Irish Fest in Weston

Na na na na na na: all ye people. . .

So we went on our mini-weekend. Loved Seven Nations, of course. We arrived on Friday afternoon at about four-thirty and were not prepared for the cold. This was the first fall weekend and the weather was quite chilly. We carried our stuff into the bed and breakfast, which was not in the country as we had assumed from the website, and got ready to go out again.

The Irish Festival was located in a very small town, much like the one I grew up in, about 40 minutes north of Kansas City. Apparently the Civil War came out this way a bit because Weston is a historic Civil War town as well. Anyway, I was all gussied up for the concert that I thought was at seven o'clock indoors, but as it turns out, it was at nine-thirty outdoors. I was not dressed for the weather.

Brandon and I decided to eat in the tavern while we waited. The old tavern where the festival takes place is huge with weaving tunnels and staircases that lead to the levels below. It looks like it could have been a castle dungeon or maybe part of the underground railroad at one point.

After about an hour of listening to a horrible band that was on before Seven Nations, I knew I was not going to make it the rest of the night dressed as I was. Miraculously, they were selling Irish-pride sweatshirts, so that, although I am not even a little Irish, I was wearing a big green sweatshirt labeled “IRISH” right across the chest. It mattered not - I was finally warm.

Finally, finally, finally, nine-thirty arrived and 7N began their stage set-up. I kept looking to check off the five of them, but I couldn't find the fiddler, Dan. There was a really young guy up on stage with a fiddle and I thought, Maybe he is just tuning for Dan, but that seemed really strange. As soon as they began the concert, they announced that Dan was not there and that Victor was playing in his stead. I was worried, but he played just as well. And get this: he is just out of high school!! Amazing.

When she got the news, she wrecked the room in anger. . . I will remember you this way, as sure as the night belies the day, as sure as the sun goes down. . .

We managed to be standing in the second row back from the stage, so we could see everything. Kirk, Victor, Scott, Struby, and the illustrious Crisco. Unfortunately, Victor did not keep with Dan's tradition of doing some Irish dancing; however, he, Scott and Crisco did pull out a jam session for a little while. It was so cool being right there in front of the stage, but we were out of there as soon as the concert was over as we feared frostbite in our toes!

The next day, 7N was supposed to play two more times, but when we got there, they were playing in the pub basement and it was so crowded we couldn't even get down the stairs to watch the concert. I did get a CD and, with some pushing by my husband, I managed to get Kirk and Victor to sign it! He tried to get a picture of me talking to Kirk, but I made him promise not to. (I get shy around rock stars.)

We did get to see some other bands: Jiggernut (yuck), the Prodigals (nice), and Fuschia (hillarious!)

The rest of the time we spent in the bed and breakfast. It was pretty nice, although, the bar was set really high from the wedding night B & B. One really annoying thing was that the inn was on a busy street and there was an obnoxious train that went by at least twelve times a day. I did love the huge clawfoot tub right next to the fireplace and the giant bed. :) Happy Birthday to me!

Our love is true love, you can't deny, but baby she's nothin' 'less she can ride the Big Yellow Bus. . .