Thursday, 28 June 2007
The 3 Wishes Faery Fest 2007
The 3 Wishes Faery Fest was FAERY-TASTIC!!! Jon and I had a wonderful time and the weather was not as bad as we feared it might be, either! In fact, I managed to get a bit of a tan (and a white spot on my finger where my watch was, lol)! Yay!!
On the first day it was very sunny, although it bucketed down in the night. We arrived around 2pm, in time for the first act. After listening to that, we found a great spot to camp with a view of the lake and had very few problems putting the tent together. We even managed a pretty successful barbecue that evening, despite one or two minor setbacks when starting. ;) We wandered around the site and checked out the various stalls full of lovely, pretty temptations. There were also a few faery entertainers around: dancing, walking on stilts, blowing giant bubbles and more. In the evening, we were treated to the fabulous sight of dancing fire faeries!
On Saturday morning we had breakfast and then sat in our car as the rain returned. After it stopped (well, stopped raining heavily, anyway) we went for a walk and admired the lake. Jon had a coffee and we were ready for the day to begin! The rain stopped for the music and the sun even shone again a few times, making it a fab day. We listened to all the bands and also wandered around the stalls again - this time I spent a bit of money on some Fae-related souvenirs. :) That evening, once again, the fire faeries performed, and there was also fireworks!! :D
Sunday was the last day, and, weather-wise, the worst. It was also International Fairy Day. Sadly, few people seemed to stick around during that day, probably because of the weather, or perhaps they had a long journey home. We packed up our tent, had a wander around the closing stalls, talked to some people about Harp Monkeys and Guitar Hamsters, listened to all of the bands and then went home ourselves.
But, what, I hear you cry, about the music? Well, each band deserves its own paragraph. I'll describe them in the order we saw them. My ratings are out of five (yes, all of the ratings are out of five :P).
Warning: This is going to be a looong post...:P
Butterfly Thunder: They were the first band of the festival, and they played again on Sunday, too. Both times they were brilliant, and I really enjoyed their sets. Overall, I rated them: 
Soul Path: Jon preferred this band to the first one; I think they were more his taste than mine. However, I still enjoyed their set quite a bit and, overall, gave them: 
Wyld Angelica: This band don't seem to have a Website, so no link, sorry. Onto my thoughts - Jon and I both felt there was something lacking with this band. They weren't bad, but they would have been better with another member playing a second melody, or something like that. My overall rating was: 
Beck Sian: Jon and I were not keen on her. She had a really amazing voice, but her music was not our thing. She wailed a lot - beautifully, but not interestingly enough for us, I guess. I only rated her: 
Circulus: If you really need me to tell you how fab these guys are, what is wrong with you? Everyone should listen to them! They are amazing!!! I was somewhat upset that they didn't bring any CDs for me to buy off them, but I'm sure I'll get my hands on one soon. They were brilliant, honestly. Moogs and Mediaeval instruments have never sounded so good. Rating: 
The Fire Faeries: There were two on Friday night and three on Saturday. They were all good, but one was exceptional! Twinkel, we thought you were fab! Rating: 
(That clumsy face is for the few times one of the other Fire Faeries dropped their baton and singed the grass!)
Ia2iago: I really enjoyed this band, although I was not keen on the bit where the woman read out her poetry. Having heard it online, it sounds better recorded than it was live. Sadly, I rated them lower because of the poetry reading bit:
Princes In The Tower: Two members of Circulus performed some more songs on Saturday, and, of course, were fantastic. I gave them: 
Daughters of Elvin: I wasn't very keen on their music, but their dancers in front of the stage were very cool! I paid far more attention to them than to the performers onstage. As a result, I rated the band: 
(The dancing I rated: )
Goblin Drummers: Again, no Website. :( This group were fantastic. There were a lot of them, with face paint, masks, hats and ivy, and they played all sorts of percussion to create great music. I rated them: 
Priscilla Hernandez: I was surprised by how much I liked her music. She liked a lot reverb, which made her voice sound very atmospheric and haunting. Jon wasn't very keen, but I really enjoyed it. My rating:
Magic Folk: Neither Jon or I were very keen on their music, I'm afraid. The festival Website stated that they blended "folk, rock and prog-rock (and even a bit of jazz)" but I don't think there was enough Prog for Jon, and they just weren't my kind of thing. Rating:
Daughters of Gaia: They had good singing voices, but we weren't really keen on the disco/dance backing music. However, the crowd certainly seemed to disagree with us! My rating:
The Mediaeval Baebes: Wow! I had really been looking forward to this for a long time, and I was not disappointed! Their voices were amazing and the music was utterly fab!! The only downside was the problems with the PA, which meant there was a short break in the middle of their set. Despite this, they performed brilliantly and were a joy to behold! And I now have one of their CDs! Woo! I rated them: 
Another Green World: I didn't like this at all. Jon liked it more than I did, but I don't think he was that keen, either. We stayed until the Fire Faeries finished their bit that night, and then we wandered back to our tent. My rating:
Elizabeth-Jane Baldry: Her harp-playing was amazing! It sounded so beautiful, and her harp looked utterly fantastic! I was very tempted to buy her album, but it was the last day and I had spent most of my money by then. I really enjoyed her set, and rated her:
Dlanor Dleifraf: Otherwise known as artist and performer Ron Fairfield, he was also the compere for the festival. However, poor guy, the rain began to pour from the sky as he started his set and only began to go away halfway through. This meant that for the majority of his performance he had no audience (we all cowered in the cafe) and apparently had water dripping onto electrical equipment onstage! He definitely gets five stars for effort and bravery! We did venture out for the last half of his set and we enjoyed it mightily. I rated him:
Elfin Spiral: Sorry, this was definitely not our cup of tea, and was our least favourite band of the whole festival. My rating: 
Elowen: This folk band were ok. I quite enjoyed them, but they were the last band of the day and we had a long journey back, so we didn't stay for all of their set. I rated them:
Overall, out of five, I rate the 3 Wishes Faery Fest, 2007 
!!!!! Can't wait until next year!
Faery photos will appear online soon...:)
