A Very Special Shirefest Thank You!
(Here's Luven trying really hard to not write a Huge Wall of Text)
Wow! What an amazing Shirefest!! I had a wonderful time, it was so much fun!!
Friday started off with Duidhrastir and I dedicating this years Shirefest to each and every single band was about to play, and each band that has ever played at Shirefest in the past.
Without the bands, there is no music! Again...thank you all for playing your music for us!!
Friday was filled with four new bands who had not played Shirefest before; KapATek aNaHuaC, The Midnight Owl Band, The Midget Banshees, and The Midnight Elves. And we were all very impressed! We hope to see all of them play more for us in the future! They set the bar pretty high for the entire weekend. And a raucous Bread & Jam followed that had the Green Dragon packed to capacity for hours!
The Flutterbyes started off our Saturday with "You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet"...soooo apt! And through the day it was hour after hour of awesome music all the way until past 2 in the morning with Savo Lass finishing up the night!
Sunday started with a surprise performance from Breakfast Club, during what would have been Elevenses, and at least to me, those hours just flew by. So many sets thinking, "But that was never one hour just now!". And the weekend ended with us nearly crashing the server with the enormous amounts of fireworks we set off to Mardi Gras Party Band playing their 1812 Overture encore! So many fireworks!
And the music still didn't stop, with an impromptu After Party down at the Green Dragon!
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Duidhrastir and I would like to thank a whole lot of people...
Thank you Phoenix and friends, for putting up with us the entire weekend, streaming the entire event. What an amazing performance of endurance and fortitude. I'm sure every band that played thanks you! We're glad to have you as part of our community! And, even if you weren't streaming, we were happy you were there, to chat and dance with us!
Thank you to everyone in Second Breakfast who helped us take on this colossal endeavor! Thank you Pontin, Kenghis, Applecider, Tanzee, and Larkssong for helping Duid and I emcee bands! I hope you had as much fun doing the intros as it looked like you did, and you all did amazing jobs! If any bands liked their intros, please send your emcee a quick "thanks!", they deserve it! Each emcee wrote their own intros, their kind words are really theirs. :)
Thank you to Dragonne, and anyone else who helped by being there and announcing and porting folks in! I saw a lot of names in WC dishing out info and invites when I was able to peek in for a bit here and there, I love how you Crickets are looking out for others.
Thank you for all those who made food and drinks, or passed out drums and fireworks and pipeweed. We haven't put much thought into those things lately, and we should. We promise to work on being more organized when it comes to some of the other areas of Shirefest, to make it easier and more fun for you to do the things you like to do to help.
And thank you to anyone who came to Shirefest to listen to and cheer on the bands! Our bands absolutely love being appreciated and listened to! Thank you to those in bands who came early to listen, and stayed late to hang out with us. I love you folks even when your not playing, you're all really awesome!
And of course, I personally would like to thank Duidhrastir once again, for doing this with me. You are one of a kind, Sir Duid. :)
Huge, huge apologies if I missed anyone, or misspelled a name, or had an hour off of some time. I've been running on caffeine and adrenaline all weekend. But I had sooo much fun!
I'm happy that Shirefest went so smoothly! Of course, with one such as Luventhariel pulling the strings, I'm not surprised!
You, Luventhariel, are one of a kind and I look forward to Shirefest and Winterfest every year because I know they'll be excellent events and because I get to work with you to make it happen!
Thanks for all you do and thanks to everyone who played a part, even if that part was showing up and hanging out all day! I love you all! Second Breakfast is more than a kinship for me. It's a second family!
Winterfest is next! I'm thinking before Christmas because I feel that having a yule party after Christmas takes away from the holiday feeling. That being said, I know that Christmas is a busy time of year for most folks but perhaps less busy with the situation happening all over the planet.
I'm pretty sure we've held Winterfest before Xmas in the past and I'm certain that we can pull it off this year too.
I'm going to come up with some ideas and post a new thread so we can discuss them !
Oh and seriously.. you all rock!
Thanks SO much for the hard work that went into this -- Shirefest was a blast. By next year, Applecider will have a better internet connection, and her game won't crash literally as she's walking up onstage to announce the next band ... :/
She even had good puns about Valinor :(
But the Fest was amazing, and that was, indeed, piles of work. <3 Well-done indeed. Hobbit Beers for everyone.
Vraia is a Big Fluffy Bear.
She is the housemate of ... Applecider (Hobbit Bard) / Elladahn (Elf Champion) / Ellrohier (Elf Hunter) / Anarlossë (Human Burglar)
Home is 1 Pleasant St, Buckbank, Shire Homesteads. Drop in!
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Thank you Luvey and Duidh for all of your hard work: planning, organizing, stage managing, emcee-ing.... and for everyone who helped out in any way. And of course, the most important part of Shirefest: The Bands! It was a fantastic, exciting, tiring weekend! Enjoy your congratulations and get some rest.
I had a wonderful time, and only wish that I could have helped out more. Yes, I am looking forward to Winterfest, but before that, I am looking forward to Weatherstock in July over on Landy.
I had the rare opportunity to play with Breakfast Club on Sunday Morning (RL scheduling/duties usually prevent), and that was a real pleasure. Thank you Daffin. As always, it was fun to play with Dulcet Tones. Thank you, Pontin, for all your hard work in preparing for this concert and for leading. Thank you, Bandmates, for the pleasure of playing with you. Thank you, Fiyalka, for singing to one of the Dulcet Tones songs. That was a delight.
*Cheers* and *Toasts* to Everyone who participated in Shirefest in any way, even if all you did was listen. Thank you for being there.
Belegaer (9); Evernight (23) - 1 Myrtle Court, Thatchacre; Gwaihir (18) - 6 Brookbank Street, Grassvale; Laurelin (25) - 5 Myrtle Court, Berrybridge; Sirannon (25) - 2 Wending Way, Thatchacre
Thank you Little Lark! :)
*blushes*
Belegaer (9); Evernight (23) - 1 Myrtle Court, Thatchacre; Gwaihir (18) - 6 Brookbank Street, Grassvale; Laurelin (25) - 5 Myrtle Court, Berrybridge; Sirannon (25) - 2 Wending Way, Thatchacre
Thanks for all the work, was great fun and was glad to help out :) I took some screenshots of the bands posted here https://secondbreakfast.guildlaunch.com/gallery/gallery_detail.php?gallery=214585