Dublin Irish Festival 2007
August 3, 4, 5 - 2007: The best party in the country is the Dublin Irish Festival. We had two stage times and Andi did two hammer dulcimer workshops. Members of Aisling also helped with stage management, the ceili tent, sessions, and committee work. We love the festival!
Friday evening:
1.
As a warm-up to the festival, we performed at the Ohio State Fair on Thursday, August 2nd. This is a pic from setting up our sound system on the stage.
2.
Steve and I did a five hour stint as stage managers at the Dublin Pub stage on Friday evening. The first act up is always O'Kelly and Cotter - namely, flutist Morton O'Kelly and drummer Eddie Cotter Jr.
3.
Morton is a professor of geography at OSU and it was fun to hear the tunes of Ireland through his geographer's ears. He picked tunes from different counties and had the audience participate in a geography bee based on the tunes played.
4.
It's always a treat to hear Eddie play bodhran.
5.
Ditto for Morton - he played a nice variety of flutes and whistles for this set.
6.
Every year at the festival there is a sand castle built during the weekend. This year's theme was on the sponsorship of Bob Evans. I never did see the finished sculpture - I don't know how it fare after the big storm (more on that later).
7.
O'Kelly and Cotter always have to take a long break during their set to accommodate the opening ceremonies and speeches at the Emerald Club. Morton took the opportunity to play through some tunes while he was waiting in the wings.
8.
The pipe and drum corps pipe in the opening ceremonies.
9.
I always like to hear the pipes . . . .
from about a mile away.
10.
The opening ceremony - lots of patriotism (US and Irish), congratulations, welcomes, and remembrances.
11.
The view from backstage.
12.
A quiet moment for Eileen Ivers, who was waiting to go on stage.
13.
Sue Mogan sang the national anthems (US and Ireland).
14.
Eileen Ivers played a beautiful air in memory of Tommy Makem, who had passed away just a few days before the festival.
15.
John Whelan and the Cape May Ceili Band were next up on the Dublin Pub Stage. I think this picture captures the joy John has in the music. It's such a pleasure to hear him play dance tunes.
16.
Cape May Ceili Band
17.
Cape May Ceili Band
18.
Cape May Ceili Band
19.
Beth Patterson posing with Steve and I. We hadn't met Beth before this festival, and it was a real pleasure having the chance to talk to her and listen to her music.
20.
Beth Patterson - queen of the bouzouki and one of the fastest wits in town. Her playing is brilliant, her songs are great (some very moving, some extremely funny), and she knows how to work a crowd.
21.
There's never a dull moment when Beth is on stage.
22.
Steve, lending a hand with the mic.
23.
What is it about Irish music that draws characters such as this? Look back through the blog archive to our St. Pat's day gigs and you'll see more of the same. . .
24.
The Ladies of Longford performing on the Sports Pub stage on Friday night.
25.
The Ladies of Longford and friends.
26.
Niamh Parsons and Graeme Dunn on the Pub Stage, Friday night.
Saturday:
27.
Stuart Brand (Aisling) - Saturday in the entertainer's lounge before our first stage time.
28.
Craig Caldwell (Aisling) watching Randy Clepper try out Craig's new bouzouki.
29.
Bob Kirby holding court in the entertainer's lounge. The festival volunteers do a wonderful job each year.
30.
Randy Clepper
31.
Craig Markley and Craig Caldwell, backstage at the Dublin Pub.
32.
Sue Mogan on the Pub stage.
33.
Sue Mogan, Craig Markley, Pat Mogan, Sid O'Masta.
34.
Ditto
35.
Flutio, aka Brian McCoy, and the rest of the Kells doing a flute workshop.
36.
Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul on the Traditional Stage. Wow! What a show! This is a band you just have to hear. The crowd was overflowing and very enthusiastic about this act ("SOMEBODY SCREAM!!!!!").
37.
Michael and Steve Wolfe (Aisling)
38.
The crowd for Eileen Ivers
39.
What line are you in?
40.
Saturday night the festival broke the Guinness World record for the most people doing a jig simultaneously. Knot Fibb'n and friends played in the Sports Pub to help the crowd get into the dance.
41.
Ed Norris (The Hooligans) and Tim O'Neil (Knot Fibb'n)
42.
That's a lot of help for playing a jig.
43.
I'm not so sure that everyone was actually doing the real steps to a jig, but everyone was moving.
44.
This is the jig that never ends,
It just goes on and on my friends,
Somebody started doing it,
Not knowing what it was . . .
well, you know the rest of that story. . .
45.
NO! Make it go away!
46.
"They're still doing it! Make it stop!"
Sunday:
47.
My annual picture with John Whelan. What a great guy!
48.
Aisling was scheduled to play at the Sports Pub from noon to 1:45. While we were setting up the pipe and drum corps were warming up in the tent. Ouch! My ears hurt! They're loud!
49.
Well, we were supposed to play until 1:45, but Mother Nature had other plans. We had a huge thunderstorm come through the festival grounds - big enough that the organizers called for an evacuation. The rain was so heavy that the stage flooded - not a good thing with all the electrical wires on the ground.
50.
What to do, what to do? Follow the orders for evacuation or wait it out? We weren't given an option - everyone had to leave.
51.
We thought about leaving the gear up on chairs so we didn't have to haul everything through torrential rain, but we ended up lugging everything back to the rec center. Ouch! No carts to help. We managed to get everything back in one piece and not too wet. What an adventure. The sad part is that we lost out on CD sales since we didn't get to finish our set. Sigh.
52.
The silver lining of the evacuation is that we had a fantastic session going on in the entertainer's lounge during the wait for the all-clear.
53.
We still had a hammer dulcimer workshop to get through and so Craig, Steve, Stuart and I went to the session tent to warm up. My camera was fogged up from all the moisture.
54.
That's a bit better, but it took a bit more time for everything to dry out.
55.
The finale is always a lot of fun. Stuart (Aisling), checking out the action backstage. He was probably watching Beth Patterson . . .
56.
John Sherman
57.
Beth Patterson
58.
Newlyweds Josh and Charlene
59.
Kim Ruttan (The Kells), John Sherman and Craig Caldwell (Aisling) in the background.
60.
John Sherman and Craig Caldwell.
61.
Members of Seven Nations and Gaelic Storm
62.
Waiting backstage
63.
Deborah Colon (Changeling) and Mary Bertke (Aisling).
64.
More backstage waiting (Randy Clepper and Karl Colon (Changeling))
65.
Pete Purvis (Gaelic Storm)
66.
The Celtic Tenors
67.
Paul from Brigid's Cross was the MC for the finale.
68.
Beth Patterson with Gaelic Storm
69.
Ditto
70.
Dan Stacey and Jon Pilatzke - Step Crew (Seven Nations and Quagmire, respectively)
71.
Ditto
73.
Craig and Tania Markley
74.
Seven Nations
75.
Seven Nations
76.
Paul with Seven Nations
77.
Seven Nations
78.
Kirk McLeod of Seven Nations
79.
Morton O'Kelly
80.
Craig Markley
81.
A big finish for the finale - everyone's on stage
82.
A fantastic audience
83.
Karl Colon (on right) with Dan Fedoryka - Scythian
84.
Karl Colon
85.
finale
86.
finale
87.
Mary Bertke (on right)
88.
finale
89.
finale
90.
Finale
91.
Andi Wolfe (Aisling)
92.
l to r: Craig Markley, Morton O'Kelly, Stuart Brand (Aisling)
93.
Morton O'Kelly
94.
Ed Norris and Peg (Brigid's Cross)
95.
Flutio (Brian McCoy) with Andi Wolfe (Aisling) and Michael Wolfe
96.
Flutio and admirers (Michael and his girlfriend, Elizabeth)
97.
The final party for performers - nice food and good company. A great way to end the weekend.
98.
Leks Fedoryka - Scythian, Charlie - one of the festival drivers, Ron Keller who is with Beth Patterson, and ?
99.
The local crowd
100.
Bob and Billie Kirby
Friday evening:
1.As a warm-up to the festival, we performed at the Ohio State Fair on Thursday, August 2nd. This is a pic from setting up our sound system on the stage.
2.Steve and I did a five hour stint as stage managers at the Dublin Pub stage on Friday evening. The first act up is always O'Kelly and Cotter - namely, flutist Morton O'Kelly and drummer Eddie Cotter Jr.
3.Morton is a professor of geography at OSU and it was fun to hear the tunes of Ireland through his geographer's ears. He picked tunes from different counties and had the audience participate in a geography bee based on the tunes played.
4.It's always a treat to hear Eddie play bodhran.
5.Ditto for Morton - he played a nice variety of flutes and whistles for this set.
6.Every year at the festival there is a sand castle built during the weekend. This year's theme was on the sponsorship of Bob Evans. I never did see the finished sculpture - I don't know how it fare after the big storm (more on that later).
7.O'Kelly and Cotter always have to take a long break during their set to accommodate the opening ceremonies and speeches at the Emerald Club. Morton took the opportunity to play through some tunes while he was waiting in the wings.
8.The pipe and drum corps pipe in the opening ceremonies.
9.I always like to hear the pipes . . . .
from about a mile away.
10.The opening ceremony - lots of patriotism (US and Irish), congratulations, welcomes, and remembrances.
11.The view from backstage.
12.A quiet moment for Eileen Ivers, who was waiting to go on stage.
13.Sue Mogan sang the national anthems (US and Ireland).
14.Eileen Ivers played a beautiful air in memory of Tommy Makem, who had passed away just a few days before the festival.
15.John Whelan and the Cape May Ceili Band were next up on the Dublin Pub Stage. I think this picture captures the joy John has in the music. It's such a pleasure to hear him play dance tunes.
16.Cape May Ceili Band
17.Cape May Ceili Band
18.Cape May Ceili Band
19.Beth Patterson posing with Steve and I. We hadn't met Beth before this festival, and it was a real pleasure having the chance to talk to her and listen to her music.
20.Beth Patterson - queen of the bouzouki and one of the fastest wits in town. Her playing is brilliant, her songs are great (some very moving, some extremely funny), and she knows how to work a crowd.
21.There's never a dull moment when Beth is on stage.
22.Steve, lending a hand with the mic.
23.What is it about Irish music that draws characters such as this? Look back through the blog archive to our St. Pat's day gigs and you'll see more of the same. . .
24.The Ladies of Longford performing on the Sports Pub stage on Friday night.
25.The Ladies of Longford and friends.
26.Niamh Parsons and Graeme Dunn on the Pub Stage, Friday night.
Saturday:
27.Stuart Brand (Aisling) - Saturday in the entertainer's lounge before our first stage time.
28.Craig Caldwell (Aisling) watching Randy Clepper try out Craig's new bouzouki.
29.Bob Kirby holding court in the entertainer's lounge. The festival volunteers do a wonderful job each year.
30.Randy Clepper
31.Craig Markley and Craig Caldwell, backstage at the Dublin Pub.
32.Sue Mogan on the Pub stage.
33.Sue Mogan, Craig Markley, Pat Mogan, Sid O'Masta.
34.Ditto
35.Flutio, aka Brian McCoy, and the rest of the Kells doing a flute workshop.
36.Eileen Ivers and Immigrant Soul on the Traditional Stage. Wow! What a show! This is a band you just have to hear. The crowd was overflowing and very enthusiastic about this act ("SOMEBODY SCREAM!!!!!").
37.Michael and Steve Wolfe (Aisling)
38.The crowd for Eileen Ivers
39.What line are you in?
40.Saturday night the festival broke the Guinness World record for the most people doing a jig simultaneously. Knot Fibb'n and friends played in the Sports Pub to help the crowd get into the dance.
41.Ed Norris (The Hooligans) and Tim O'Neil (Knot Fibb'n)
42.That's a lot of help for playing a jig.
43.I'm not so sure that everyone was actually doing the real steps to a jig, but everyone was moving.
44.This is the jig that never ends,
It just goes on and on my friends,
Somebody started doing it,
Not knowing what it was . . .
well, you know the rest of that story. . .
45.NO! Make it go away!
46."They're still doing it! Make it stop!"
Sunday:
47.My annual picture with John Whelan. What a great guy!
48.Aisling was scheduled to play at the Sports Pub from noon to 1:45. While we were setting up the pipe and drum corps were warming up in the tent. Ouch! My ears hurt! They're loud!
49.Well, we were supposed to play until 1:45, but Mother Nature had other plans. We had a huge thunderstorm come through the festival grounds - big enough that the organizers called for an evacuation. The rain was so heavy that the stage flooded - not a good thing with all the electrical wires on the ground.
50.What to do, what to do? Follow the orders for evacuation or wait it out? We weren't given an option - everyone had to leave.
51.We thought about leaving the gear up on chairs so we didn't have to haul everything through torrential rain, but we ended up lugging everything back to the rec center. Ouch! No carts to help. We managed to get everything back in one piece and not too wet. What an adventure. The sad part is that we lost out on CD sales since we didn't get to finish our set. Sigh.
52.The silver lining of the evacuation is that we had a fantastic session going on in the entertainer's lounge during the wait for the all-clear.
53.We still had a hammer dulcimer workshop to get through and so Craig, Steve, Stuart and I went to the session tent to warm up. My camera was fogged up from all the moisture.
54.That's a bit better, but it took a bit more time for everything to dry out.
55.The finale is always a lot of fun. Stuart (Aisling), checking out the action backstage. He was probably watching Beth Patterson . . .
56.John Sherman
57.Beth Patterson
58.Newlyweds Josh and Charlene
59.Kim Ruttan (The Kells), John Sherman and Craig Caldwell (Aisling) in the background.
60.John Sherman and Craig Caldwell.
61.Members of Seven Nations and Gaelic Storm
62.
Waiting backstage
63.Deborah Colon (Changeling) and Mary Bertke (Aisling).
64.More backstage waiting (Randy Clepper and Karl Colon (Changeling))
65.
Pete Purvis (Gaelic Storm)
66.The Celtic Tenors
67.Paul from Brigid's Cross was the MC for the finale.
68.
Beth Patterson with Gaelic Storm
69.
Ditto
70.Dan Stacey and Jon Pilatzke - Step Crew (Seven Nations and Quagmire, respectively)
71.
Ditto
73.Craig and Tania Markley
74.
Seven Nations
75.Seven Nations
76.Paul with Seven Nations
77.Seven Nations
78.Kirk McLeod of Seven Nations
79.
Morton O'Kelly
80.Craig Markley
81.A big finish for the finale - everyone's on stage
82.A fantastic audience
83.Karl Colon (on right) with Dan Fedoryka - Scythian
84.
Karl Colon
85.
finale
86.
finale
87.
Mary Bertke (on right)
88.
finale
89.
finale
90.Finale
91.Andi Wolfe (Aisling)
92.
l to r: Craig Markley, Morton O'Kelly, Stuart Brand (Aisling)
93.
Morton O'Kelly
94.
Ed Norris and Peg (Brigid's Cross)
95.
Flutio (Brian McCoy) with Andi Wolfe (Aisling) and Michael Wolfe
96.
Flutio and admirers (Michael and his girlfriend, Elizabeth)
97.The final party for performers - nice food and good company. A great way to end the weekend.
98.Leks Fedoryka - Scythian, Charlie - one of the festival drivers, Ron Keller who is with Beth Patterson, and ?
99.The local crowd
100.
Bob and Billie Kirby
posted by Andi Wolfe at 8:45 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Andi - Great pictures!
I have some names to fill in for you....
#65 Pete Purvis, the piper for Gaelic Storm
#70 Dan Stacey and Jon Pilatzke - Step Crew (7N and Quagmire)
83 Dan Fedoryka - Scythian
98 Leks Fedoryka - Scythian, Charlie - one of the festival drivers, Ron Keller who is with Beth Patterson, and I'm stuck on the last guy.
Hope that helps!
Donna
Thanks, Donna!
Post a Comment
<< Home