We had a wonderful time at Harmony Bazaar last night. Only a few sprinkles of rain at one point which caused the rainjacket hood to be raised (certainly much better conditions than several concerts we've attended) and a few mosquitoes. Saw lots of people I knew from the community and work so got caught up on the news. There were bleachers, lots of chairs and even some shelter from the elements. Nice up close venue to see such good acts. There was even a side stage with performers in between as the main stage acts set up but.....the sound system didn't broadcast well to the main area. This was a shame because there were some great acts, for example Christine Campbell of the Stone Mary band made you want to hear more.
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| Ria Mae |
Ria Mae opened, accompanied by a drummer and bass guitar and she's a very good young singer/songwriter from Halifax. Apparently has a following amongst the younger set (or so the daughter of a coworker advised) in the city.
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| Flamenco - obviously |
Maria Osende is a flamenco dancer also from the city who was accompanied by a singer (Joyce Saunders - a solo artist as well) and guitarist (Mike McNeil) neither of which is (of course) a Spanish name. They were all excellent and for the one song without dancing, you could close your eyes and imagine yourself in Cuba. As I told the life partner "I haven't seen flamenco since Malaga in 1973 on a high school trip so don't have much to compare them to but they were great!" And no I'm not going to the flamenco dance workshop, or the belly dancing for that matter. Some things are better left to the imagination (in my opinion) at least for women of a certain age - but that isn't the case with this weekend as women were the vast majority, signed up in great numbers for the workshops and comments were made about the few men in the audience "getting in touch with their feminine side".
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| Irish Mythen |
Irish Mythen is a little girl with a big voice and if you ever get a chance to hear her perform this is your recommendation to do so. Anyone who can belt out Janis Joplin tunes and handle them the same way as the great Janis is a winner. Lots of energy and got the crowd pumped for the main act. I would definitely travel further just to see this act again. Can't believe that I haven't seen her before as I've noticed her name on billboards before....my loss. Made you wish you were staying in a tent in the local campground with a group of like minded women and going to jam session afterwards, not driving home so the shore captain could get up to unload fish in the morning. Ahhhhh, next year.....
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| Weak in the Knees |
For any of you Serena Ryder fans out there you know the post title is also the title of one of her earlier songs. Last night she did a lot of new material from an album about to be released and lots of the older songs as well. Weak in the Knees, All for Love, A Little bit Red and more. She certainly seemed like she was having a great time and enjoying the audience - spoke of having been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in the afternoon and it was COLD, but exciting, how much she enjoyed the small town music festival and the people. She was flying out to Calgary for a gig tonight. I tried not to sing too loudly as the daughter of the coworker next to me was filming video on her iPhone. Although this photo on the left this isn't the clearest photo I snapped, it surely is the best representation of the energy this great performer puts out there. And speaking of that energy....I'm posting a Youtube link at the bottom of this post to a performance of that song in the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay a few years ago. Just click play, enlarge the image to full screen and turn your speakers up - you're almost there in person. Off to do some housework so I'm ready for the wine and appetizer pairing this afternoon.
