more consonance highlights

Hearing Cynthia McQuillin for the first time. Cynthia McQuillin has always been one of the "filk legends" for me. Her name has been around forever, as has her music. We cover one of her songs, "Bring Me A Star" pretty regularly. One thing that really surprised me about seeing Cynthia's performance live was her sense of humour. She writes such beautiful ballads that I never guessed what an exquisitely sharp wit she has, especially with atrocious puns. :-) She and Dr. Jane gave a wonderfully entertaining concert.

Merav's concert: Merav claimed it was her first concert, but she seemed way too remarkably composed and organized! :-) I remember Urban Tapestry's first concert. None of us fainted or threw up, but it was a close thing. Merav also has a very clear, sweet voice that is a joy to listen to. You can see her Consonance report here.

Children's concert: Ironically, no children showed up for the concert, just adults. There were lots of around who were still children at heart, however. Performers: Urban Tapestry, Alan Thiesen, Dave Weingart, Mike Stein. We did our Banana Slug song (Allison had to do an emergency fix to one of the slug puppets who had lost an eye).

Gary's concert: Woohoo, Gary! My favourite part about Gary's concerts is his sheer enthusiasm. He puts so much energy into his performance that sometimes I think he's going to explode onstage. But he doesn't, which is a good thing, especially for the people in the front row.

Interfilk auction: I love Interfilk auctions, what can I say? I enjoy the fun interaction, quips, good-natured threats and silliness, all for a very good cause. Kathleen Sloan ran the auction this year, with Nick Smith as auctioneer. I believe that this particular auction set a West Coast record, raising US$2100. I bought the Joey Shoji chocolate package (yummmmmmmmmmmmm), half of which actually made it back to Toronto. The Urban Tapestry sweatshirt I made was auctioned off for US$300 (many thanks to Sandy Tyra!). And there was another auction item related to Urban Tapestry which was donated by Kathleen Sloan...

Our infamous Birthday Suit Polka Video:
When we were Northern Retreat (and Kevin Davies was part of the group) instead of Urban Tapestry, we did a highly embarrassing song called The Birthday Suit Polka, which we performed in a concert at FilKONtario about eight years ago. Jodi wore a Viking hat and would utter operatic screams every few measures. I provided background percussion by blowing raspberries in an "oom-pah-pah" rhythm whilst bobbing up and down. Allison and Jodi would link arms and do a little dance during the chorus. <long silence> It was definitely not one of our proudest moments. :-) During the auction, there were two hats being passed around. Paul collected money from those who wanted to see the video (Lynn Gold had generously provided a television monitor and VCR machine), and I collected money from those who wanted to see Urban Tapestry's dignity preserved and have the video NOT shown. Paul raised about $140. I raised about $40. Everything went to the Interfilk fund. After the money had been tallied, everyone gathered around the small television (see photo) and watched the video. Twice. Kathleen Sloan, wherever you are, Urban Tapestry will have our revenge someday! >:-)

Our Guest of Honour Concert: We had a lot of fun, mainly because the audience was so responsive. Allison, Jodi and I were a bit zoned (our concert didn't start until 12:30 am, which was 3:30 am Toronto time!), but the energy in the room was great. We ended up with some extra time, so threw in "Cuz He's A Guy", with Paul Kwinn adding the Guy vocals. Many thanks to Jane Mailander for being our Xena yell for "Battle On". :-) By the way, does anyone have a photo of us during our concert? If so, we'd love to get a copy.

Dave and Ellen Weingart: It was SO great to see Dave again, and to meet Ellen. I loved Ellen's dry wit...sure wish she lived closer to Toronto. Heck, New York isn't that far away! I'm hoping to be able to go visit sometime. It was way fun to perform with Dave in the children's concert (he has a great Harry Potter song) and on a song in his concert. My fave song from his set was his Iron Chef song...the song has even inspired Allison to try watching it!

Today's Blatherpics:

Some amazing origami animals (turtle, peacock, billy goat) made from dollar bills that were contributed by one of the attendees at our vocal arrangement workshop. Unfortunately I didn't get the guy's name, but apparently he was attending another convention at the hotel. Jane Mailander also gave us some wonder origami (she had a whole kit with her).

Merav in concert.

Gary Ehrlich.

Con attendees watch Urban Tapestry embarrass themselves during the Birthday Suit Polka.

John and Chris O'Halloran. A very friendly, gentle couple who were kind enough to pick us up at the airport. Our flight was delayed, and poor Chris had to wait several hours.

Ellen and Dave Weingart.