sagesaria | Faerie Fest recap

Best 12 hours of my life!!!

Gary came and picked me up at 8, and we drove down to the site, while listening to Three Weird Sisters. I'd never heard them before, but I've decided I like them :) their music really got me into the mood, especially when we were going through the forest to the parking lot :)

I spent my first hour there at performers check-in while waiting for the people who were supposed to be in charge of it to show up. I personally got to check in Clam Chowder! Whee!

Then when the people in charge showed up, I went to the stage area and helped set up. Once that was done, the festival officially opened. I spent most of my time at the stage. When I wasn't helping backstage, I was watching the performances. Gary was the first one up, and he sang some really cool Faerie music :) then there were the dancers I mentioned in the phone post. They had a little disaster during the performance; the tarp over the stage fell on them. But they were ok, we reinforced the tarp, and they started over. Then during their last dance the music shorted out. They went along with it for a while because the audience was clapping to the rhythm. Then when the tape restarted, they started from close to the beginning of the dance, so they goofed around while waiting for it to get to where they left off. It was really funny :)

Then came the May poll dance :) As I mentioned before, I was playing music for it. They kept starting and stopping, so I got plenty of breaks in between. During the second time, I noticed that Cliff(bassist in Clam Chowder) was playing something that was harmonizing with what I was playing. When we stopped, I looked back at him, and he grinned and waved at me. Then for the last two, I noticed that the whole group was backing me up! I felt like a kid in a candy store after that gig; Cliff says we should do it again sometime.

After May poll, the Clams started their performance, and I was going back and forth between stage and staff break room trying to get out of the sun and get some food.

I think it was after the Clams that there were fire spinners. That was awesome :)

Three Left Feet came up next, and they did a bunch of dances, and they did two of my favorite teaching dances, which I got to join in on, since I knew them by heart and hadn't done them in years.

Then I went up and did another performance before Maugie. People keep saying that I was really good, but I'm still embarrassed about the jarring mess-up I made that I could not stumble my way around and had to start over.

Maugie did his performance, and did a bunch of really cool songs, including Rainbow Connection, which almost made some of the vendors in the back cry :)

I think after that performance was when I went to the vendors area and got some stuff. I got a red and green Faerie crown, and a BEAUTIFUL ceramic Faerie magnet. I got to hang out with Matthew near the kids area, and I went down to make a wish on the Wishing Tree (you write your wish on a piece of cloth and tie it around the tree).

Things were starting to close down at 6, but they had a sort-of-dead dog party at the stage. Basically everybody just had a big impromptu drum and dance session. That's what my last two phone posts were. I have some more recordings on my phone, but I need to put them on my computer the crude way, so if they show up here, they're going to be fairly bad condition :P During one of the drum numbers, I actually got up on the stage, took my shoes off and DANCED! It was a lot of fun, but sometimes I couldn't shake the feeling that I looked silly. But nobody said I looked silly. Maybe I can dance after all :P

Only two negative things:
I forgot sun screen in my rush to leave. Somebody had some, but I didn't put on enough at first, and thus I have some bright red sunburn on my arms, chest, forehead and nose.

Gary didn't want to leave until after he got some food, which wasn't until 3 hours after the drums were done -_-;

But all in all, it was awesome! 1500 people at the very first one! And that doesn't count venders, musicians, crew and children under 3 who got in free, so we may have even hit 2000! WHOO-HOO!

PS: To those on my friends list who have never been to Darkover or Balticon or wherever else they perform, Clam Chowder is a very silly folk/filk group. I've been one of their biggest fans since I was 10.