Following the harvest moon

It feels like the Ramblers are awakening from hibernation.

We've got an event this weekend, but I really can't tell you much about it. It's a celebration, in Bi-tan, on Saturday night. We'll be performing. Satisfied?

Our big musical weekend is only two weeks away.

Saturday, November 4, the MBR will be at, well not "at" so much as "in front of", the National Theater at the CKS Memorial. I believe we'll have about an hour on stage. According to the latest word, we'll be on at 3 P.M. I can't track down any on-line promotional material at the moment, but we'll get something up here for you soon. I happened to be looking at the November issue of the National Theater/Concert Hall events schedule and found our name in tiny print on the page introducing the gig.

We'll be playing at the Blues Bash 3 in Hsi-chi on Sunday, November 5 at 6 P.M. We'll be on from 3:50 to 4:20. According to the Grape-Net-Vine, Conor will perform a special 30-minute version of Red River.



Make it down to one of these shows if you can. Good times are on the way.

There's music in the air, ... and pom poms

Last weekend's DP Day was a smash. There was a nice, healthy, music vibe in the park at Treasure Hill. The MBR thang didn't go down due to personnel/personal issues, (the details of which were announced several times to the audience by the emcee, Bone?). Our thoughts were certainly with Dave and his family. We all regret their loss.

It was great to see JRing's two bands. Sky Burial was without their guitarist, Brian, who was off in Russia, but they had an amazing keyboardist sitting in with them. If you hadn't been watching him playing the keys, you'd be forgiven for thinking there was a guitarist on stage. I haven't seen anyone do that so well in Taiwan for a long time (ever?).

The second band John plays in, Crossroads, featured Barry, the owner of Bliss, on lead vocals. Most of the songs they played were Rolling Stones numbers, and Barry does an inspiring Mick Jagger impersonation.

Sandy and I ended up leaving before the final act came on. Our appetite for rhoti's was just too great.

Props to Sean and his crew for putting on a great event.

There's a lot to do this weekend.

Conor is having a Moon Festival BarBQ on Friday evening over at Bobwundaye's that's promising to be a rollicking good time.

The Migration Music Festival, organized by our friends at Tree's Music, is also taking place this weekend at Da-an Park. There are shows Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings, along with workshops during the day. The workshops on Saturday and Sunday, during the day, are being held at Huashan this year. If you get the chance, go to any of the workshops. They are much more intimate than the amphitheater, and you'll come away with an increased appreciation of the music and musicians.

Our very own Dave is performing with the Betel Nut Brothers on Sunday evening. I'm sure most of us will be up on the grassy hill at the back of the amphitheater enjoying that show.

TC, however, will not be there. Checking in over at Planet Poagao, I see he is off to the PRC for an adventure. Let's see what a warm welcome they give to this exceptional Taiwan compatriot.

By the way, the pic at the top is of a group that I happened to catch today as I walked through the NTU campus.