Kansas City Irish Fest

I had every intention of posting some fun Irish fest pics, but forgot to bring my camera, so the ones I found on the Internet will have to do.

This was the weekend of the Kansas City Irish fest - it was amazing. This is only my second year attending, but it has grown again. One of the nice things about this fest is the way it is spread out - the only times that I ever felt crowded was when I was checking out the stuff at the vendors (but I don't have much patience for people bumping into me and stalling in front of something I really want to see - I'll try again later). I did buy a new fisherman's hat as my last and favorite one was recently absorbed into the Niabrara river. I went with my mother and a friend of hers. We stayed at Harrah's which was just a hop skip and a jump away from the crown center (where the Irish fest is held). I ran into a friend and his son from Omaha - his other children and wife were there as well - but I never saw them (his daughter was participating in the Irish dance competition). I met the nun and some of her family there - we ate and had a good time. The nun did try to talk me into buying this $22 apron which had it not been so feminine (it had green frills on the bottom), I would have considered it just because I liked the saying it had on it 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling...Watch Out.' It would have been a fun conversation piece - but green frills are not really my thing (take note for any future presents).

Gaelic Storm was one of the bands I listened to. Man, they were fantastic - you should have seen the energy and the crowds they bring. I couldn't believe the age groups of fans they had. The first night I saw them - there was this threesome of people I found easy to watch. One guy had really long hair, dressed in black and had a gothic look to him - the woman and man who were with him looked a little hippie-ish. The hippie-ish guy had an amazing camera and stood in the top corner of the bleachers taking pictures. Their title song from the new cd "What's the Rumpus?" had this fun audience participation thing - where the audience after the bagpipe stud hit the symbols was supposed to yell 'pow' while throwing their hands in the air. The most amusing thing was this goth guy - was standing there arms folded looking completely un-interested was so into the pow. It was like he was waiting for it and then would look away, arms folded and bored.

The second day - I actually met the lead singer. He was listening to another Irish performer who I was listening to and when trying to get to my seat - he feared I was going to knock over his beer - so had to move it before I got there (truth be told, as careful as I was trying to be, I am a klutz and it was probably a good save on his part). After the performer finished, I waited a few minutes and took both my mother's and my cd inserts and asked for his signature. He talked with me for at least 10 minutes. This Jimmy Crowley (whom had just performed) was who he had heard when he was a child and made him want sing as well - he said had it not been for Jimmy, his path might have been completely different. He referred to Jimmy as a legend in his eyes and had teared up, he said, on at least 6 of the 10-12 songs he had performed. The opening song of the concert they would be performing that evening was the one that he had heard Jimmy play when he was 10 or 11 and it was the start of his desire to play music. He was a very nice man.

On of the funniest things he said at both of the concerts I attended was when he thanked the crowd for helping their new cd debut at #1 on the world-wide billboard music chart. He said, 'we finally beat our nemesis, Celtic Women, those bitches.' He laughed and said they were very nice people. But on the second night there was an audience participation piece as well - and this time we were sitting in our chairs on the grassy area before the stage. Behind us sat a family and they had a 'goth' looking kid of about 14ish and he was singing to their songs at the top of his lungs. This audience participation piece was in the song 'me and the moon' (which is becoming one of my favorite songs on the cd). This was a male/female contest. On the chorus the women were to throw their arms up and yell I brought the whiskey and the men were to show their cellphone lit and say 'he brought the light.' It was so amusing the way this kid got into it - he and his sister were yelling their parts and he even stood at one point and yelled, 'everybody get up' to get more into the song.

There were many great bands, vendors and the food was amazing. I can't mention them all - I recommend you check out the website though. Oh another band who does merit mentioning (though I regretfully didn't pick up their cd yet), was Pogey - another great band.