Part II: Guinness Fleadh

Found parking (!), found Fruheads (*wave*) and established Fruhead HQ near the stage. Our Base of Operations having been staked out and fortified, we all trooped out to have a look-see. I was hoping for more crafts booths, but, alas, it was beer tents as far as the eye could see. There were a couple of little jam sessions here and there, which I thought was great--THAT's what a music festival should be like, music everywhere! :)

Everyone (minus Beth from LA, who hadn't made it yet) congregated at the Irish Village stage at time Fruvous-10. Now I must make this clear--the Irish Village stage was a genuinely laid-back stage, especially compared to the huge and loud Main stage. The Irish Village stage was sparesly populated for most of the day, and even when it was, it was mostly mellow people chatting to each other on blankets. The thought of rushing the stage had clearly never crossed the minds of any of these people. So I was very surprised to turn around a minute or two into Fruvous's set and find the place PACKED and myself hemmed fairly closely in. Testament to the powers of Frü.

A very short set, 35 minutes. :( Setlist, as near as I can recall, was

Half as Much
Horseshoes
Michigan Militia
Johnny Saucep'n
King of Spain
Green Eggs and Ham
Love Potion #9

There was a mini-improv somewhere in there. Do they regularly do improvs these days, or were we just lucky?

Hung around the signing booth afterwards and heard from their very lips that they intend to come back in the fall. Hurray! On a less pleasant note, the CD has been pushed back to August 10th. :(

That's about it... I told Mur that Früvous was thanked in the liner notes of EFO's new CD... he hadn't heard, and sounded pleased if surprised.

From Taylor:

7am. Alarm goes off. I roll over, exhausted. But I get up and start getting ready to drive up to the city. Small breakfast, put gas in the car, and off I go!

I got up there about 9.30am and managed to find parking on Fulton street without having to go park at the University of San Francisco, which was my Plan B, and then catch the bus to the event. The line was decent, got in a little late, but okay. It was definitely cold and foggy again.

Even though the set was shorter here, I think it was a better show overall because I got to meet and connect with a lot of local Fruheads (Hey Caitlin, Chris, Nicole, Doug, Nikolai, Elena, Rachel, Beth, and anyone else I totally forgot!) and got to spend a good amount of time talking with the band as they were doing a signing at the Virginal Tent, as Jian called it.

Moxy played about 2.30pm in the Irish Village tent, which is one of the smaller stages...perhaps the smallest of the three, but they definitely got the largest crowd! The first two bands before them, Jamie Clark and then Too Cynical To Cry (they were rather good), got moderate crowds but everyone up front was sitting and then there was standing way at the back. Of course, when the lads arrive, bam!, we're all up front and totally jamming along! Caitlin looked back at one point and said that she saw the crowd reaching out beyond the edge of the tent! That's just intense! :D

Memories from the set include more ranting on how cold it is...and admittedly for San Francisco, it was cold. A song about shite! References and mispronunciations of Fleadh (yes, a festival for the bass player of Red Hot Chili Peppers!) and the famous "Love Potion #9" medley which this time included "Stayin Alive," "Who Will Save Your Soul" by the much-loved Jewel, and "Barbie Girl" by Aqua!

Afterwards, as I said, they had a signing at the Virgin Megastore Tent during Elvis Costello's set on the main stage. All the guys were there, which was totally cool, and they all signed my program...even got Toby to sign it (we just love ya, man!). It still blows me away how gracious they are...so happy to see us and glad that we came out. And in return I'm just as gracious because they come out here to the west coast and play incredible shows every single time, always full of energy! I mean, to talk to Jian (I promise to pronounce it correctly next time, man! More accent on the end ) and Murray for like 20 minutes and then have Mike come to us asking which way they went!

Okay, so I know I'm an easily impressed fan. But I've had a marvelous past 24 hours with Fruvous and am looking so forward to seeing them again in the Fall!

Afternote: The only thing I forgot to mention about the Fleadh was that Mike seemed genuinely surprised and pleased that I had gotten a friend in Australia hooked on Fruvous. :D (hi debbie, not that you read this) And yes, I think my tacky Hawaiian shirt will become a fixture at Fruvous show so folks can find me!

Some other tidbits from the performance include:

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