Short review...
On Sunday morning, woke up REAL early (like six-ish). Spent the morning watching the sun rise and the fog dissapate...very cool!
Decided to spend Sunday catching a performance, and then taking a break, due to my over-exposure to the sun and heat. Saw the Gospel mainstage set (included EFO), and then caught Moxy's mainstage set. They did the tent song again, to everyone's delight. I also adored the disco version of Video Bargainville.
Spent the next couple hours driving around with Vika; visited a nearby state park and watched Vika swim in the 'ol swimmin' hole. :-) Got back pretty much in time to gear up for Fruvous' last workshop, called 'Rolling in the Aisles'. Again, too many artists on stage at once, so Fruvous only had time for two songs. Still, good performance. It was nice seeing the guys so fresh again.
Vika, Doug Levy and I left Hillsdale around seven on Sunday night, and made it back to Boston by 9:30 or so.
All in all, a fun weekend. I wish I wasn't so damned allergic to the sun...despite that, it was so nice to just relax and see good music and get to catch up with people that I haven't seen since Frucon. See you all soon!
From Amanda:
Sunday's main stage show happened with the sun at high noon and most of us fading fast. The announcer, some radio chyk from WFUV, asked where all the Fruheads were. Shouts came from all over the crowd and she said something giggly. Whatever.
Fruvous took the stage on time for once, Jian said they were "antsy" from having played only two songs so far; they started with Half As Much, a good high energy opener, but I thought it was curious for a folk festival. There were some sound problems, the levels just weren't right. It was clear that they needed to soundcheck, but no time. Splatter^2 was next with Cal working like crazy to smooth things out. Dave did the intro talking about having seen a movie about "teenaged boobs." Mike asked "Goofballs or breasts?"
The set went quickly, and there was little time for banter. Somebody shouted out from the audience asking how they got their name, and Murray responded that it had come from the Gutenberg Bible. "Right there on page 12, there it was. Moxy Fruvous. We thought it was a sign." He paused for a second. "Of course, it was a misprint..." Mike started in on an improv bit about being the Misprints, singing for Misfits, but it didn't really gel.
Jian asked the audience if it liked to rent videos, and it was clear they were going to do VB, but none of us had any idea what we were about to hear. Dave moved to the keyboard and started in with the Godfather theme, which rambled through the song. VB has never been one of my favorite Fruvous songs, but I loved this particular version, which I dubbed Disco Bargainville. The folks I was sitting with were equally impressed.
By this time, I didn't know what to expect. They were clearly not doing a folky set, which they could have; the word that comes to mind is "wacky."
Indeed: Johnny Saucep'n followed. Serious sound problems with the banjo. I watched the ASL interpreter the whole time. Caught Jian also glancing her way. She did a good job, the food signs were cool, and it seemed like they held the last note just a little longer so they'd all finish together. Mur introduced her at that point and she got a healthy round of applause.
If memory serves--and it was so damned hot I'm not sure it does--My Poor Generation was next. More harmonies, it seemed. Mike did a nice job on the electric. They're getting more and more confident with this song, I love it more every time I hear it.
Jian mentioned Thornhill, and how they had wanted to have it there, he said they'd played a few songs from the album, and that we were all going to have to turn up the volume on folk music.
"How many of you have a stereo that rocks?" Talk about a blast from the past! Lazy Boy sounded strong and clear, people were having a great time. MIke continued the rhythm on the drum and they went straight into Green.
That was pretty cool. The Not-the-Beatles break was an unexpected thing about Cyrus Vance, Jimmy Carter's Secretary of State, who loved the Beatles; and how Mr. Cheese had inadvertently offended Vance Gilbert, a namesake of Cyrus Vance. Dave was highly amused and just responded. "What do you want me to say?"
They closed with Get in the Car, with as much energy as they started the set. They barely had time to mention the others who performed, much less make parting comments. I'd never heard Jian bungle "fruvous-dot-com" the way he did Sunday.
They came back for an encore and did Killer Tents again, saying they'd probably never do it again, wondering if they'd even remember the words now. In the middle of the song Murray said that verse was for the two artists they'd left out before. Murray and Dave were in particularly good voice for their verses. I was hoping we'd get Pisco in their next workshop, which was scheduled to start around five.
Now, to the seven girls who wanted to sit on the same blanket next to me, but who didn't get there until after the workshop started...bite me. The final workshop, Rolling in the Aisles, was way too cramped, and nobody gave the instruction that we should spread out.
Susan Werner started things, and Dave sat in on guitar "Ain't I Lonely." I decided that in my world, Dave and Susan be in a band together and play in a dive down the street from my house every weekend. Selfish, I know.
Fruvous did Kids the first time around. "Is there something you like?" "Teletubbies!" "Should Quebec separate?" (shouting) Mike "Honey, where's Quebec?" Again, very well receieved, lots of cheering.
Cheryl Wheeler followed them with a story about how she'd been in a workshop at the Winnipeg FF one year, and people got to suggest songs that should be written. Hers was "Cow-Patterned Clothes." The guys were cracking up; we all were. I really liked Cheryl Wheeler, apparently a lot of other folks did, too; my quest to buy a CD of hers was in vain. They sold out.
Susan was up next with a song about the stock market based on "Doe, a Deer," from the Sound of Music. She said she'd never played it before, but it was still hysterical.
Fruvous ended with Greatest Man in America, and Cheryl followed that with a song about "the Republicans" and their contradictory politics. There were other artists in the workshop, three more; I could have done without them, not because they weren't enjoyable, but I can't remember anything about the songs they did in this setting. This workshop had too many people, period.
Of course, Fruvous wasn't the only act at FRFF. Friday night, I really enjoyed the Kennedys, particularly when they joined the Nields for their encore, all covers. I didn't dislike the Nields. Ellis Paul was a universal favorite, and I was utterly taken with Greg Brown, who sounds like a cross between Tom Waits and Johnny Cash.
In the "Songs I Wish I Wrote" workshop, Greg did a medley of Ring of Fire, Moondance and Here Comes the Sun. "More later..." he ended.
Susan's mainstage set Saturday afternoon was nice. She encored with what she introduced as "a Beatles song, one I'm just starting to understand." I felt as if I'd never heard "Help" before. Wow.
Cry, Cry, Cry was interesting. I enjoyed several of the songs they did, particularly "Cold Missouri." For their encore they brought out all kinds of people to sing the Johnny Cash song from which they took their name. I enjoyed that a lot.
I enjoyed Ani DiFranco's set, though I found her music to be texturally similar, all very staccato, brusque. I found her manner enchanting, though; she was surprisingly humble for the biggest star of the festival. The interplay between Ani and her ASL interpreter was lovely, they linked arms for the final bow. She thanked us for listening and said goodnight.
Cheryl and Vance played back to back sets after Fruvous played Sunday, it was a good three hour block. Cheryl messed with her interpreter, saying "Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm the interpreter. I hate folk music. As a matter of fact, I'm going home to listen to my Barry Manilow records." She did a song about school shootings and that I found very, very strong. She listed lots of things that could be at fault: the internet, drugs, gangs, television and then said she knew one thing:
"If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns." She's 48 years old, and she's grown quite a bit of gumption, I'll say that much.
Vance was very amusing. People were leaving at the beginning of his set and he asked where they were all going. I really enjoyed his performance, especially "Waiting for Gilligan," which he described as a song about devotion, hope and love.
I met so many cool people this weekend, people I've seen on #moxyfruvous and on this group for almost a year now. Spent most of the weekend hanging out with Nate, my unofficial new little brother; was impressed at the number of non-online fruheads. The first night Ellen and I were walking around and we stopped to look at a cute dog. I asked if it would OK to pet him, and the woman said yes. It turned out that she was wearing a Fruhead shirt, so we talked to them for a while. They were gossipy and a little strange, but impressed how far we had come.
Before we left, we stood around, casually talking to a group of people including Jian, Murray, Angie, Loren, Nate and a very charming woman who had never heard of Fruvous before that day. She had been at the original Woodstock and talked about hitchhiking around the US, getting a tattoo in Haight-Ashbury in '69. She lives in Hillsdale and had never attended the festival before that year. She wore a straw cowboy hat that she said belonged to her husband.
She enjoyed Fruvous, and Jian flattered her quite a bit, then told her to get Live Noise. We said she should plan to be at Northampton. Recruit recruit recruit. Everybody was smiling, but exhausted. It was a good way to end FRFF '99.
We left that night because everybody around us left and I remarked that this was a horror film waiting to happen. We listend to Bargainville three times as we drove through NY, finally stopping for night in NJ.
A real shower, such a treat!
From Angie:
...no, I'm going to a _real_ Music Festival... FalconRidge Folk Festival. *blank stare* (*)
yeah, got a lot of that over the course of the day on Fri... but man what a trip it was! So worth it, such a good time, so much great music... and finally I have some of the energy to talk about it!
On the Way There:
Ok, so Fri Taryn and I left a little behind schedule, but not by much. We ran into a blocked I-490 and had to wait about 15 min. I joked that they were stopping traffic until I finished my Bacon Egg and Cheese biscuit. No lie, as soon as I'd finished it, wiped my hands, and tossed the wrapper... the State trooper pulled off and traffic moved again! Hahaha
Just after Exit 34, I had a tire blowout. Now, the irony is Taryn had the front passenger tire on her car replaced Thurs night... me being in a hurry and lazy and not thinking everything would fit in her slightly smaller car opted to drive. Guess which tire blew out!!! So, I call roadside assistance via my insurance co, only to find out that the Thruway is State restricted and they couldn't send their own tow truck...that I'd have to pay up front and they 'might' reimburse me! Well, as I'm fighting with the lug nut covers... (yes Taryn, you were right, the hub cap just pops off... sheesh) Here come two guys in a big yellow truck wearing tie-die t-shirts, jeans, and one pulling a huge industrial-sized jack!
A big thank you to Howard Hazzard and Mike Giarrusso, two NYS Thruway workers who helped me put my spare on at no charge, then sent us on our way laughing hysterically. We go to Oneida WalMart and get the tire replaced (*insert Woodstock Q&A 3x or more).
We're about a half hour back on the thruway when my map confuses itself for the flying nun and WHOOSH out the window it goes. Poor Taryn is near hysterical... I'm laughing so hard I can barely stay on the road.
Ride is uneventful until just outside Albany where we get hit by a hailstorm... so we ride it out in a very rustic looking Service Area and enjoy some McDonalds (we both overdid it on the Fries...)
We find the Taconic Parkway, I realize my needle is tickling 'E' and we need to stop for gas... after discovering there's no gas station in East Chatham, but there is outside Chatham (along with a RadioShack???) we trundle down the Taconic, stumble on rt. 23, and poof, there's FalconRidge!!! yay!!! We park, wander the main festival area (well, the tent area first)and bump into Lori and Steve, who take us up the hill to Camp FruLoriSteve.
Ok... High Points of the Weekend:
*The incredible music! Vance Gilbert, Susan Werner, the Neilds, Eddie from Ohio, Bob Malone (incredible keyboardist), Sam Pascetti (phenomenal Bluegrass guitarist... not to mention quite the hottie...), Cheryl Wheeler (Potato Potato Potato Po, Tato Potato Potato Pota, To Potato Potato Potato, Potato Potato Potato... to the chorus of the Mexican hat dance... and a song about Pooping in the HandyHouse... sick demented, I loved it!), Ferron, Cry Cry Cry, Chris and Meredith Thompson (real life Thompson Twins), Greg Brown (You make me feel, sleepy...), Ellis Paul, Chris Eberhardt (sp?), and did I mention Vance Gilbert???
*Fruvous was incredible... tho they themselves played down the workshop on Sat... it was enough to entice many to stay for Sun... people were already raving by the time they took main stage. When the announcer mentioned them, she also said she understood there were some FruHeads in the audience and asked where they were... Most of us, thanks to Gordon, had front row center seats (we were a CROWD) and we cheered loudly! The announcer says, "why am I not surprised they're right up front??"
*Disco Remix of Bargainville... it ROCKED!!! We were completely stunned, and then totally into it!
*LazyBoy! I haven't heard that since my 3rd concert!!! (as of FRFF, I'm up to 14... whoo hooo!)
*Killer Tents!!!!! Damn them! A song that has been perpetually earwormed since first hearing it Sat AM, and I prob won't hear it again until next year!!! WAAAAAHHHHH!!!! The funniest part was it only took one time before the FruHeads added choreography to it, during the first chorus... by the next time through as we turned around to point at the tents most of the folk on the hill were right along with us!!! It was some of the best audience participation I'd ever seen!
*by the end, Fruvous told us to get up and dance, that we'd had enough of sitting around all weekend! And EVERYONE (more or less) did! And had a blast! During their signing after mainstage they had a 2.5 hour line clear around the bend and then some! It was great wandering through the festival and hearing every other conversation (this was even after Sat AM's workshop) mention something about Moxy Fruvous.
*Trace and I called it, for the Rolling in the Aisles workshop... their second song was Greatest Man in America (if I recall, it was a rebuttal about a comment regarding Canada from either Cheryl Wheeler or someone stage "Murray" (traditional stage murray).
*Meeting Susan Werner, she's amazing... and still gets a kick out of the FruHead SueHead phenomenon! I mentioned that I'd be seeing her in Nov here in Roch, and joked about coming to the festival with no $$ to buy her other CD's. She told me to come see her in Nov, we'd work out some type of Charity, set up some type of arrangement, hahaha
*Meeting Vance Gilbert. I commented on the way he interacted with the audience and that everyone seemed to have a great time andd that I thought he was awesome. He remembered seeing me sitting up front and said that if all audience members were like me, he was glad he was doing something right. Taryn and I also saw him pulling in for Gas in Hillsdale, we beeped and said goodnight and he waved at us.
*The rainstorm on Sat afternoon. We had a picnic of cheese and crackers and summer sausage whilst FruHeads danced in the rain (no, they left their clothes on, but man do we lead a Vida Loca??). I have no idea where these rumours of an orgy came from... ;^} Oh, and leave it to me to perpetuate the Murray dancing in the Rain comment from Toronto ;^)
*The All that Jazz Workshop Sun AM. It was difficult to decide between that and the Gospel Wake up Call... but man am I glad I went. That had to be the best workshop of the day! Tony Trischka Band, Susan Werner, Vance Gilbert, and I think Mustard's Retreat was in that one (I'm trying not to confuse it with Our Roots are Showing). This was an awesome workshop, and they jammed at the end and had us all enthralled. This was by far the BEST Workshop of the Festival for me (yes, even better than Rolling in the Aisles (RITA) with Fruvous doing Greatest Man in America)
*Vanessa! This adorable little girl walks up to Susan during RITA and asks for the Microphone, and Susan and Murray grab one of the lower ones. She goes up to it and says, "hi," and we all say "hi" back. She says, "hi" again, and Susan asks her what her name is. She tells her, and Susan tells her to say it in the Mic, and we say, "hi Vanessa," and she says "hi," again. She was soooo darling, and the Lads were completely taken by this whole scene. Then Vanessa walks up to Susan's guitar and wants to play it, and then she moves over the the FRFF house band Bassist sitting behind Susan, then Laurie the storyteller hands Vanessa a shaker, which she shakes vigorously... then Vanessa goes back to the mic and says, "bye" and runs off stage. Too much, it was so cute!
*After Festival conversations... after all the work is done and you can just sit back and be people. It is so worth it...
*A late night picnic of Chinese food in the park in Hudson (like we hadn't been sitting in grass enough this weekend), and have the very nice police officer very politely run us off the property. Hungry FruHeads converging in the only place in the area that's open after 10pm on a Sunday!
*All the wonderful people I met and re-met... it was such a great time and I'm so glad I went. Thank you all!
Low Points:
*The tire, obviously
*getting a note to move my car, and then after moving my car seeing that others with the same note didn't move theirs but their cars hadn't been towed! OTOH, if I'd left my car there, the other car that had come careening down the muddy road would have hit mine and I'd be none to happy. So, guess it's all for the best.
*The jerk-off who scraped my back bumper and then cut in front of three other cars (including mine) at the Warners Service Area
*The heat and humidity... it was tough, and I'm used to camping in weather like this.
Oy the Hill! It was treacherous! I fell Sun evening heading down to find Tobey (not bad considering my lack of coordination at times). My question throughout the weekend was, "where's the Ski lift!!!"
*The shower trailer. They didnt' have enough for the volume of people attending the festival. I realize they wren't prepared for the mass of Ani DiFranco fans that swarmed the site... but if they had reservations for 20,000 people, how hard would it be to calculate how many showers for how many bodies? 4 showers per gender simply isn't enough... even for 5 or 10K!
*Fruvous' Sun time slot. I think I understand from the festival's perspective that next to Ani Fruvous was somewhat they're largest draw, and they wanted to keep some folks after Sat night... but in the end it still wasn't favorable for Fruvous or FruFans alike.
*The size and in some cases mix of workshops. Too many performers on one stage at once, most of them only got to do about 2 songs each. And in some cases (ie RITA) the performers didn't quite belong. The one performer from the Storytelling/Family stage was nervous and kinda stuck out. Her songs were...very "Family" in nature. LJ Booth was cool, and I liked his songs... but the material didn't really fit the vein of the workshop either (considering the other performers were Susan Werner, Moxy Fruvous and Cheryl Wheeler).
So many memories... good and not-so-good... all of them making me wish it were next year already! I'm sorry this was so long... as is often the case I remember more as I'm typing and next thing I know I've written another novel!! Believe it or not, I did leave a lot out, like Susan's remake of DoReMi from the Sound of Music and her rendition of the Boy from [Ipanema] East Debuque (with many a grimace and groan from Vance). I didn't cite everything, but there were enough of us there that when all is said and done... you'll get the big picture! Now I have some letters to write... so I'm off! Goodnight!!!
From Brian:
More by way of an early, partial review:
(Apologies first: My head is spinning; I am a toasty, burnt crisp of a body; now that I'm hydrated, all fluid is being vesseled to my nose where an unknown Berkshires-related allergy is getting its last kicks; my mind is still kinda wanting to think and be productive, but my body has lost the capacity to support it. I'm a big wreck. Also, I haven't had the time to read reviews lately, so things that are new to me may be annoyingly old hat to y'all. Oh, and I'm basically talking about the main stage show Sunday afternoon. Can't speak to the late Sunday show.)
The "Killer Tent Song", for want of a better name, was played as the encore of their main stage set on Sunday afternoon. Since they named almost all of the performers, there's really no way that they could sing the song with those verses ever again. If next month's "Live at Falconridge" CD (for want of a better name) does well and they press a second one, I suspect that the Killer Tent Song will be on it. Quite a lot of references to different artists' songs (I liked Ani's and The Nields' references), and a lot of clever puns (The Kennedys' and Utah Phillips')-- rather than botch the couplets completely, I'll let someone with a good memorex^H^Hy list 'em.
Also during the main set, there was a Falconridge-specific version of "Minnie the Moocher". A bizarre (rhyming!) bit about this campsite declaring its independence and naming itself after the tri-state area, The People's Republic of Massayorkecticut; big jabs at Wood$tock; more heat-stroke and downpour references (the storm "separated the true hippies from the posers, no jokin' / the hippies went inside to keep their ganja from soakin'"). As an idiot who stood out in the rain, I leapt at the chance to cheer after the third line of the verse-- damn that bait-and-switch. It was nice to hear a lot of new, clever verses, though; I think this is the first time since its inception that I haven't heard the Chelsea Clinton verse.
"Splatter, Splatter" was followed by "Video Bargainville" to keep the movie theme going. I don't read other reviews carefully enough to know if anyone had ever heard a disco version of "VB" before, but, damn, that was surprising and confusing. I liked it quite a bit.
Related, I was surprised by the fact that their set didn't seem more, well, folk-y, considering the folk-y nature of the folk festival. A lot of songs off the upcoming album were played, none of them all that down-home folk-like. I didn't think I'd be hearing disco at Falconridge.
I also hadn't seen the new shirts before, the ones sporting the new logo. ("MF" surrounded by a circle, part of which is broken so that a bit of the arc looks like an umlaut-- available now on T-shirts, tiny tanks, buttons, and rain hats.) Hot damn! there was a lot of money being passed around the merch table. Is this because a lot of FruHeads went to Falconridge and this was their first stab at the new threads, or were there really that many newbies?
(And now it's time to collapse.)
From Ellen:
i wish i could say i'd actually write a real review, but the steel sieve that is my brain does not allow for such cohesive thought. the best i can do is give random impressions, so here goes...
the heat: i've said this to a few people already, but it bears repeating. the heat was akin to how women describe the pain of childbirth-- much later. it was painfully hot, but the music was so good that i'm already beginning to forget how hot it was.
the music: so many good things i don't even know where to begin. i bought three new CDs because that was all i could afford; i wish i'd been able to buy about 10 more.
biggest musical "doh!" of the weekend: missing cheryl wheeler's main stage set because i got her confused with stacey earle (who was nice, but didn't do much for me). hey, give me a break, the only shows where i was close enough to actually *see* any performers were the two workshops fruvous was in. ;)
the workshops: probably did more for me in terms of introducing me to new names than anything. between the "songs i wish," "storytelling," "roots," "love songs," and "rolling..." workshops, i came to hear and appreciate lj booth, cliff eberhardt, vanida gail, greg brown, the thompsons, ellis paul (*swoon*), sam pacetti, and the aforementioned wonderfully cranky cheryl wheeler.
fruvous's main stage set: *whew* i would have loved to be dancing down in the front, but there wasn't enough water in hillsdale to keep me hydrated enough to dance during that time of the day. my newsreader has not yet coughed up the post with a setlist in it =P so i'll just mention what i can remember: -the sound was a little sketchy, esp. on the banjo songs. -the disco-tized v.bargainville was cool. VB is not one of my favorite fruvous songs; this was a nice change from the original. i like it better. -no KoS or DS: this topic has been beaten to death, but i will say i'm impressed at their choice. -MPG: fruvous has finally made it to my .sig file. =) =) =) -GitC: always happy to hear this one. -the tent song: wonderful, wonderful. -lazy boy: when jian said "does anyone here have a stereo that rocks?" i cheered because i thought, "no way!! are they really going to break out lazy boy??" and, well, because mine does. ;)
the rain: i sat through the whole thing, out on the lawn, because it was actually a pleasant change from roasting in the sun. while i was sitting there, making myself as small as i possibly could under my umbrella, i looked across the lawn and saw a couple huddled under an umbrella looking very much like the couple in the famous woodstock picture (you know then one; the only difference is that the woodstock couple was wrapped in a blanket). innat sweet? ;)
the food: *drool* 'nuff said.
the people: met a lot of very cool people this weekend. you know who you are. i'm glad i met all of you. =) i even got to re-meet someone cool as a fruhead (having already met him once as a 'head of another sort ;)
the end: after it was all over musically, i went back to my tent and showered for a loooong time. [i'll mention here that i think anyone who actually waited a long time for a shower was crazy. ;) i took a shower every day and never waited more than 15 minutes. you just have to pick your time very carefully.] someone must have spiked the shower water with cocaine, though, because after that shower i felt incredibly revitalized and had all this energy i didn't know what to do with. and because it would have made me sad to watch everyone pack up and leave, i went back into the concert area and cartwheeled and bounced off the walls for a little while. apologies to anyone i scared off. or just plain scared (you prolly know who you are, too). particularly eddie hartness from EFO; the poor schmoe walked by wearing a watch just when amanda and i wanted to know what time it was. next thing he knew, i was telling him how i couldn't get one of his (well, EFOs) songs out of my head all DAY and it wasn't even a song they PLAYED blah blah blah blah and amanda seemed highly amused that i was dancing to it even though no one else could hear it.
it was nice to end the weekend on a high like that.
From Ken:
From Lizzie:
Well, I guess I'm thoroughly re-adjusted to the real world after this weekend (unfortunately!). After reading about the mishaps at Woodstock '99, my mom and I were thinking about how wonderful *our* weekend was in comparison. Instead of people starting fires, and litter all over, and $4 bottles of water, and over flowing port-o-lets, we had hugs and kisses, and *no* trash anywhere except in the truck of the cheerful trash people (did anyone see *any* litter?), morning greetings from the *ice* man :), and Cheryl Wheeler's Handy House song!
Highlights for me were (in no particular order):
1. meeting soooo many of you guys (I won't even try with names, because I know I'll forget someone, but hugs to *everyone*), not to mention this girl that used to work at the health food store in my town and moved to Boston who actually remembered me... 2. Vance Gilbert in general, but especially his critiquing workshop (even my friend Erin had fun at that) 3. hanging out with Tobey and getting to be the Pez refill girl 4. getting up to ten Frümiles stamps (yay!!!) 5. hearing Richard Shindell's "Are You Happy Now?" live 6. the incredibly nice man at Cecil's pizza who kept the place open an extra 45 minutes on Thursday night so we could have dinner, and told us his life story :) 7. the lemonade, and the nice lemonade stand lady 8. the girl who didn't know what the symbol on her tank top stood for, but decided she would tell people it meant "yo' mama!" 9. Erin's dance with Gideon, the guy who looked like Jesus 10. the tent song (of course!), disco "Video Bargainville" (what a treat!) *and* "Lazy Boy" (first time since the YNB tour I've heard it. Yay!!!), just the whole *amazingly* energetic set 11. "is there something you reject?"/"food that isn't Teletubbies" 12. the Nield's last song with *all* of their special guests 13. "that slut Greta" 14. Katryna and Dave C.'s *engagement* anouncement!!! 15. seeing Dave C. on Saturday and squealing at Erin "it's a *Nield*!" and getting a confused wave 16. Cal's face after "Way to go Cal!!!" 17. a kiss on the hand from Jian *faint* 18. letting Erin be charmed by Murray and Jian 19. the adorable little boy camped next to us who woke me up Sunday morning by saying "Daddy? Daddy? Can you open the door so I can have some cereal? There's ebough to share!" 20. speaking of adorable children...Vanessa, the little girl who took the mic at the "Rolling in the Aisles" workshop 21. all of the nice people that let us encroach on blanket space (thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!!!!) 22. Ani's last song "If I hear one more fool talkin' about his right to his tools of rage/I'm gonna gather up all my friends/move to Canada/and die of old age" 23. my mom's Righteous Babe shirt that says "here comes little naked me" on the front 24. Barbara, the one-legged cricket in our tent 25. the drive home, singing every single song we knew...for at least 4 hours
I know I've forgotten things. I had a wonderful, unforgettable time. Thank you, and another hug to everybody that helped it turn out that way!!!!
From Trace:
Sunday Mainstage set:
Half As Much Splatter Splatter IWHO Video Bargainville - New arrangement, and it rocked!!! I simply adore it. No accordian as Dave was on the keyboard. It had a disco beat with some early 80's synth-pop influence. Amazing. Lazy Boy - I almost flipped when Jian asked "Does anyone have a stereo that rocks?" Thank you Ji. GE&H MPG Minnie - No lesbian hooker verse. Michy MBLABOA GItC Encore: Beware the Killer Tents
Sunday Workshop "Rolling in the Aisles"
Kids' Song ~Is there something you like? Teletubbies! Is there something you despise? Teletubbies!~ Greatest Man in America
Note: Susan Werner performed a hilarious filk of "Do Re Mi" from the Sound of Music that was all about the stock market.
Random Memories:
The band Future Chicken Farmers entertained those of us in the two hour shower line by performing as they waited for showers. Great fun. Audrey and Rick (fellow fans of fruvous) wandered around Friday night with guitar in hand, and stopped by Camp Lori Steve to entertain us with they're original songs. A wonderful ending to our first day at Falcon Ridge.
When the heavens opened up and treated us to high winds and a torrential downpour Saturday, it wound up being a fun, bad weather bonding experience as 9 fruheads relaxed in Lori & Steve's tent. Unfortunately, the clouds then burned off and the temp went back up to 150 degrees F.
By Sunday, the Slush Puppies for sale were more puppy than slush, but at least they were cold and wet.
Although there were an estimated 20,000 people on hand for the Saturday sets by Cry, Cry, Cry and Ani, most of those were daytrippers and were not competing for the 4 showers per gender the next morning. Thank goodness for small favors.
It is possible to fit 10 sweaty fruheads on one blanket. I wouldn't recommend trying this at home though. The personal space value was minus three. It is a good thing we all liked each other :-)
On Saturday, Jian sported a Brittany Spears t-shirt. He claimed it had something to do with the "new, emerging feminist movement." Color me skeptical. I'm not making this up. I guess we can put him down as not wanting a kick in the head.
Finally, I'd like to thank everyone who made this past weekend a wonderful experience. To all those I crashed with, hung around with, shared a tarp with, met for the first time, met for the 20th time, hugged, chatted, laughed and danced with, merci. And thanks for the washable poster paints Pixel. My personalized, hand painted frumobile rocked!
From the FRFF program:
(picture: Thornhill promo pic)
In 1996 Moxy Fruvous made their first appearance at Falcon Ridge. They
were brought back in 1997 by fierce popular demand and we are pleased to
welcome them again, for their third visit to our Ridge stages. Hailing from
Toronto, Moxy Fruvous is Mike Ford on vocals and guitars, Murray Foster on
vocals and bass, Jian Ghomeshi on vocals and drums, and Dave Matheson on
vocals, accordion, banjos and guitar. Over the course of five albums,
including a cassette debut that went gold in Canada, this band of former
high school chums has fine-tunes what began as street singing on a corner.
In learning to engage the attention of otherwise-absorbed city folk the band
became quite adept at street-level theatrics, improv and pristine four-part
harmony. Now with their about to be released, Thornhill on the Bottom
Line Records label, Moxy Fruvous will take you on a musical journey the likes
of which you've never experienced before. If you think your ears have heard all
these if to hear and your tired eyes have seen everything to see, then you
probably haven't seen or heard the wry humor, smart lyrics and strong social
consciousness of Moxy Fruvous.
Some other tidbits from the performance include:
Back to the tour dates 1999 page
