Picton Summer Series Concert

Sunday 6th March started off as a rather cold a wet day.  However the weather turned by 11 and the afternoon turned out to be spectacular.

With sound check at midday the morning was fairly relaxed.  It has been a while since I have performed solo on stage so there were some nerves there, but as I had chosen old favourites and was more than prepared it seemed to be ok.

Sound check went well.  We decided that the violin pick up I have (clip on that fits on to the F Hole) made the fiddling style scratchy and opted to go through the vocal mic.  In 10 minutes we were sorted.

As the event didn't start til 2pm and I wasn't on until 3:15 I had some time to check out Picton.  I wandered the streets and managed to survive the barrage of tourist shops.  I had a coffee and muffin in a cafe which was fantastic as it was the quiet time I needed. 

On the way back to the foreshore I stopped in to the 2nd hand book store.  I managed to find another copy of Jane Austen's Emma (I am a collector of the old hardback publications of Jane Austen's novels). 

When I got back Recommended By Your Mom were on.  This teenage band had the enthusiasm and in time will have the polish too.  They finished with the Jazz classic Autumn Leaves.  The bass player stood out to me.  I would have loved to hear more improvisation from the guitarist.

The next act was the Hipnotics from Wellington.  The specialise in covers and chose some fantastic songs from Fleetwood Mac to Elton John.  Things the family knew. 

I was there to give them a break.  So with everything in place it was time to go on.

Here is my set list:

Irish Washerwoman
Minstrel Boy
Toss the Feathers
Devil's Dream
Blarney Pilgrim
Tambourin
Drowsy Maggie
Twinkle Fiddle Style

The grass was still damp so most people sat on the wall to the side.  For my set I managed to get a group of teenagers up the front cheering me on...I did wonder if I knew them, but pretty sure I didn't :)  It was nice to be appreciated.

The Hipnotics continued with songs from Grease and Abba.  The kids were up dancing and the sun was shining.  It was a lovely end to the day.

More students starting this week and hopefully more enquiries come from the performance.