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once more to Bristol
Aug. 19th, 2006 08:06 pmThis time was light-years different than last weekend's gig.
We arrived at Cotswold Commons at the appointed time to meet with the Bride & Groom. (Ok - it was a vows renewal after 11 years but it was easier to think of it as a wedding)
Then we waited.
and waited.
and waited.
When the gates opened and there was no sign of anyone involved in the event except those who worked for the Faire, we gt a bit concerned. Finally the mother of the bride showed up around 10:15 and reassured us that yes we DID have the right day.
Everything ran really late, and there was a lot of scurrying about, but the love was obvious. All the friends pitched in, no one threw fits of any kind, and somehow it all got taken care of.
Given the large amount of frantic running about - the bride was hauling tables at one point - I decided that it might be nice to sing "Irish Blessing" for them before the ceremony, and J&J ageed. It ended up being a really nice moment - we sang just for the couple, but everyone listened, and it ended up being a sort of time-out and re-focusing for them which I think they really needed. Then I said "OK - let's go do this" and was rewarded with the biggest smiles I saw on the couple all day.
Things went off pretty much without a hitch from that point on. There were at least 4-6 people hanging out by where we were stationed listening at any given time, and we gave them a lot of the sillier stuff too - even saw some lighters when people realized we were playing 'Freebird', and lots of the guests told is that we were "awesome", and we even sold some CDs.
Knowing the faire's schedule helps a LOT, because I was able to time our breaks around the other things going on around, and preventing the couple from starting to cut the cake just as the rifle salute for the Queen's Entrance began for example. Plus, every time the Court paraded by I made sure we were playing one of the dances we used to play for them - a little musical "neener-neener" if you will. So a good show, lots of compliments, and we got paid in cash!
(A side note - saw a guy we know from the Reveler's Guild - now Sir Phillip Sidney in Court on crutches. Turns out that last Saturday, while dancing a challenge galliard, he came down funny and broke his leg! EEP! He was in happy-Vicodin-land, though, and we were tying to come up with all sorts of different things he could tell different people about how he got hurt - all very heroic, of course)
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jmthane was very helpful in toting stuff to the new place so now 3 tubs of assorted electronics/computers, a TV, 2 mirrors and my Scotch collection now safely reside there. I'm back at the old place to catch up on LJ, and then it's over to do a load of laundry and then some more packing before heading back for the night. Tomorrow is crunch time - I HAVE to be all packed, and it's going to take work but I'm pretty sure I'll get it done on time.
But not if I don't get to the laundromat before it closes....
We arrived at Cotswold Commons at the appointed time to meet with the Bride & Groom. (Ok - it was a vows renewal after 11 years but it was easier to think of it as a wedding)
Then we waited.
and waited.
and waited.
When the gates opened and there was no sign of anyone involved in the event except those who worked for the Faire, we gt a bit concerned. Finally the mother of the bride showed up around 10:15 and reassured us that yes we DID have the right day.
Everything ran really late, and there was a lot of scurrying about, but the love was obvious. All the friends pitched in, no one threw fits of any kind, and somehow it all got taken care of.
Given the large amount of frantic running about - the bride was hauling tables at one point - I decided that it might be nice to sing "Irish Blessing" for them before the ceremony, and J&J ageed. It ended up being a really nice moment - we sang just for the couple, but everyone listened, and it ended up being a sort of time-out and re-focusing for them which I think they really needed. Then I said "OK - let's go do this" and was rewarded with the biggest smiles I saw on the couple all day.
Things went off pretty much without a hitch from that point on. There were at least 4-6 people hanging out by where we were stationed listening at any given time, and we gave them a lot of the sillier stuff too - even saw some lighters when people realized we were playing 'Freebird', and lots of the guests told is that we were "awesome", and we even sold some CDs.
Knowing the faire's schedule helps a LOT, because I was able to time our breaks around the other things going on around, and preventing the couple from starting to cut the cake just as the rifle salute for the Queen's Entrance began for example. Plus, every time the Court paraded by I made sure we were playing one of the dances we used to play for them - a little musical "neener-neener" if you will. So a good show, lots of compliments, and we got paid in cash!
(A side note - saw a guy we know from the Reveler's Guild - now Sir Phillip Sidney in Court on crutches. Turns out that last Saturday, while dancing a challenge galliard, he came down funny and broke his leg! EEP! He was in happy-Vicodin-land, though, and we were tying to come up with all sorts of different things he could tell different people about how he got hurt - all very heroic, of course)
jmthane was very helpful in toting stuff to the new place so now 3 tubs of assorted electronics/computers, a TV, 2 mirrors and my Scotch collection now safely reside there. I'm back at the old place to catch up on LJ, and then it's over to do a load of laundry and then some more packing before heading back for the night. Tomorrow is crunch time - I HAVE to be all packed, and it's going to take work but I'm pretty sure I'll get it done on time.But not if I don't get to the laundromat before it closes....