Winter Antifolk Fest 2005 Brought to you by Fortified

2/18/05

And so the Fest begins...

First up is Lance Romance who, coincidentally, was the final performer of the Summer 2004 Fest. There has been a delightful and slightly bizarre vibe to this year's Fest and Lance helped crank it up by performing his set standing on a chair onstage. I was busy behind the performers (Casey Holford on guitar) hanging the banner with it's spray painted announcement of the festival (silver on black). Lance's fun and funny set was followed by the return of Zane Campbell.
Zane played the very first Antifolk night at the original Fort back in the mid-eighties and he sounds stronger than ever and even had a new song for the occasion. Songs of drinkin and hard times limned with hope, a confluence of hillbilly and urban angst.
Paula Valstein appeard next with a joyous set, her beautiful voice and aura filling the room.
Next up, Timothy Dark's Darknight brought hip-hop to the night's eclectic mix as various rappers took turns in an exciting hootlike trade-off of songs.
Dan Penta of the band Cockroach knocked it out of the park with his understated set-up (various friends such as Amy Hills and Scott Loving taking turns joining in) delivering a strong set of songs that are still playing in my head day's later.
I played next and had a great time and happy to play the first night so I can just hang-out the rest of the week with thinking of the gig!
Thomas Truax closed out the night further kicking open the gates of chaos that Lance had initially creaked open. Truax's set was filled with strange homemade instruments, flashing colored magic rings and the eerie sound of a Theramin. These incantations of songs charmed the crowd and stirred up the air. Just after his set the weirdness increased as a customer staggered from the bar and walked right through the plate-glass door. Shattered glass and confusion spilled out onto the sidewalk and the resulting spinning red lights of sirens seemed an appropriate denoucement to Thomas's set. And yes, just a short time later the door of the Men's room fell off it's hinges in an odd show of solidarity to the upstairs bar door.