This weekend I did two interesting things. Saturday I went to Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ and Sunday I experienced the happiest of accidents and stumbled upon Jamison, the band that I raved about in my last post!
If you recall, I was supposed to go back to the PA Renaissance Faire this weekend for the Wine fest, but due to grad school duties (mine and my aunt’s), we decided to forego the hour and half trip both ways and be responsible and get some work done. I don’t know what is wrong with us.
So Saturday I went to Grounds for Sculpture. This is only my second time there and the first was for a musical event (check out Jet Weston & His Atomic Ranch Hands), so I had never walked around. Well, I’m not a fan of modern art, but the grounds are very pretty. I like realism. Maybe I’m boring, but maybe I like my sculptures to look like something more than a blob of metal. That could just be me though. I liked the garden aspect of it and some of the larger stone formations (so stone circle-ish) and a very Lord of the Rings looking sculpture in the parking lot. I also think all the sculptures of people around the grounds are creepy. I also found myself staring at real people who are just standing very still.
This sculpture was very unique and quite macabre compared to the rest of the artwork. Obviously I liked it.
So Sunday my aunt called me on Sunday and suggested we check out the Hibernian’s Irish Music Fest. I’m always up for a good fest, so I was like “Okay!”, but then I saw the schedule and saw that Jamison was performing. All of a sudden I was like, “YES!”. The fest itself was disappointing. This is the 31st year of it and it was small, not very well attended, and the vendors left a lot to be desired. Instead of not letting people join for being non-Catholic, maybe the Hibernian’s should focus on event promotion and marketing. I’d join the Hibernian’s, but again that whole Catholic thing. If anyone actually looked into it, they would see that I haven’t set foot in a Catholic mass other than for weddings since 1999. I’m good at event planning though, so they might want to overlook my Pagan leanings and let me in. It cracks me up in general, because Celtic culture is so Pagan. Now, I’m not a practicing anything, I identify myself as agnostic, but gun to my head, most of my opinions line up with a Pagan ideology.
This isn’t about Paganism v. Catholicism though, it is about Jamison. Long story short, especially because I wrote about the them last week, I love this band. I think I have just become one of their newest followers and I am probably going to start frequenting Irish pubs around Philly to watch them play. They just have the best energy, stage presence, and set list. Honestly, I’m going to say it, favorite Celtic band. The only band that I have seen that gives them a run for their money is Albannach, who I originally planned on seeing at the Faire. I feel like I really can’t compare the two too much because Albannach plays all Celtic folk rock with bagpipes and drums and the kilts (they are Scottish, obviously if you speak Gaelic (you don’t speak Gaelic)). They almost aren’t comparable to Jamison’s current pop hits and classic rock with a Celtic twist. Don’t let me lead you astray, Jamison’s set also includes classic Irish hits, but there is an obvious difference in Jamison’s and Albannach’s song choices. Both awesome, high energy, incredibly talented bands.
So I skipped out on Albannach this weekend to see Jamison. It was a fair trade. Maybe next weekend I will do something totally not Celtic related…dun dun dunnnnnn. On the books right now? A family party (Italian side!). I’ll have to figure something else out pronto.
That Flighty Temptress 