I went to Folklife this past Saturday. I haven’t been in a while. Part of that reason was I was being held captive in Florida by love gone wrong. When it finally ended up right, I came back to the homeland.
I arrived just in time for Folklife. I have always enjoyed this event. It is so Seattle. People from all walks of life come in the tens of thousands to listen to music and enjoy performances that range from the amazing to, well, let’s just say unique, including a guy in a rabbit suit playing a stand up bass, accompanied by a robot on keyboards. Like I said, unique.
Somehow, after all these years, Folklife remains free. For four days, everyone can enjoy a this community event that brings us all together in the spirit that is definitely uniquely Northwest. There are the hippies, the folkies, the families, the aged, every race, creed and color, all enjoying the day together.
Bumbershoot used to be like that too. I admit that I am unimpressed by Bumbershoot these days. Perhaps I’m no longer their demographic, but I’m not about to shell out $105 to see anyone on their roster of performers. I like Tony Bennett, but not that much. OK, so I’m not their demographic.
So, let others have Bumbershoot. I will still take Folklife any time.
My own band performed there for many years. I think five or six years, total. We were the Coachmen then, our civilian incarnation of our pirate band. We were really good and were actually pulling down some good money back then. Folklife was just one of the many venues we played, bringing to life the fun music of Peter, Paul and Mary and the Kingston Trio.
Being a performer is pretty fun, more fun than being a spectator, that’s for sure. I think it’s because back then you could get access to the VIP lounge where they had free beer. OK, so I am a total sellout. Any beer that’s free is good and any chance to drink free beer makes that event a pretty good one. Old pirate rules, what can I say?
While it seems like I’m nostalgic about how good we were and that the years have jaded me, I can safely say they didn’t. We still have videos of some of our performers. I think my favorite is still the kid’s show we did the one year. Our style of program involved all the kids. They participated in some of our songs, either flying, dancing, clapping or singing along. It made the stage manager on our particular stage absolutely batty. He was afraid a kid my trip over a mike cord or something, so he cut our act by about five minutes. He was resoundingly booed by a bunch of children and even though he tried to pump up the next act, a personal favorite of his, the vast majority of the audience left him high and dry. Take that, mister stand manager man!
In the middle of our Folklife run, we decided to take a year off. We still went to Folklife, but this time only as spectators. We had a moment of panic when we saw The Coachmen listed on the program again.
Big Nick hightailed it up to the registration area and got us The Coachmen performer buttons, which gave us access to the VIP lounge and free beer. Later, when we were at the stage “we” were performing at, we heard a member of our doppelganger band recounting the story of why they had so much trouble getting their performer buttons. Someone had snagged them, saying they were them. Now who would do a think like that? Pirate!!!
As we sat there, we heard our own set being played. It was a real out of body experience. What we didn’t know was there had actually at one time been a folk group called The Coachmen in Seattle. They were long gone, but came to Folklife for a reunion. This was the real Coachmen, so just briefly we wondered who the real doppelgangers were, them or us.
No matter. We were better than they were. They had obviously lost a step or two in the intervening years and their harmonies were off. They were better musicians, but they couldn’t hold an audience.
This was always our strength. We were fun to watch. Well, I should say we are still fun to watch. After all, The Coachmen/Pyrates Band/Knot for Sail has been around for 30 years now.
The Coachmen weren’t on the schedule this year. Yes, I checked. And no, I’m not performing this year, as the cutoff for performer apps occurred while I was still in Floriduh and they don’t really want out of state acts for the most part. So I will wait until next year and see if my old performer bones really want to do all the work it takes to put on a show.
Work? Well, kind of. We never really rehearsed, except the night before. We would gather at Bobby’s place and go through our songs a couple times. Mostly, we drank beer and laughed so hard that we found it nearly impossible to use our stomach muscles for singing, as they were in so much pain from our rehearsals. I have never laughed so hard.
And yes, I have those rehearsals on video too. Good times they were. And the funny thing is, the good times still continue on. While Animal is temporarily adrift in Floriduh still, Bobby and Cassie are nearby as is Pierre. Sir Nigel is not too far away and I bet I could guilt him to come in from Denver on a moment’s notice. And Big Nick? Well, he’s only 3 1/2 hours away in Portland.
Somehow I sense another chance or two to wow them at Folklife. The old gang still has it in them… I hope.
In the Emerald City, wondering where all the flowers have gone,
– Robb