Went to the Faro music festival on the weekend. It was okay, but not great.
The turnout was really low, which made it less festive, less exciting and rather disappointing.
In terms of the people who were there though, it was worth it. I met a lot of bands. Some old rock stars from the 70s, including Nick Gilder of Sweeney Todd and the Stampeders.
I also ran into Wayne Lavallee, a fairly prominent first nations musician who I've met a few times before. Excellent guitarist. He gave me a CD, in exchange for agreeing to email him some photos.
It was the emerging artists who I most enjoyed and bonded with. Scott Macleod, a country rock musician from Calgary, and two rock bands from Whitehorse, Dec and the As and Say No More.
I also had dealings with the local redneck cops, who got mad at me for taking pictures of dancers without asking them.
It was a festival, I take pictures of everything. The musicians, the clowns, the drunks and yes the people dancing. I can't really stop them while they're dancing to ask permission - the spontaneity of it is lost.
I was actually shooting them as part of the scene, and not really as the main subject, but the cops didn't understand, so I gave in to their request.
Other than that it was fun. I got to see the ghost town that Faro now is. About 15 years ago the town had about 3,500 residents, but then the mine shut down and now only about 400 people live there. It's really erie. There are rows and rows of empty townhouses.
Then on Monday I had an interview with Daniel Lanois.
I started out by telling him how incredibly nervous I was and how big a fan I was of the U2 albums he produced.
Then he just started talking. There weren't really questions, he just talked and talked and talked, and basically said everything I wanted to know.
He was very easy to talk to, a very nice and quiet man. I was expecting French-tipped words, but instead he had a southern U.S. accent.
The interview was actually only an hour. We did it sitting on a bench outside the hotel. After the interview we went in to the bar and had a few drinks.
Tuesday night was the performance, and mother of God, he was incredible. There aren't a whole lot of other live performances I've seen which I'd describe to be as beautiful as his.
Perhaps ethereal is a better word. About half the show was strictly instrumental and for some of the songs he played a steel guitar.
At one point he stopped playing and told the crowd about the great article Andrew had written for the newspaper.
He actually played two shows, each two hours long. I saw both of them and it was worth it.
I could really hear the U2 in some of this songs. From now on, when I listen to U2, I'll hear Daniel Lanois.
Anyhow, this weekend comes the next music festival: Atlin. It should be the biggest yet. I'm really looking forward to it.
Image by www.abriefcanadianhistory.com
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