irish festival

I finally got around to attending the Dublin Irish Festival.

Highlights:

Purchased my first proper bodhran. It's a small (~14") traditional drum (non-tuneable) - nothing fancy - but sounds good. I got it directly from Michael Vignoles. He was kind enough to give me a few pointers, and even sent a follow up email. Great guy - great bodhrans! (He also makes other traditional Irish instruments). I got a new tipper, too, and absolutely love it!

Gaelic Storm - only saw a small portion of the set but good stuff

The Mickey Finns - yay for Celtic punk! (photo*)

The Prodigals - yay for more Celtic punk! (photo*)

Whiskey Asylum - The Mickey Finns & The Prodigals team up to rock your face off (photo*)

Flogging Molly - OMG it's MORE Celtic punk! I don't know what it is, but there's something about Flogging Molly that reaches that sweet spot for me - I revert to the reckless, joyful abandon of a 17 year old at her first punk rock concert, dancing around in exuberance. (Well, dancing around as much as possible without damaging my new bodhran).

There was even more great stuff, but those were the big ones for me. The finale consisted of musicians and dancers from the entire weekend getting up and performing together. Good stuff! (Finale Photo*)

*The photos are rather poor quality. I didn't get too close to any stages - partially to protect the new bodhran and partially because it was about 102 degrees and I didn't want to be smashed in too closely to sweaty, smelly strangers.

another comfest in the books

Another year, another ComFest.
Some highlights:
- Running into old friends
- Running into new friends
- Seeing someone with a pet goat
- Sitting in the park on a sunny afternoon, listening to great music and enjoying a giant mug of beer.
- Watching people dance with abandon to whatever style of music happens to be playing on the stage
- Seeing my friends rock out in their various bands
- Waking up every morning with sore, stiff muscles because I spent the previous day wandering about in the hot sun drinking beer, and eagerly heading out for another equally great day

Tom has some of his ComFest artwork posted, and his own highlights here.

Did I mention all of the bands I saw? There were 6 stages, running shows about 45 minutes to an hour in length, from 12 noon until 10 or 11 pm every day. And this is without the Blues Garage this year.

I didn't take many photos this year - intentionally opting to soak in the experiences rather than document them. But lots of other folks have already begun posting their photos on flickr.

I missed having Charlotte around this year, although I did wear the hemp bracelet she made me all weekend so a part of her could ComFest with the rest of us. If only every day was a ComFest day, the world would be a damn happy place.