milwaukee irish fest 2010
after having been to the dublin irish fest in dublin, ohio (which gets over 105,000 people over 3 days) one would have THOUGHT i would have bee semi-prepared for the size and scope of the milwaukee irish fest! guess again! this festival is THE largest irish fest in the WORLD, reaching numbers of 200,000 over 4 days!
the festival is very nice as all of the stages are isolated from each other (so music doesn’t spill over) and very weel organized! but those are not what draw so many to this event. it is THE AMAZING lineup of musicians! this year the line-up ran from the different drums of ireland (which i missed and regretted having done soafter what i heard!), gaelic storm (who ALWAYS pake the stage they play), scythian (who RETIRED the famous pink sweater), the screaming orphans (ALWAYS great fun to see), the amazing band slide, along with some new ones to me including the red hot chili pipers (yes, you read that right – NOT peppers).
the hotel party was especially good, and can’t wait for the 2011 version! for more of the photos, look HERE
cleveland irish fest 2010
why is is ALWAYS so hot when this fest rolls around every year? not only is the temperature hot, but so is the music. this year saw the screaming orphans, seven nations, and eileen ivers & immigrant soul return, but scythian made it’s cleveland irish fest debut.
all seemed to be going well until mother nature decided we needed a little liquid cooling off (okay, a lot of liquid cooling off). this did create one of the coolest things to happen at one of these festivals when the sisters from donegal, the screaming orphans, being unable to perform on the rock stage due to the wetness and electricity (never a good combo), decided to do an impromptu acoustic set underneath the grandstand.
fall foliage
Posted by markphoto in cleveland, landmarks, nature/scenics on 2009/10/24
one of the advantages (okay, probably the ONLY advantage) of having a wetter than normal summer here in ohio is the results that we get to see in october (since god only knows when we will see baseball again around here this time of year!)
here are some photos from brandywine falls area and the north chagrin metropark.
to see more photos, here they are.
pittsburgh irish fest 2009
trying to find the pittsburgh irish fest was not quite as easy as it had been in the past, but after heading east out of town, through a neighborhood, across the river, and behind a costco and other shopping, we finally found it. it did not help that the city of pittsburgh is preparing for the G20 summit in a couple of weeks, so there was a bit of construction. once we got there, we found they have a nice little setup there (except for a 25-minute wait TO GET TICKETS!). after we got in, the place was laid out nicely with the main stages on opposite ends and the main stage having picnic tables around and a lawn to sit on.
gaelic storm, always fun, was the first band we got to see, and of course picked on the browns (although there were a lot of clevelanders there). over to the other stage we went to catch scythian get the whole tent up and moving. then back to the main stage to catch the great sounds of slide.
slide was just such a GREAT combination of musicianship, energy (provided mostly by the whirling dervish known as daire bracken), very nice vocals by a 22-year old dave curley, and some great soundwork by a very nice chloe nagle (who has the greatest accent that even sally said she could listen to for a long while).
for more pictures from the day, find them HERE
dublin irish fest 2009
and as another weekend of the dublin irish fest has come and gone, and i try to wrap my head around all the fun things and amazing music (and musicians) that happened over the weekend, i will try to put it all down in a few words. when dave and i got down there, the first band up was the screaming orphans (i just love that name!). when the 4 sisters get an audience going, they are incredibly fun to watch (and are extremely nice, too!) next up was scythian. i swear, if you could find some way to collect the energy they generate, there would be no use for nuclear power! these guys can get a crowd going something fierce! and throw in that pink sweater (those of you who were there know what i mean) and they just set the fashion world afire, too! 
scythian also had an amazing knack for bringing out the photographers! (and some damn good ones, too!!!
next up, the prodigals, always a crowd favorite, kept the pace at a great clip, and had one of the better light shows that i have seen in the few years that i have been coming to this festival. gregory and the boys kept things moving along like a downhill car with no brakes. by the time gaelic storm hit the stage the crowd was worked up into a fevered pitch that you almost could not hear yourself think. gaelic storm played on the main stage this year, as they were only doing one night (before leaving for IOWA!), so imagine our surprise to find them at the bar at the end of the evening!!
Day 2 (Saturday)
definitely a take to take the morning easy, i finally strolled over to the festival mid afternoon to catch a great set by the young dubliners (but, then again, how could it not be a great set!) personally, i get the double bonus of them being very photogenic (evidence below and via links). after their set, it was nice hanging with jada and her bundle of joy (with hair on his head that most guys are VERY jealous of!) then i wandered over to catch a VERY pleasant surprise of the songwriters circle with gregory grene and dave fahey of the prodigals. (i say very pleasantly surprised, because it was great hearing the stories BEHIND the music!)
later in the evening, scythian wound up the crowd again, to have the prodigals bring saturday night to a great finish (at least at the festival site). NOW, onto the bar scene… TWO WORDS… JOEY KNUCKLES!!!! this was then followed by keith knuckles, so that by the end of the night, almost everybody had one name or the other across their knuckles. did we mention this was in a BAR????
Day 3 (Sunday)
okay, time to hit the great bands that i have been hearing of, but have not had a chance to see. first up, salsa celtica, a 13-piece band combining salsa and celtic music (nothing quite like conga drums horns, & a banjo!) these guys ROCKED! everything i had been hearing over the weekend was true! what was even more amazing, was that they had a fill-in violinist (daire from the band slide) who spent over 3 hours learning salsa celtica’s songs! then it was over to the stage to see another great band, slide! I don’t know how daire was able to go through ANOTHER set, but boy did he. these guys were fantastic (i’m sure aided by their really nice sound-person, chloe 
).
next up for me, la bottine souriante, the other band i had been hearing great things about. well, they lived up to the hype, too, doing a great set led by the amazingly personable benoit borque and sandy silvia on “percussive dance”
for the finale, having bands with such unique backgrounds (and not all had truly “irish” in them) a little effort was needed in coming up with a song that would work for everybody. after a little work, “tell me ma” was settled on for the finale, to bring a great close to another amazing event.
for pictures from friday, go HERE
for pictures from saturday, go HERE
for pictures from sunday, go HERE
cleveland irish fest 2009
Another Cleveland Irish Fest has come and gone, and another good time was had by all in attendance. It was great seeing the whole Celtborg group who gathered to hear the sounds of Seven Nations, Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, The Prodigals, and a new one for me, The Screaming Orphans. Unfortunately, we were not treated to a performance by Officer Dave (unless you count pretending to arrest Seven Nations) and I missed the photo opportunity of Colin Donahue PLAYING with 7N (but did catch him singing with them!) Until next year at CICF…
For more pictures from the weekend, click HERE
ingenuityfest 2009
beginning with the drums of the drum circle, ingenuity fest 2009 was kicked off with a VERY rhythmic sound of all types of drums, steel drums, bongos, marching band percussion, irish bagpipes and drums, and ONE fiddle! it turned into an amazing collection of music, art (terry durst’s piece called “ciao” was interesting!), performance art (lisa lock performing agua dulce in the water fountain at the bank) dance (morrison dance company did a really cool piece with NASA’s help), a giant “sparky” robot that caught fire, and an audience participation band from austin, texas called peachcake. cant wait to see what the other days bring… see what else was happening here.
Parade The Circle 2009
If you have never been to Parade The Circle, you are missing one of the most amazing things in Cleveland. Every year starting at the Cleveland Art Museum, a parade of artistic characters traverse the entire circle around Wade Oval and all of the museums in the area. They have many things for the kids, and it is just a really nice thing for the city. To see more photos from the day, look HERE
