You will have to excuse the brevity of this review since it was before I realized what I had to do to remember all the happenings - which is bring a pad of paper or at least something to write on! My mind is not what it used to be. So I have picked my brain and Karen's too, and this is what we came up with. I know some chatters from the Official Kitchen Party were there, like Spinne, but I don't know who else may have attended. I didn't meet Spinne till months later in Boston at Fran's house.
King of Prussia is not that far away and we made it without incident. The festival was held indoors in air-conditioned comfort and away from the elements in case of rain. There were 2 stages with music going on at the same time and pipers marching around in-between acts, entertaining us. The bands we saw before GBS came on were: Neil Anderson and Full CIrcle, Hadrian's Wall and the Glengarry Bhoys. Neil Anderson was amazing on the bagpipes, but very drunk. He was also very obnoxious. But he was sooooooo good! While Hadrian's Wall were playing, he came out and joined them, which was nice but I don't think they needed him to hog all the attention from them. They were good in their own right. I thought the lead singer looked like one of the guys from Barenaked Ladies. The Glengarry Bhoys were the best! They were so upbeat and entertaining! I really enjoyed them.
Karen and I ate a little, walked around, then it was time for GBS! I overheard the people at the front desk saying they couldn't believe what a draw GBS was! I think they hadn't a clue when they booked them! I do have some pics from the show. I wish I had had the guts to go sit on the floor up front. But I didn't want to appear too anxious at my advanced age. Well, those inhibtions are certainly gone now! LOL!
Don't remember much of what they played except South Australia, General Taylor, Mari Mac, Ordinary Day, Paddy Murphy, Consequence Free, Process Man, Feel It Turn, and it was the first time I heard Old Brown's Daughter, complete with mid-song key change, like on the TURN CD! They may have sung Heave Away, we're not sure. They started out with about 200 people and ended up drawing people from the other stage and pretty much filling the room.
Alan had a good time with the town's name, King of Prussia. "Uh, King of Prussia...that's a person, right? Not a place!" They were the hit of the festival! I think Seven Nations were supposed to be the biggest draw, but GBS had them beat, hands down!
They didn't come out afterwards to meet and greet because they had a flight to catch to Chicago in an hour, we were told. But there's a nice tale related to that tidbit of info. I wanted to buy some swag but needed to visit the ATM machine quickly before they packed up the stuff to take with them. So I went in search of it through the hotel/conference center above where the venue was. After withdrawing my hard-earned cash, I came back into the venue. As I opened the door and turned the corner, I literally ran smack into Darrell! Took me a couple seconds to realize to whom I was apologizing! "Oh, your show was just wonderful," I gushed. He shook my hand warmly, smiled and said "So you enjoyed it?" "Most definitely," was my reply. "Well thanks for coming out to see us!" he says, "Gotta go now." He ran out the door to the waiting van and off they went! I floated down the stairs to the venue, too late to buy stuff, but who cares? He took the time to greet me, shake my hand and say a few words. What a nice guy! The thing that really surprised me is how short he is! Can't be more than 5'9" or so!
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