|
26 Jun 01 - 05:29 PM (#492472) Subject: Calgary Folk Festival From: John Nolan Anybody going to the Calgary Folk Festival at the end of July? And any advice or information from previous attendees beyond the website blurbs? |
|
26 Jun 01 - 05:34 PM (#492475) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: Clinton Hammond oh man do I ever wish I was gonna be there!!! |
|
01 Jul 01 - 08:31 PM (#496177) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: Barry Finn Hi John, I'd like to hear on this too. Line up looks to be great. Barry |
|
01 Jul 01 - 10:15 PM (#496230) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: John Nolan Hi Barry, there's still time for you to come. We're flying into Minneapolis and then driving through North Dakota and Montana. Firstly, I'd like to hear what bars the inquisitive traveler should visit on the way and which in downtown Calgary to hit after 11 p.m. Oh yeah, and Stephanie said something about finding a decent place to have breakfast. Make that brunch. |
|
02 Jul 01 - 11:32 AM (#496613) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: GUEST,Bardford Hi John, here is an incomplete list of pubs and bars you might want to check out in Calgary. The Folk festival is held on Prince's Island, on the Bow River. Directly south from the Island is Eau Claire, a kind of up-market shopping/condo/restaraunt/hotel area with a number of bars: Fionn MacCools at the Sheraton Hotel - corporo-celtic, but can host some fine music. Barley Mill - busy, loud; often live music. Another bar has replaced the defunct Hard Rock cafe, but I don't know what it is. A few blocks south you will find Stephen Avenue. Among other establishments, you'll find the James Joyce Pub here. Large, yet cosy; loud, yet intimate. Good sessions, pricey beer. Also downtown - Ceiligh's- multi-level Irish concept pub. ( It seems you can't get a pub building permit in this town unless it's going to be Irish *BG*) Cowboys-big beer, big breasts. North and west of Prince's Island is the Kensington area , where you will find, guess what, more Irish/Celtic pubs. Molly Malone's, Kilberry's. I like the Tullamore, upstairs on Kensington and tenth. One of the first, and a supporter of trad music. (They have a sister pub in Inglewood [9 ave. SE] called Tipperray House.) Also in Kensington - The Kensington Pub, Bass Brothers, and Original Joe's, which has live music. There is also an Original Joe's in Marda Loop (33 Ave SW), where you will find the Karma Local Arts house, a great supporter of live acoustic/folk/roots music. This is by no means an exhaustive survey. Oh, the King Edward Hotel. Every town in Canada has had a King Edward hotel, methinks. 'Calgary's Home of the Blues'. Just like it says. Visit now before they knock it down to build an underpass. Hope this helps, Have a safe journey, and enjoy the festival. Cheers, Bardford BTW, how much time will you spend before/after the event? There is the South Country Fair in Fort MacLeod the weekend before Calgary. Good lineup. Fort MacLeod is a couple hours south of Calgary. |
|
02 Jul 01 - 09:24 PM (#497093) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: John Nolan Bardford: Thanks very much for your posting. It's heartening to know that Calgary is more oasis than desert. Methinks think we (my wife Stephanie and I) are just going to be in town for the four festival days and maybe the Monday. We'll surely check out the Tullamore, the James Joyce and Original Joe's, at least. We are instantly recognizable, by the way. I will be holding a beer and she will have two shopping bags. Shame on me, I don't have a Mudcat T-shirt, but am partial to one with a sickle crossed with a frothy pint that reads, "The revolution starts when the pubs close." Introduce yourself - you're certainly due a malt. |
|
02 Jul 01 - 11:42 PM (#497182) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: GUEST,Bardford John: Glad to help. Calgary is indeed quite an oasis, for folk music anyway. Although many of the night clubs have pretty much replaced live music with guys that come in and play their records for you, there are a few venues that actively promote live players. Also enough interest here to keep four or five folk clubs running to capacity in the fall/winter/spring season. And the festival, of course. Try Wild Rose Brown Ale. Local brew, not bad. Cheers, Bardford |
|
03 Jul 01 - 09:07 AM (#497408) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: Alice John, what's the website address? The Calgary festival is a possibility for me. If other Mudcatters will be there, I would like to get together with them. Alice |
|
03 Jul 01 - 10:00 AM (#497458) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: Bardford Alice: Here you are. Calgary Folk Festival Bardford |
|
14 Aug 01 - 08:54 PM (#528218) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: John Nolan In case anyone is thinking about Calgary Folk Festival in 2002, here are some thoughts on the 2001 event, just past. The festival setting: On an island (public park) in the heart of downtown Calgary, which now has a population approaching a million people and some of the most beautifully designed tower blocks I have ever encountered - making walking a delight. The island park is spacious enough to easily accomodate the approximately 8,000-10,000 people who attended on each of the four days. The main stage is a bit low, but there is a four-inch high chair rule that almost everyone adheres to, so it is still possible for bums like me to sit in the beer garden at the rear and see the performers. The sound systems for the main stage, and each of the five workshop stages leave little to be desired. The crews of sound engineers know their stuff. On a few occasions the sound from one workshop would impinge on another during a lull between tunes, but this would be hard to rectify, based on space confines and varying decibel outputs. The cost of decent beer was extremely reasonable - about $1.65 American for a generous plastic beaker, with pitchers also available for even cheaper per cup. (Compare this to $5 per rotten beer on a recent Irish folk cruise out of Boston harbor.) Wine by the beaker or bottle was also available. Food vendors dished up great platefuls of Indian curry, thick ungreasy unhamburgers, and mountains of kettle corn for bargain prices. So high marks for booze and vittals. Among the 30 Main Stage attractions were David Byrne, Billy Bragg, Dougie McLean, Cowboy Junkies and Buckwheat Zydeco among others. Byrne and Bragg were particularly enjoyable for me (although all had their legions of fans.) However, it was at the workshops that the festival really excelled. My favorite was called "I Have The Right To Dissent" and featured, apart from Billy Bragg, a remarkable song writer from Quebec called David Francey (along with two fine musicians.) Francey may be the best modern day folksong writer since Ewan McColl. And the biggest surprise of the festival was Geoff Berner, a skeptical accordian playing songwriter from Vancouver. He comes to the fringes of folk, he says, via a Jewish upbringing and punk rock. If you accept that compositions like Porn Star Girlfriend can be enjoyed as 21st century folk songs (great tune, wickedly cynical lyrics) you should keep your eye open for him. He has toured in places like Norway and Germany, and is hopeful of an Arts Council grant to tour Europe again. Eliza Carthy (with blonde hair that week) and her band also acquitted themselves very well - her accordian player is inspired. Sarah Wheeler, a hot shit from Vancouver - and a friend of Geoff Berner's) - was great too, with her acoustic raunchy/aggressive folk-rock songs.Then, from further afield were Tri-Continental, Australia Calling. Plus Daniel Koulack and the Knappen St. Allstars must win a mention for tunes that incorported what looked like a soprano sax and a frailing banjo. In short, what a satisfyingly fresh and well organized event. Kudos to the 900 volunteer organizers. Accomodation was another delight. A 35-story luxury hotel within easy walking distance of the island offered, in a festival deal, suites (bedroom, livingroom and kitchen) for $63 American per night. And handily situated between the hotel and the festival was the fine Fionn MacCool's as recommended by Bardford (see above). |
|
14 Aug 01 - 09:42 PM (#528244) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: sophocleese Sounds like you had a great time John. I haven't heard some of the newer artists you saw there but I will agree with your description of David Francey. He's excellent! We had him for a concert here in the spring and I bought his first CD. He came for Mariposa and I got his second one. I think it would only be by very stern effort that you don't keep singing "Thought I heard a redwing blackbird, redwing blackbird, redwing blackbird down my road." after hearing it sung once. |
|
14 Aug 01 - 11:03 PM (#528306) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: John Nolan There isn't a mediocre track on Francey's first CD, sophocleese. Every time I play it a different song gets locked in my head. Gypsy Boys, Working Poor, Torn Screen Door, Border Line, Hard Steel Mill, Long Way Home, etc. etc. I have just ordered his second CD from www.davidfrancey.com. At Calgary, too, he sang a powerful song for the first time (just completed) called "No More Wishes at the Wishing Well, prompted by the grotesque media circus surrounding the execution of the Oklahoma bomber. We'll have to wait for a third CD for that one. |
|
16 Aug 01 - 10:45 AM (#529209) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: GUEST,John Leeder I forwarded this thread to the festival organizers -- Kerry Clark (Associate Producer) was delighted. Nice to see kind words about the city as well. (I'm part of the "good sessions" at the James Joyce. There's a good one at the Tipperary now as well.) |
|
05 May 05 - 02:04 PM (#1478810) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: GUEST,Brendan in Calgary If anyone is ever in Calgary, Alberta and is interested in enjoying pints over the sound of live Celtic music, there are several sessions that would be of interest: 1)a relaxed (and relaxing) session at the James Joyce Pub on 8 Avenue runs every Saturday afternoon from 2pm to 5:30pm; 2)Fionn Macool's near Eau Claire has a ripping session on Wednesday nights from 9pm to about 1am; 3)Shillelagh's Pub on Signal Hil NW has a session band that usually plays on Thursday nights from 8pm onwards. These are the major ones that are running at the current time in our fine city, and there are also a handful of folk music festivals that feature Celtic craic in and around the city in the summer months. I look forward to seeing some of you around! |
|
25 Jun 05 - 01:06 PM (#1509554) Subject: RE: Calgary Folk Festival From: GUEST,John Nolan Brendan: I'll be in Fionn Macool's on Thursday, July 21 and for three nights thereafter, following the folk festival's closing acts. There is a great four-day line up this year, including Waterson/McCarthy, Mary Gauthier, Iris DeMent, the Indigo Girls, Ron Hynes, Dochas and Jackie Leven from Scotland, the McGarrigles, Steve Earle and dozens of other suberb performers. www.calgaryfolkfest.com for the full list ... The Arrogant Worms, the Wailin' Jennys, but unfortunately not David Francey, whom the festival organizers seem to be deliberately shunning, despite his two Juno awards and a nomination for a third. He is possibly being punished for writing The Streets of Calgary, about the working girls outside the Westlin Hotel ... but nah ... that would be censorship! |