Battle of the Bards

Once again, Battle of the Bards will feature a full slate of 12 performers at this month’s show:

Musical Performers

• Alison Kinney
• Anthony Damiao
• Brian Gashgarian & Patrick Cort
• Dave O’Grady
• James Judd
• Thomas Scott & Darren Watts (Union of Lanterns)

Non-musical Performers

• Amos Boratto
• Andrew Salter
• Eric Logan
• Nigel Camps
• Polly Edwards, Marjorie Hopkins, and Eimear Keely
• Roger Sumner 

The attendance is looking a little light at the moment, but I know you’re all out there thinking about it! Come join us on Friday, April 18th, for what promises to be a great show!

And yes, there will be a random door prize given out in some random fashion. We just don’t yet know what it is or how it’ll be awarded.

This June, Battle of the Bards hopes to hold an outdoor concert that we’re calling Uptown Bards on Sunday the 8th, likely in the Regina Street parking lot across from the Waterloo Community Arts Centre. Why a Sunday? Because a relaxing Sunday-afternoon concert seems appropriate for Battle of the Bards. Also, we don’t want to conflict with the Robin in the Hood festival on Saturday the 7th.

Uptown Bards depends on help from both the City of Waterloo and the Ontario Arts Council, so keep your fingers crossed and mark the tentative date in your calendars. If you’re interested in performing, please note that we’ll be looking for polished, family-friendly, performances ranging from 5-20 minutes. Also note that we’re not looking yet, so let us know if you have questions, but we’re not signing anyone up right now.

Audience participation is a big thing for this event, which will be part of the OAC’s ”Celebrate Our Artists” initiative. We’re trying to be one of the main events, and to get the funding we have to provide opportunities for the public to get actively involved in the show. So, we’ll need every performer to have some element of interaction, whether it’s playing a couple of crowd-singable songs or asking for volunteers to assist in your performance. For our part, we’re planning to have a karaoke element that will be open to audience members and help us cover the downtime between performers.

Sounds like a fun time, right? Yeah, that’s what we thought you’d say.

In lieu of a May Battle of the Bards, John and Russ are pleased to invite you to Bards-ecue 2008! We’ve rented the East Gazebo in Waterloo Park on Saturday, May 10, and we’re hosting an afternoon of fun in the sun. Bring an acoustic instrument and jam, bring a frisbee, bring your juggling gear, bring your painting supplies…whatever strikes your fancy. Bring something that you’re great at, or something you’re just learning.

Oh yeah, and bring food, cuz we can’t feed everyone (though we’re hoping to have a few barbecues available for communal use throughout the day). Depending on the numbers, we might take some preorders for hamburgers, sausages, and hot dogs, but we’ll cross that bridge later.

With this many people, we can’t resist the opportunity for a sing-along. So, let us know if you’re bringing an instrument (and what it is). As we get closer to the date, we’ll select and advertise some popular songs for everyone to play/sing together (the noise bylaws don’t apply as long as we don’t use amplified instruments).

So there you have it: Bards-ecue 2008. May 10th, beginning at 11am and going until the last of us leaves the park. If you’re coming, let us know. If you’re bringing an instrument, definitely let us know. You can RSVP via e-mail or on our Facebook event.

Any questions?

P.S. If you bring your mom, you can call it a Mother’s Day outing.

The month of April is upon us, and the next Battle of the Bards is in a scant two weeks! Anyone want to perform on Friday, April 18th? We’ll be at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre as always, and Russ will be hosting the festivities this time around.

So who’s interested?

Many thanks to all who came out to Bards last Friday and helped to make it one our most successful shows to date!  If you weren’t there you missed some stellar performances, including newcomer to the Bards stage - James Judd - who has asked me to pass on this message:

“James invited you to “James Judd - Live” on Sunday, April 6 at 10:00pm.

James says, “Hey guys, really need some ppl at this one, I know its a Sunday night, but the owner is expecting some ppl for the price he’s paying. Hope to see y’all there.”.

Event: James Judd - Live
“It’s A Big One!!!”
What: Performance
Host: James Judd
When: Sunday, April 6 at 10:00pm
Where: Harry’s Bar and Grill”

James did a fantastic job last week and it would be great to get out and support him on Sunday (I’ll be there, who can resist wings, beer and good music!?!)  If you’d like a formal Facebook invite, just send me a message and I’ll see that you get one.  And if you have a performance coming up and would like us to pass the word on please let us know and we’ll do our best to get you some more audience members.

In sadder news, one of our audience members left a brown-paper-wrapped book under a chair at Bards last Friday night.  There were tonnes of people helping to tidy up (thanks!) so if you were one of the chair movers and found a book, please let me know so I can get it back to it’s rightful owner.

And finally, an official invite to April’s Battle of the Bards will be sent out shortly.  A little bird told me that it will be April 18th for those of you wanting the inside scoop.

Bon weekend!

John