The Calgary Folk Music Festival - Saturday

[Vic Bell]

It was clear and sunny as we headed to the island for an 8:30 am call.
There was a big line at the gates with the first folks having been there
since 4 am.  The Creosotes had Stage 3 to run and I knew we had our work
cut out for us.  For starters we had no power and didn't get it until 15
minutes before our first workshop when a generator was brought into play.

First up was "Je Suis Canuck!" with the Arrogant Worms, Andy, Paul and Josh
from the Skydiggers, Dave McCann and Ronnie Hayward with Billy Cowsill
backing him up.  This workshop ran round robin with each act taking a turn
at the topic.  I was scrambling backstage and didn't get a listen...shades
of things to come.  I could hear that the Worms got a good response as
expected and those in attendance seemed to enjoy the others as well.

My scrambling was due to "Global Canadian Village" featuring Stephen
Fearing, Cordes En Folies and Lilison de Kinara.  I had to do some
bargaining to cut back on the lines Lilison really wanted to use.  As it
was we had most of everything up.  This workshop ran as more of a
collaboration with the various musicians adding percussion or
instrumentation to each other's arrangements.  There was a very strong
crowd response at the end but...guess what?...I was scrambling.

"Delusions of Banjer" wasn't all that bad on the surface...featuring Craig
Korth, the Bad Livers and Finjan but there's a lot of lines in play and I
wanted to be sure that everyone could jam.  Jam they did and there was some
great mix and match which the crowd rewarded with a semi-standing ovation.

We had a bit of a breather over the next hour as Musafir was on the main
stage so we re-organized our lines and had a quick bite before the horror
story of the afternoon.  This was preceeded by the generator running out of
gas...fortunately during our lunch break, but it meant some quick calls on
the radio for assistance from the site crew.

The upcoming workshop "Live at the Improv" featured Finjan, Freddie
Roulette, Comadre Florzinha and Del Ray.  The workshop title suggested to
me that jam was the intent but it was an impossible dream.  Del Ray was
asking what on earth she was doing on this stage.  I had to rob Finjan of
lines for everyone else.  In the end we used 23 out of 24 lines, and it
still meant the groups had less than they wanted.  Then after all that, not
much group jamming occurred.  Finjan did two songs in a row followed by the
same from everyone else.  Finally towards the end, a few members of Finjan
backed up Freddie and Comadre Florzinha added some percussion.  The stage
crew's frustration with the programming was palpable, mainly because after
this, we had Blackie and the Rodeo Kings in concert and we wanted to give
them the most time and the best sound possible.  We had to dismantle a
noodle soup of mic lines and get their amps onstage and up and running,
then do a line and monitor check.  It was all worth it though as they
turned in a stellar set to a wildly appreciative crowd.  This was their
first gig in many months and they'd been looking forward to it.  The crowd
ate it up.

I wish I could have.  I had the final workshop to sweat out..."Trance
Planet"...a fair description of my brain by this time.  This workshop
featured Musafir, Tartit, DJ Rob Faust on turntables, Pierre from Cordes en
Folie on hurdy gurdy and two members of Finjan on clarinets.  I had seen no
one from the two international groups and began putting out calls on the
radio.  A run behind the mainstage revealed Musifir in mid interview...10
minutes before we were due to start setting them up.  More radio calls
indicated Tartit on the way.  A spokesperson appeared and gave me a plot
for the stage allowing me to figure out what lines we'd use.  With Blackie
and the Rodeo Kings at the end of their set I was told we needed a riser
for Musafir.  Out came the radio for an urgent call.  Still no Musafir or
Tartit.  I gave Blackie the "one more song" sign.  Still no Musafir, Tartit
or the riser.  Blackie got a wild standing ovation and I gave them an
encore...why not?...we had no upcoming bands.  Blackie did the encore for
another standing ovation and were very happy indeed.  The riser, Musafir
and Tartit showed up and we began the turnover humping amps and wrestling
this monster riser onto the stage while the backstage area is a zoo of
Blackie fans mingled with the exotically dressed Musafir and Tartit.

We were setting up the mics when I was informed we needed a carpet for the
riser.  Out came the radio.  Then we were informed that the plot we were
given was incorrect.  Mics got added, mics got moved, the carpet arrived.
Two more additional vocal mics were requested and got set up.  The bands
moved into position.  The two added vocals got rejected.  We were told that
the groups don't need to do any line checks and that they'll launch right
in.  I gave them an intro.  Then they decided to do their own line
checks...in three different languages.  By this point I was ready for a
very big beer.  With half an hour left in their workshop time the bands
finally started to play.  About 5 minutes into this the generator ran out
of gas again!  I was ready to cut my wrists!  Fortunately the musicians
kept right on playing while I frantically got on the radio for the site
crew again.  We got gas.  The generator started up as did the PA.  More and
more people arrived and "Trance Planet" actually works.  At 27 past 5 I
told them three more minutes and they launched into a final number that
lasted eight minutes...five minutes into the mainstage concert time.  The
workshop audience gave them a standing ovation.  We got slapped for
allowing the music to run overtime.  Sigh.

In exhaustion we cleaned up the stage during the mainstage concert by Neko
Case.  Maria Dunn and Shannon Johnson did an in betweener as I headed over
to mainstage to pick up Liam, then we headed for dinner during a set by
Comadre Florzinha and got under the tent as a brief rain came
through...just enough to settle the dust.  After dinner the rest of the
stage crew retired to the green room for the first of several beers while I
put Liam in his carriage for the first of several laps around the perimeter
of the mainstage crowd.  I gave Liam a chance to run in the grass in the
big gap in the audience behind the mainstage soundbooth.  I was too beat to
really give much of the music a fair listen and was more content to play
with Liam.  Comadre Florzinha got solid applause at the end of their set.

Del Ray had the duty as MC and she performed a number of tunes on steel
ukelele during the breaks.  Altan were next up and they got a fair
contingent of dancers working including a group at the back that organized
themselves into a ragged Virginia Reel.  The vocals of Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh
were stunning, particularly a nice version of "Green Grow The Rushes Oh".
Altan earned a semi-standing ovation from the crowd at the end of their set.

Balfa Toujours were next up and they turned in the best set I've seen them
do, a  high energy Cajun gumbo with nods to early rock 'n roll.  This got a
lot of people moving at the edges and even within the depths of the beer
garden at the back of the mainstage field.  They too earned a semi-standing
ovation from the crowd.

Hometown guitar wizard Oscar Lopez with assistance from Manuel Hara on
guitar and Brent Gubbles on bass dazzled the crowd with his tasty
instrumentals.  I bumped into James Keelaghan on the fringes of the crowd
giving his compadre a listen.  James is just hanging out at the fest and
taking a weekend off.  Oscar earned several semi-standing ovations in
mid-set as the audience showed their appreciation for his artistry.  Not
surprizingly, a full house standing ovation rewarded the end of his concert.

Jon Langford did a nice in between set before the final act for the
evening,  Richie Havens.  Liam finally dozed off in his carriage so I was
able to give this set a listen from backstage.  Richie performed "All Along
The Watchtower", a medley of "Tupelo Honey" and "Just Like A Woman", "Here
Comes The Sun", "God Bless The Child" and finishing up with "Freedom /
Motherless Child".  A very strong standing ovation brought him back for an
accapella "No More Turning Away".  As Richie performed his encore bright
flashes of lightning illuminated the audience and the thunder rolled
closer.  About a minute after concluding his encore and earning another
standing ovation, the rains started coming down...good timing!

We do it all again bright and early tomorrow.  Now that I've gotten this
report off my brain, incoherent as it was, perhaps I'll sleep.

To be continued...

cheers,  Vic