Monday 20 February 2012

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

I've been in this country about two and a half months now, and in that time, I've managed to do two pretty cool things I didn't thing I'd be doing when I left Canada in September.

The first: I spent from December 11th-Jannuary 5th at the grounds of the largest folk music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the Woodford Folk Festival. There were over two thousand performances and something like one hundred and sixty thousand patrons over the course of 6 days. I found out about Woodford from Michelle, the Canadian girl I met in Samoa at Lalumanu Beach. Ann and I rocked into Sydney on a Wednesday, sent out our volunteer applications on a Thursday, got a call on Friday to come up (Woodford is a couple hours north west of Brisbane, which is 15 hours bus ride north of Sydney), and hopped on a Greyhound overnight, and then another bus once we got to Brizzy, as the locals call it, before finally getting to Woodford. We did two weeks of set up, getting free meals and accommodation on site, Ann was part of the Visual Arts department, and so, was helping paint and build things, while I did Organisers and Performers Camping, which basically entailed figuring out camping areas and helping artists get there. For a number of reasons, this turned out to be a lot more complicated that it should have been, and I wouldn't be lying if I said I was so relieved when the festival finally started, so I'll say it: I was so relieved when the festival finally started! And wow, what a time that was! There were so many amazing acts and performances I had the privelage of seeing- I got to go on the Mystery Bus!- including Xavier Rudd, who although I really enjoyed his music and the performance, there was one point he got a bit political, namely against mining, that left a bit of a sour taste on my tongue. Of course, when you're surrounded by a bunch of hippies, you keep your mouth shut. I also got to watch Gotye, Owl Eyes, Husky (in the Mystery Bus), Tin Pan Orange, Hanggai, a phenominal Canadian R&B artist Matt Anderson, and so, so many more. These artists I've mentioned are definitely worth checking out!

Ah so the Mystery Bus, what is it? It's an old city bus that's been turned into a venue. Being such a small stage, there's really only room for two mics and the singers and a guitarist/drum box percussionist squeezed into the corner. The mystery of the Mystery Bus is that they don't schedule or announce artists who're going to play for it, you just show up for the ten minute set.

Basically, it was a week of living in Wonderland. There's a lot of work that goes into it to making it look and feel really top notch, and it was quite sad when it was all said and done. But then, it was time to move on!

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