Post-Consonance

I’m sorry, but I was just having too good a time at Consonance to worry about blogging. So here is a rather concise summary.

Friday was very much spent how I normally spend convention Fridays – hanging out and meeting folk. A surprising number of people I had met before, and after a few hours I felt that many others seemed like old friends too. I sat in on the Friday night filking, and saw it through to 2:40am.

Saturday: got up too late for breakfast, but Starbucks saved the day. Ran through my set in my room, then tried to forget about it until the time. Fate (or the concom) were kind to me – lately it seems I have been always following either GOH or otherwise notable acts. This time I was on before Joe Giacoio and Carla Ulbrich, for which I was very grateful.

On taking the stage I found I was also blessed with a Debbie Ohi smiling at me from the centre of the front row. Who can fail to perform with Debbie there, beaming encouragement at you?

The set went very well, a few fluffs, but nothing to detract from people having fun. Although I had chords and lyrics at hand for emergencies (covered by my setlist to stop my eye from automatically seeking them out), I only needed to refer to them once, to prompt me for a starting chord. So it was virtually off-book, and I did feel it helped me connect with the audience.

After my set, I had to head for the bar for a while, as is my custom, so I missed part of Joe and Carla’s set – what I did see confirmed to me how lucky I was to have gone before them.

My evening hosted circle, themed on “Moving Pictures”, was less successful. I think that people found the topic limiting, even though I did try to open it out to open filkling once or twice. However, a few people stayed throughout (thank you – you know who you are!), and I used it as a opportunity to get an early night.

On Sunday I held my workshop on unfinished filksongs and what to do with them. Not being practised in giving workshops, I was a little anxious in anticipation of this, but it turned out to be fine, with brilliant moral support from Joey and Lara, and good participation from everybody else, I found myself enjoying it. (No, that does not mean I am volunteering to run it again).

All too soon, the weekend was at an end. I left the evening circle at just after 1:00am and headed for bed.

Thank you, Consonance, for having me as a guest. I had a really terrific time, and will definitely try to come back again, sometime. Thanks to everybody who made me feel so welcome, and especially those of you who made sure I stopped occassionally to eat something!