We also had a great time, (as you probably gathered from Kendall)although I probably should have gone to more workshops and concerts, since I'd paid for them. But it was so pleasant under the big tarp in the shade, picking and singing and beering...

Here is the text that I printed on the back of my feedback sheet (in a very small font, obviously):


Gripes and Whines: (NOTE: These are gripes and whines from people who think Old Songs is the best festival anywhere in the Northeast, and intend to continue going indefinitely, unless it goes to hell. But we'd just as soon it didn't go to hell, so we feel we should point out what we perceive as weaknesses.

1) We got camping in the "noisy at night" area so that we could sit around and sing and play in the evening. But "noisy at night," before, always meant noisy because of the campers themselves. The sound levels at the evening concerts were so high, and there was so little separation between the yellow camping area and the main stage, that, a lot of the time, you couldn't do your own music in the camping area because the evening concerts drowned it out.

2) While I think of it, what IS this thing with old English "folk"-rock? If I wanted to be deefened, I'd have gone to a rock festival and have done with it. Can we have folk music next year? (Yes, you had Chris and Bridget and Mike Seager and some others who were great. But I bet I know where you blew most of the budget. Trying to get "names" that were supposed to attract more people than the folk music community, in hopes of making more money, nearly wiped out the Champlain festival, a few years ago. Be afraid.)

3) "Mosquitoes was bitin' my nose, and crawdads was nibblin' my toes...." Well, okay, there weren't any crawdads. But there were so many mosquitoes that crawdads were completely unneccessary. I don't remember really serious bug problems at night at any previous Old Songs. This could mean either that there were prior bug problems, but I've blocked them out of my memory; that this year was a fluke of weather conditions, etc.; or (I think most likely) that the field where they set up the new camping area is low enough ground that it breeds a great deal more bugs than the infield ever could. I don't know what you can do about this. If you spray the area with anything toxic enough to do any good, the folkies will panic and run in all directions. Repellant is a BAD idea if you play a wooden instrument with any kind of finish on it. But you ought to warn people who camp there. Some of 'em might be more sensitive to bug bites than average.

4) How come the people with the RVs got all the shady spots in the trees? Did they pay a lot more?

It's the same the 'ole world over, It's the poor as gets the sun. While the rich has all the shady spots. It ain't no f***in' fun!

5) Lose the wristbands. It's too much like being in a concentration camp, and a lot of us who pick find anything confining the wrists and hands to be a nuisance. Or if you just use them instead of buttons because they're cheaper, give them to people and let them display them as they wish, rather than telling the gate people to force them onto peoples' wrists. I much prefer the buttons you've used a lot of years. They're great souvenirs, too. Sure, a few people will hand them around in order to sneak in without paying. But I'm sure it won't be enough to seriously impact your cash flow. The great majority of folk music people are sickeningly honest as long as they're treated honestly. Haven't you ever been in a music store with the rock CDs in locked cases and the folk CDs in open ones?

6) Every year, the main bathroom seems to close just when it's most needed. If you always have enough people to crash the septic system, why not have the honeydippers on call for Saturday evening or so. Sure, they'd charge extra for coming out on a weekend, but if you have the kind of attendance to cause you to need them, you should have enough cash flow to pay.


Good Points:

1) The expansion of the camping areas out into the field, and the use of reserved designated camping spaces, was, IMO, a good idea, even if the State forced it on the organizers. There was no need to rush to be there when the gates opened, in order to get a good space, and there was room to move around without tripping over your neighbors' tent stakes. And you could sleep without being kept awake by the snoring, or the children fighting (with each other or their parents) in the tent three feet from you.

2) There were porta-potties within a reasonable distance of the camping. For this, every male over 50 with the slightest hint of BPH (which means almost every male over 50) thanked you at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

3) The annual rainstorm never happened. But I don't know if the management can claim credit for this - unless they're willing to accept blame for the rainstorms in all the prior years.

Peter.