Massive Thanks
to F-Dog for taking part in an experimental duo set on Friday afternoon. It was ballsy, and something I’ve wanted to
try out for a long time. I can’t
describe it exactly, but one person got annoyed and walked out with a
dismissive hand gesture (I don’t know if he didn’t get it, or if he got it but
didn’t like it). Others looked equally
upset by it, whereas some seemed to really enjoy the whole thing. (Incidentally, the project is called Johnny
Hashtag & The Just Sayins. F-Dog
might disagree, but he’s wrong)
I actually hurt my sides laughing about it afterwards. Like, literally. My actual
sides were literally hurting. #truestory
Thanks to FGR for telling me someone had described me as
having a “massive cult following”. The
fact that she couldn’t remember who told her this adds credence to the idea,
somehow. How strangely entertaining.
Thanks to KT for telling me her friends are “obsessed” with
me. I asked if they were ones who’d been
hanging around outside my house. I don’t
think she knew what I was talking about.
Anyway, she took a snapchat to prove she’d met me. How entertainingly strange.
Thanks to the young girl who bought a CD, which I signed for
her. I later heard that it was all her
Dad’s suggestion, and she wasn’t that bothered about me signing it.
Thanks to that girl’s brother, who bought a different CD and
got it signed as well. I couldn’t help
thinking that may have been a sibling rivalry thing, but I asked the boy if
they would share the CDs and he said they would, so that’s good, isn’t it?
Thanks to my Friday night jam band: PH Level on bass, F-Dog
on keys, J-time on drum, JC on violin.
It was all rocked off the top (apart from most of the words), and it was
cool and mellow.
Thanks to the Friday night crowd for getting right involved
with the call and response: “When I say Black Lives, you say Matter – BLACK
LIVES!” There was a lot of enthusiasm
for that one, which I was pleased about.
(It was part of an improvisation based on Umi Says by Mos Def. I thought it went well. I revealed my sources, I’m not a biter…but I
totally could’ve got away with it, as the Cambridge Folk Festival audience is
surprisingly unaware of Mos Def’s ouvre)
Thanks to F-Dog for letting me get on the mic for his jam
band version of Rapper’s Delight. It was
a delight, Sir. For me, at least. (I think that was Thursday.) Thanks also to CT for inviting me up at the
end of the jam, closing out by rapping over Toxic by Britney Spears. (I think that was Friday.) Good times.
Thanks to PH Level for keeping the sound crisp all
festival. The hardest working man in
sound tech.
Thanks to The Night Jar for providing my annual “lone wander
around to watch a band I’ve never heard of” Cambridge moment. They were very good. They played that old Hangman song, which I
hadn’t heard for many years. Their
version was better than any of the ones I could find online when I looked just
now. Although, apparently the Led
Zeppelin version of Gallows Pole is based on it.
Thanks to the festival staff for the
polite/passive-aggressive/totalitarian note asking/ordering me to get a tent
tag.
I’d never heard
of a tent tag before going to this festival for the first time, a few years
ago. I assumed it meant writing a name
on a tent in spray paint. Now, having
been to this festival several times, I shudder to think of all the other tents
that go un-tagged. At every other
festival ever. How does everyone cope
with that?
Thanks to everyone who listened to my spoken word set, and
thanks to all the PFR crew who encouraged me with it. It was the first time I’d done it, and I
enjoyed it. Seemed like it was a modest
success. The story entitled When I Was
Arrested For The Second Time was particularly well received.
Thanks to everyone who listened to my other spoken word set,
and thanks to all the PFR crew who encouraged me with it. It was the second time I’d done it, and I
enjoyed it. Seemed like it was a modest
success. The story entitled When My Bike
Got Tooken was particularly well received.
I may well do this thing again.
Thanks to Johnny C and FGR for all their hard work on the
brand new PFR Zine, Issue 1. It’s jolly
good, and features one of the above stories – Thanks to CJ for the
illustration.
Thanks to
Cookie for the surprise set. I wasn’t
surprised, I’ve seen him before, I know he’s great. I appeared cool and knowledgeable by knowing
him. #reflectedglory
(I also appreciated his suggestions on fixing the problem
with the mandolin strings. It took a
while, but I worked it out and it sounded great. Until 30 seconds into a fucking song when the
strings slipped again and went out of tune.
#folkproblems)
Thanks to GG for playing for us – and for saying that she
reads the blog. Hello! (So that’s one reader, at least.)
Thanks to A-dog for everything: the seagull poem (“shut up you
shitehawk!”), his acoustic set on Saturday night (beautiful – featuring a great
duet with LN, props to her as well), and, of course, the clip of him singing on
TV from many years ago. He’s just a love
machine, you know….
Thanks to everyone for letting me “headline” on the Saturday
night. Thanks to the Saturday night jam
band: EC on drum/keys, J-time on bass, JC on violin, LV on cello and B on drum
(thanks to him for a beauty of a solo as well…). It was a bit more structured than the Friday
night set, and it felt like a really good one.
The players were superb, and PH Level kept the levels tight. It was the last time I well get to play the
PFR for a while, and it seemed the perfect way to go out. There was a lot of love in the place. It was moving. I was moved.
Thanks to the Saturday night crowd for getting right
involved with the call and response: “When I say Cambridge, you say naked:
CAMBRIDGE!” (No one got naked, it’s not
that kind of festival. But we can try,
can’t we….?) Hey, Cambridge, thanks for
listening. Thanks for listening,
Cambridge.
Thanks to the PFR crew for the after-hours singalong, and
especially T-Money for his song about FGR.
It was called Angel Eyes. It was
good.
Thanks to all the PFR crew and everyone who came to hang out
with us. It was a pleasure and a
privilege, as always.
No comments:
Post a Comment