Friday, August 17, 2007

You can take the Canadian out of winter...

But you can't take the winter out of a Canadian :P
A bunch of kids decided to go sledding at the Edmonton Folk Fest... In B.C. till the end of the month, and I thought I'd leave you with that. Enjoy :)

Monday, August 13, 2007

"We'll just cross his name out..."

Really boring modern music,
really boring modern girl
get me out of here,
I’m drowning, I don’t like this modern world
anti-intellect and marketing,
pretty, pretty, who needs talent?


Buck 65 sang that yesterday, although there was a lot of intellect and not much marketing on the last day of the Folk Fest...

All the shows I went to were fantastic, but a couple really stood out.

The first was 'Rites of Passage' with T. Nile, Justin Rutledge and Rob Heath. I feel in love with Rutledge's voice on Saturday, and so this workshop was a must. All the songs played were gorgeous, but his really stood out.

As a closer he sang Four Strong Winds (not aware it's the EFMF's theme). T. Nile didn't know the song, so she had to read the lyrics out of an audience member's program book. The rendition was awesome, better than, in my opinion, when played later on mainstage. After the workshop I got Rutledge to autograph the page of lyrics in my program, and we had a laugh when he scribbled out the credit for Ian Tyson and wrote his own name. Yes, I am a fan.

Then later I caught the 'If I Had a Rocket Launcher' (a nice Bruce Cockburn reference, who was at last years' fest). There played Buffy Sainte-Marie, Connie Kaldor and Mary Gauthier (and one other man who was filling in, but I unfortunately didn't catch the name of). This theme of the workshop was "things that piss you off", which meant we heard many of the artists' best. Especially Buffy, who played Universal Soldier and Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee. That was certainly quite the party!

And last but not least was Buck 65's concert. That man is hilarious, not to mention a genius! He had us laughing the entire time, and amazed us with some of his songs from his new album coming out in October... my favorite had to be Spread 'Em, a spoof on the old cop movies. His chorus of "Spread 'Em. Up against the wall, punk. Spread 'Em" was accompanied by a face that would have made Jack Webb proud. But the best part was easily when he unexpectedly added: "You're under arrest... sexy arrest."
That had the crowd laughing for awhile.

After his show I somehow found my way to the front by the stage and got his autograph on my copy of 'Secret House Against the World', which he signed "Buck 65... Amis Toujours." That made me smile, although I'm sure he's signed hundreds of other CDs like that. But hey, connecting with your fans is important, and his message certainly achieves that goal.

On mainstage was the LA hip hop band Ozomatli, who just took control of the crowd. I have never seen the EFMF crowd so energetic and involved! Everyone was dancing, EVERYONE. Then the lead singer hopped into the dance pit and the place exploded. Even after his band was off the stage the crowd was clapping and broke out into a couple soccer chants.

Michael Franti and Spearhead also got the place to it's feet, and also got them smiling. He told about when he went to San Quentin Prison, and how there was only one song that got all the inmates to sing together. He asked us if we wanted to hear it, and of course the crowd yelled yes.

That's when he played the Sesame Street theme.
And then Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
And then C is for Cookie.
That man is way too cool...
Not to mention he ended their show by doing an onstage headstand.

Finally Buffy Sainte-Marie came on, and I sat perched on the steepest part of the hill with my sister Kim and her friend Danielle (both big fans). Despite technical problems, she closed with a beautiful set with a lot of her classics. It was a great end.

But, of course, there was a one tradition left. If you read my (rather lacking) folk fest coverage last year, you will know that I was traumatized when a group of older women pulled me into their group for a teary-eyed rendition of Four Strong Winds... well, this year I embraced it, and stood up along with the hard core folkies. Although dared, I didn't go put my arm around the random guy in front of us, but I did laugh along with my sister and friend (who were beyond cringing) and took a couple photos of the event.

And this year I actually knew the lyrics :)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

The folk fest where there are hills

The hill

Oh, it is correct, Edmonton Folk Festival is up and running for 2007! So far we've had beautiful weather, with the exception of a touch of rain on Friday morning (which only ended up being a small nuisance for us volunteers working the morning shift, it turned out fine)

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The green room (mainstage)

You know, being on the Enviropower crew means that we get to go backstage... just not when the performers are there... But even with this minor setback, I mustered up all the CNN in me and took this AC360 style photo of the green room of back stage. They go all out for the artists here in Edmonton. I mean, we give them a brown corduroy chair that looks like it's from the Watergate days. All out.

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I've been hanging out mostly with my good friend Maren... Maren (and family) has been very generous, letting me mooch off her tarp and giving me a ride home at 1 in the morning... she's a great friend, and with some of the sad news lately it's been a real comfort to be able to pass the time with her.

Yesterday in the volunteer food tent she blew my mind (and made me laugh). We were leaving the tent when a woman who looked quite familiar to me started chatting away to her. Finally I placed her, and mentioned it to Maren when she was done talking to her.

Me: "That woman looks just like Connie Kaldor..."

Maren: "She is."

Me: "What!?"

Maren: "She's my god mother, you know, the one we always go to visit in Montreal."

Me: "What?!"

Once I got over the shock that Maren's god mother had made Mr. Lonely and Sarah Slean do the can-can in Calgary, I got the chance to quickly chat with her. I also got to spend some time talking with her sons Gabriel and Aleksi, both of whom are enthusiastic and great tarp company.

I feel kind of ridiculous, being so excited, as I know all artists have lives outside of onstage performances, have families, and family friends... but it still kind of came as a surprise, especially after that amazing workshop with her in Calgary.

Anyway, today at her concert she had her kids on to sing a couple of songs. She played the Sound of Music card... and apologized for the absence of lederhosen.

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But since this is my "night off" (as I got four hours of sleep last night), I think I'd better go read... or tend to my unfortunate sunburn (due to bang half of my forehead is red, with the other half being that regular pasty white :P)

I'm excited for tomorrow, which involves getting there at 8 am and leaving at 11:30 pm. A long day, but it should be an entertaining one!

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