park and then ride the train down to the core. The walk to Princes Island Park each day doesn’t hold as much magic as the return trip after each night’s events. The ‘collective’ feels like a huge mass moving upstream at eleven o’clock; many groups, singing songs, laughing, chatting and comparing stages and stories…it’s a hoot.
Line up to pick up four day pass bracelets was long, but very fast-moving. My daughter and I are not fond of the new plastic bands because they are not so forgiving as the paper bands. I’m guessing that there is a good and very functional reason for the change.
Thursday night always takes some sorting as far as the fine-tuning of sound quality. Last night, both the National and the Mainstage had their struggles. Basia Bulat was first on our list and while nothing could match her enthusiasm, there were some serious glitches at the National Stage at this point. Generally, the poor sound as related to the keyboard and percussion distracted from Basia’s vocals. This lady is a definite ‘must hear’.
Greek food was on the evening’s dinner menu. Yummy!
I headed over to the Mainstage to hear Hey Rosetta! and a couple of numbers from Old Man Luedecke. This went much better. While I had heard that sound needed some tweeking with Valerie June’s set, the kinks seemed to be worked out.
I thought Hey Rosetta! created an elegant and many-layered sound. From Wikipedia, Hey Rosetta! is a Canadian six-piece indie rock band from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and led by singer/songwriter Tim Baker. Known for its intimate songwriting and energized live shows, the band creates a massive, layered sound by incorporating piano, violin and cello into the traditional four-piece rock setup.
The best was yet to come for me. I highly recommend Andrew Bird & the Hands of Glory. Excellent!
The fam jam and friends gathered on our tarps for this set and had a ton of fun. Little toddler, Zoe, pretend-fed us jugs of beer and strawberries, with a hand full of sticks. We cuddled in and kept time to the music. It was a beautiful night. Friend, Dave, just arrived from London, England, was a tad cold and will come tonight, I’m certain, wearing layers. Sorry, buddy.
I love Basia Bulat, glad you guys had a nice night despite the setbacks with technology.
I can relate, last weekend was the 37th Vancouver Folk Fest, an annual must for family, friends and moi. Andrew Bird also there and I agree. Joan Baez was top billing but was sick, so no-show. The location at Jericho Beach Park is a stunning setting with views over the ocean and north shore mountains. Five stages are spread throughout the park and apart from the music there’s a vast art and craft market, many food tents serving international dishes and, thank the gods, a good sized beer garden. It wasn’t as chilly as yours looks to have been, however, the FF here has a tradition of being a rainy weekend and this was no exception, although I’ve known worse. Classically, for two weeks before we were in a heat wave with no sign of a cloud anywhere, Friday the clouds moved in and Saturday and Sunday remained cloudy with intermittent showers, then Monday the sun was back. What I love about this event is that it really is a music festival for The Folk. Every generation comes and feels comfortable there, and what other occasion does one see elders and handicapped dancing alongside parents and babies and teens? But I ramble. Nice to share this experience with you my friend.