So I may or may not have mentioned to all of you, but Buskerfest was this past weekend.......and it was AWESOME!!!........and the fact that at this moment I feel as though I've been training for a marathon, does not deminish my over all feeling of accomplishment and glee at a job well done. The 2005 festival was, without a doubt, a smashing success.
This blog entry will highlight the talents and antics of three of our seven ubber talented performers.
Dan the One Man Band, a crowd favourite from Buskerfest 2004, returned to once again share his charm, slightly bent humour, amazing music and a couple of shots of "Janis".
As a big supporter of original music, I was happy to see Dan perform some of his own material this year...I bought his C.D....and a t-shirt.....and the crowd loved it as well. He signed some autographs, sang some Britney Spears, recited a portion of "Shrek" and had kids (and one crazed fan) in tow during every performance.
I would love to break the Busker Festival unwritten rule and have Dan back for our third year. The crowds love him, the Buskerfest organizers love him, he has a lot of funky hats and he made no children cry.
A velvet-voiced camel and a lap-dancing temptress were Mr. Bunk's travelling companions during his first appearance in Sault Ste. Marie. When I met him at the airport, his first question to me was, "So what's the big industry in Sault Ste. Marie?" to which I responded, "Drinking" much to the dismay of a certain Buskerfest Committee member....oh well....
The first half of Mr. Bunk's show is completely silent, during which he pranks on unsuspecting audience members with water pistols, lolly pops (he's a genius with a lolly pop) and maybe a mouse trap or two.....an hillarious example of improv at its best.
With a change of his shirt, he finds his voice and thus begins the audience participation portion of the Mr. Bunk show. Offering a variety of dance lessons, the chance to showcase limbo abilities and the opportunity to be a part of the sexiest lap dance-card trick combo I have ever witnessed, his show demands attention.
The audience is then privy to an amazing display of Mr. Bunks stunt-comedy genius as he fumbles and bumbles his way onto the slack rope to take a stroll and juggle some fire....an awesome show full of variety, laughs and the unexpected....and he....well...he did make one child cry.....damn lolly pops.....
The second musical act of Buskerfest 2005, Junkyard Symphony are captivating in more ways than one. Every female within sight of the stage is immediately entranced by their dashing good looks and infectious drum grooves created on kits made entirely out of recycled materials. They even come supplied with their own "applause" sign....an old "Cheer" laundry detergent box....brilliant.
Trashcan Tony and Junkyard Jonny start the show by demonstrating their percussion skills as they play junk together. A short pause is taken to educate the audience about the hand signals that will be used during their performance so that spectators may participate with out verbal instruction....and the drumming continues.
Tony beats a constant rythum as Jonny (with some help from the audience) performs a series of balancing stunts, tricks, dancing, juggling and the chugging of some strange pink liquid. I later found out it is a combination of water and fruit juice.
They are talented, earth-friendly, handsome, funny and they drive a crazy "Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine" like van. Junkyard Symphony made no children cry....maybe a few ladies, though.....
Stay tuned, folks, for my continuing coverage of Buskerfest 2005. Four more acts will be profiled as well as some behind the scenes stories and out takes......
4 comments:
Here I am.
Basically here from rabsteens. My main point (without making another blog about it all) is that I thought last year was better than this year. But it could have been I had high expectations for this year etc.
I didn't see the start of Mr. Bunk and arrived when he was grabbing the first guy from the audience.
The Native culture was understandable especially for our area and I think it's good for people to be exposed to it but like I said over at Rabsteen's blog I grew up with weekly elder visits during elementary school and we also had pow-wows etc around the big tree in Holy Angel's yard. Also attending Algoma U I was exposed to some more cultural aspects etc.
The physical fitness of the trampoliners was outstanding but it just seemed like they were forcing the comedy at times and to me it seemed like "Sam" was forcing the "idiot" role too much as well -- different voice etc. I'm sure it works for the kids etc but maybe I expect too much -- I'm sort of a "comedian/actor" myself -- sort of ;). Once again, we left before I think they really picked it up -- they just started with "Sam" "learning to trampoline" as we were walking away. (that sounds so bad now hehe). But it was good to have Olympic calibre athletes come to the Soo.
Don't get me wrong -- I didn't totally hate my time there I was just giving some "other" feedback on the event. I think Buskerfest is something the Soo definitely needs and would like to see more of it (ie/ year after year) and other sorts of events like it pop up around town. Just not sure if people in the Soo will follow it year after year (you know how Sooite's get haha).
So basically to sum up my opinions. Junkyard Symphony A+ -- saw them Sunday first show. Mr. Bunk (saw 2nd half of the show) -- I'll give him an A for the audience participation part -- I felt sorry for them near the end holding that rope for so long though.
Fasthorse (Saturday after an already long day of doing some other things) and Spring Action (sunday afternoon) - I'll give both a B for the effort and the fact I only saw maybe 25-50% of each of their shows.
I do sound sinister but I'm really not. I think I just didn't get the "umph" I was expecting again -- the crowds for my times there seemed a bit smaller too so that might have been a part of it.
(now it's like I made a blog post on 3 people's blogs -- and I didn't post here before as I already made that HUUUGE one on Rabsteen's but now I've done it again)
...that's cool...FYI, I believe we had twice as many people this year than we did last year...maybe your negative energy drove the people away and made the performers suck ;)...teehee...
I am known for the "Curt O'Neil Effect" (ask Belsito and West ;)).
I know it was smaller on Sunday as it was first show and I think we went in the night last year and this time we went during the day.
PS: Sorry for the ramble TEEHEE
I think Buskerfest needed more bagpipes.
Maybe next year, if I can contact the right people in time....
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