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Entry tags:	conventions, vacations

A Looong Overdue Report
In the spirit of "better late than never", I'm finally posting a con report for 2t0nic. I know I'm a lazy good-for-nothing, but in my defense I've been trying to:

• Finish our next album


• Get started on cadhla's album.


• Work on the remasters and bonus tracks for the rerelease of both Duras Sisters albums

OK, enough lame excuses. Con report

Getting to the UK was relatively uneventful. The only glitch was losing our ride to the airport the night before. The friend who was supposed to take had the death-flu. I ended up hiring transport to SFO from our place in San Jose and it worked out fine. We flew through check-in and security. I was a little worried about Amanda on a long flight. As it turned out, she was an angel. Maya put some kid's movies on an iPod for her, and she had a few books and games that kept her happily entertained. Our flight put us in Heathrow at 7:00 AM on Thursday. We got through immigration and customs with no trouble, although it felt like we walked five miles to get there from baggage claim. When we emerged into the terminal, Martin GK was waiting for us. We piled all the instruments, suitcases and children into his trusty Honda Accord estate car (station wagon for those of you keeping score in the US), and we headed off to Oakham. A short way into the journey, Amanda got sick in the back seat, so we pulled off for quick clean up and to get something for her to drink. I imagine that Martin was wondering what he'd gotten himself into, but he was cheerful and gracious as could be. After a leisurely breakfast we continued on toward home. We decided to just stay up the rest of day, and spent the afternoon wandering around Martin and Andy's home town, which was lovely.

Friday morning, I helped Martin pack the car and trailer with the sound equipment for the convention, then he and I headed to Grantham. At the hotel, we sat down for a quick drink at the bar (fruit juice for me), and chatted with several people before we drafted many able-bodied fen into unloading and setting up the sound system. Andy arrived shortly with Maya and the kids, and soon the con was in full swing.

After two months, I probably can't recreate the chronology of the weekend with any great precision, so here are some particular highlights, not necessarily in the order they occurred:

• Meeting fleetfootmike. People have been telling me for years that I need to meet him, and the were absolutely right. Mike is an absolute delight, and one of the finest guitarists in the filk community. He generously loaned me one of his prized electric guitars for Baba McDonald's (our parody of Baba O'Riley).
  
• bardling's set on Saturday night. I first met Rika at Concertino near Boston in 2003. She did a solo performance set, accompanying herself with an acoustic guitar. I expected her set at 2t0nic to be much the same. Wrong. Rika enlisted an all-star UK filk backing band that included fleetfootmike, demoneyes, Tim Walker,vaurien, and many others. They sounded fabulous. Maya and I were scheduled to play our set immediately afterwards, and I have to confess to a bit of nervousness. I really didn't know if a couple of people with acoustic guitars would hold the audience's interest after Rika and her band's awesome set.


• Getting to hear unclechristo. I met Chris briefly at Consonance in 2006, but did not get to hear his set at that time. Chris is a consummate musician, with a wonderful easy-going stage presence and a self-deprecating sense of humor.


• Martin and Andy GK's set on Friday night. Their song selection leaned heavily towards rock, and was lots of fun. A particular highlight was Baby with a Snooze Button.
  
• Hanging out with bedlamhouse and Brenda.


• A nice chat on Sunday with Talis. She's another person I met ever so briefly at Consonance. Rika did a nice cover of Paper Worlds in her set, It won a Sammie, so Talis joined Rika on stage for the Sammie concert.


• The post con dinner with the Con Committee on Sunday night. We went to lovely Indian restaurant in Grantham. Had a chance to chat with catalana, bardling and the rest of the committee.

There are a thousand other things I could single out. If I've forgotten anyone, I apologize in advance.

We stayed over for about 10 days after the con, with Martin and Andy acting as our hosts. I cannot possibly thank them enough for their hospitality. Not only did they offer their home for our entire visit, but they drove us all over England sight-seeing. I won't get into a detailed description of that portion of our trip here, but there are pictures on flickr and at dotMac.