two of my favorite acts are missing

[TKM]

Yesterday when I attended the faire, I didn't see Tullamore or the Limey Birds there at all. Are they absent this season?

[Amyj]

I saw this posted on their website (I hope Bunnie is well soon!!!):

Dear Friends & Fanmily;
The Limeybirds are officially on Hiatus for the remainder of 2009.

Many of you know that Bunnie's health has been seriously declining the past year, and is now officially under Doctors' orders to rest and recuperate.

(Which when asked if resting and recuperating included running amuck in forests in a corset harassing people, the Dr answered with a raised eyebrow and in a very unamused voice answered "No. It does not.")


But Don't worry! We'll keep in touch! We're around on all our sitesYou can still follow us on Twitter, because the sillyness truly never ends, especially offstage.


The Limeybirds look forward to resuming the insanity with our 2010 season starting at Fort Myers Medieval Faire in just a few months!

[TKM]

aww, that's a shame. But what about Tullamore, with whom they shared a stage? And who also headed off the Pub Sing in previous years. There was some serious talent in those people.

[Craigmeister]

I second that motion.  Tullamore is the best band at most of the festivals I visit.  Without them, I'm not as motivated to make the drive from Oklahoma.  Was Jem Moore back at KCRF?  He's a great hammered dulcimer player.

[kcdcchef]

There are several acts that aren't returning this year.  The Robin Hood show on the Swill Pond did not return either which I believe was also related to the health of one of the cast.  I didn't see Queen's Gambit this past weekend either.  The Musical Blades are back though.

i talk to one of the members of mental pause on a regular basis on facebook and it would appear mental pause is out this year.

too bad about the swill pond show. but the good thing about shows missing is it gives you a chance to check out other shows you would have otherwise not checked out. anything new this season?? i am hoping necessary violence on the 3 lions has at least changed the act slightly, after watching the same show 4 years running, it is old. perhaps the joust has FINALLY changed?? but, i can count on the pub sing and chess to be the highlights of my day.

[kcdcchef]

Yes, Mental Pause is back.  "necessary violence"?  Do you mean Get Shrewed?  I think the joust is still being done by Noble Cause, but I didn't recognize the jousters here last weekend.  Unfortunately, we don't get to see the stage acts.  I can tell you who may or may not be there, but don't get to see the shows except in passing.

I hope you enjoy chess match this year.  There are some pretty funny bits in it and I don't just say that cuz I'm in it. 

mental pause is back? thats odd, several of the girls who had been doing it are not doing it this season. must somehow be retooled. yes, i am talking about get shrewed. it replaced the fickle biches on that stage, with, one of the original fickle biches. and much like that act, it is getting old. hasnt changed in what, 4-5 years now??

the joust hasnt changed one bit, not even slightly, since 2001. i would hope eventually they fix their joust. it is an embarassment compared to other faires at this point.

now chess, oh baby. i cannot wait. always an amazing time. and always soooooooo darn funny.!!!!! cannot wait to see that and the pub sing in october.

[TKM]

i agree, i have always felt KCRF's joust is a little lacking... for supposed warriors, those knights really do run their mouths too much. But yes, Mental Pause is back in town, they were at pub sing last weekend. And Musical Blades, as you mentioned. I remember witnessing Chuey's return at a certain pub sing show last season, it was wonderful. It also didn't hit me until after I got home that I hadn't seen Queen's Gambit. It's a shame... their fiddler is a regular on these forums, maybe she can shed some light as to where they've gone.

There are several acts I certainly hope to see again in the coming years. Including a small, jolly little irish bard band called Tartan, whom I haven't seen since 2005, but I hope they decide to return. Also, I've heard several people ask about Pog Mo Thon. They were personal friends of mine and my brother, and all I can say is that they've taken a turn in their style to more Flogging Molly-esque irish punk rather than their traditional musings, so I don't know if renfaires are in their future plans anymore or not.

[Lady Elizabeth Howard]

I do love the joust. It is always one of my favorite parts. But I think that is more for the charging at each other with lances than the actual show. It is my sis first fair. We will definally be attending the joust.

[LadyNiniane]

i agree, i have always felt KCRF's joust is a little lacking... for supposed warriors, those knights really do run their mouths too much. But yes, Mental Pause is back in town, they were at pub sing last weekend. And Musical Blades, as you mentioned. I remember witnessing Chuey's return at a certain pub sing show last season, it was wonderful. It also didn't hit me until after I got home that I hadn't seen Queen's Gambit. It's a shame... their fiddler is a regular on these forums, maybe she can shed some light as to where they've gone.

There are several acts I certainly hope to see again in the coming years. Including a small, jolly little irish bard band called Tartan, whom I haven't seen since 2005, but I hope they decide to return. Also, I've heard several people ask about Pog Mo Thon. They were personal friends of mine and my brother, and all I can say is that they've taken a turn in their style to more Flogging Molly-esque irish punk rather than their traditional musings, so I don't know if renfaires are in their future plans anymore or not.

Reporting in, as requested...

No, Queen's Gambit is not at KCRF this year, nor is Tullamore, nor any of the others that have been mentioned.  And, yes, several of the acts that *are* there have been recast and/or scaled back.

The short answer is that KCRF decided that they did not have the money for us (and others).  The longer answer is that every act was given contract terms that resulted in some form of pay cut.   

For those of us who travel in from out of town each weekend, the cut was too steep;  we love the faires, and we adore our fans, but, with travel costs continuing to climb, things reached a point this year where we would have had to pay out our own money just to come and perform.  That is not acceptable from a professional performer POV, especially when the event in question is owned and operated by a for-profit corporation (which KCRF is, and has been for more than 10 years).

The good news, however, is that Queen's Gambit, along with 3 Pints Gone and others, is appearing this season at the St. Louis Pirate Festival, in Wentzville, MO.  We had a great opening weekend there;  attendance was a bit sparse, but we saw plenty of familiar faces and met a lot of new friends (and made them fans as well).  At least a few of our long-time fans made a point of coming over to the other side of Missouri this past weekend, and others have already indicated that they will be making that trip during the remaining two weekends of the Festival.

Rumor has it that even Tullamore may make an appearance during the last weekend of the Pirate Festival.  So come on over to Wentzville and say hello.  We'd love to see a lot of you over there.

Oh, and QG has two fiddlers now - I'm the one with the white hair.

Lady N

[LadyNiniane]

There are several acts that aren't returning this year.  [...]  I didn't see Queen's Gambit this past weekend either.  

No, I am sorry to say that we are not at KCRF this season.  See my reply elsewhere in this thread for more information about that situation.

However, you can find us on the other side of Missouri, in Wentzville, MO, at the St. Louis Pirate Festival, all three weekends.  We share a stage with 3 Pints Gone, and rumor has it that Tullamore will be joining all of us over there on the last weekend.  Come see the Monsters of Celtic Music!

Lady N

[Emerald Shaunassey]

Reporting in, as requested...

The short answer is that KCRF decided that they did not have the money for us (and others).  The longer answer is that every act was given contract terms that resulted in some form of pay cut.   

For those of us who travel in from out of town each weekend, the cut was too steep;  we love the faires, and we adore our fans, but, with travel costs continuing to climb, things reached a point this year where we would have had to pay out our own money just to come and perform.  That is not acceptable from a professional performer POV, especially when the event in question is owned and operated by a for-profit corporation (which KCRF is, and has been for more than 10 years).

Oh, and QG has two fiddlers now - I'm the one with the white hair.

Lady N

Not all groups who have performed at KCRF for years (like my group) even garnered a response to their submitted proposals/applications.  Yes, travel expenses have gone up and when you talk 8-9 hours round trip EACH weekend for 7 weekends - that's an astronomical price to work a dearly loved festival for complimentary tickets and food coupon booklets.  For some of us; we reached the point of paying out of our pockets years ago and have decided that while we will apply each year in the hopes that the show hires a better CPA; we do not hold our breaths that we'll be brought back home.  You simply cannot payout that kind of expense in exchange for peanuts and make the numbers jive at the end of the year (Uncle Sam frowns on that type of payment system very badly )  ). 

Same goes for us with other out-of-state shows - they just aren't willing to pay what is necessary to travel to and from their events any more.  Better to stay close to home and work local festivals/faires and do private shows than be hung out to dry by out-of-state festivals/faires that lack the professionalism to even return phone calls and e-mails.

Maybe one of these days the economy will turn around so that the trickle down effect is better for performers again; espeically non-music performers.

My tuppence.

Emerald

[kcdcchef]

common sense in large doses has largely been absent from the KCRF longtime performers for dare i say a long time now in some cases. in previous comments, i see there is some common sense. the KCRF is like all other faires around the country. in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's, they were just soooo damned lucky in terms of keeping acts, being able to pay them in some cases, it was just soo different. the scope of finances changed radically in the last 15 years for festivals, particlarly KCRF.

how many of you went to KCRF in the 1980's and 1990's?? well I DID!! do you remember what we passed by near the fair grounds? nothing. miles and miles of nothing. the main roads that led to the faire and then sandstone were so full of holes and cracks, barely paved. that land is valuable as all  hell now. costs a ton more money to lease that land from wyco and the unified goverment. a TON MORE MONEY. remember the lease fight 7 years ago?? KCRF almost picked up stakes and moved entirely. between the rising cost of that land, the rising cost of doing business ( ummmm, almost all acts that perform there expect more money than they once did ) the fact that there are way more acts at the festival than there were 10-15 years ago, i mean, it all adds up folks. and that adds up to less and less money to pay the help.

it is sad, sad indeed. but not just a KCRF issue. i live in pittsburgh, pennsylvania nowadays. and i attend the pennsylvania renaissance faire annually. and their BEST ACT, the tartan terrors, feel free to look em' up, www.tartanterrors.com, lost their annual show at the faire. their largest stage there, the globe theater, seats about 2,000, is where the tartan terrors performed each day. and guess what.............they didnt bring back the terrors back this season. globe always packed daily for the terrors shows. one of my main reasons that i love going there. they are huge performers out this way. and they lost their PARF gig this season. not only a KCRF issue, folks.

KCRF does a great job with what they have. maestro, the GM, the rest of the management team does a fine job working with what they have. and i think anyone that badmouths them for not paying the help enough, dosnt understand basic finances. not one bit. and the rising costs associated with doing business. not that i too dont miss some of the acts.

[TKM]

makes me wish my friends and i could actually find the time to get our act together; we've been wanting to do a small little celtic bard band at kcrf for the past few years now... and us being local, young, and just wanting the chance to do something, wouldn't care much about the finances at all if we all had day jobs. but those are hard to come by as well. but, i believe things will start looking up soon, for the faire and the rest of the world.

and you're not joking about the land around kcrf. my mom was interested in leasing some space around there from wyco land, and DAMN it's unbelievable what they expect to get out of that.

[Emerald Shaunassey]

KCRF does a great job with what they have. maestro, the GM, the rest of the management team does a fine job working with what they have. and i think anyone that badmouths them for not paying the help enough, dosnt understand basic finances. not one bit. and the rising costs associated with doing business. not that i too dont miss some of the acts.

KCDCChef,
     Allow me, as a business owner and operator, who has done street characters, visiting cast, stage show, etc, etc, etc, at KCRF to agree to disagree with you.  Especially in light of KCRF being a corporate faire - it's sister faire being Minnesota and the corp's headquarters being Shakopee, Mn. 

     Your statement of "not paying the help enough ..." rankles me just a tad in that my employees have not received a real paycheck since 2004!  Since then, we've been one of the stupid groups that have worked for complimentary tickets, lodging, tips, and merchandise, and until the soup kitchen went under/left/had to close/whatever, 1 meal per  actress, per day.  In recent years/seasons, we didn't even rate food ticket booklets for our 1 meal per day.  This after driving 4-6 hours (depending on where the actress lives) one way each weekend for 5-7 weekends.  No, we've never been one of those groups that have had the leisure of staying in a motel/hotel during the week between weekends and being right close and we never will due to our mundane jobs - but that is our choice.  Does that mean we deserve to work for peanuts while other acts, regardless of genre, draw real monetary paychecks?  That would be a big, fat, NAY! 

     Having also had the privilege of working with several faires over the years in many behind-the-scenes capacities; I also realize that you need at least 1 headlining act to hold your audience.  And if it is a returning favorite - even better.  But you should then fill out your stages with other acts that give you a good balance and choice of genres, forms, and talent.  There should be an attempt at equality among the acts ... where possible!  Using the excuse of "the economy is killing us so we're going to chop our nose off to spite our faces" (i.e., cutting acts that you know and have worked with, downsizing your budget to nothing, getting rid of familiar faces/shows, etc) is bad form.  If you are running a business, you know you are in it for the long haul; the good times and the bad times.  You should have a sound business plan in place to get you through the lean times as well as the good.  And most importantly - you must be willing to live by the adage of "You must spend money to make money" and be willing to do so with a level head.

     So yes, for those of us who have worked KCRF in the rain, the sleet, the snow, the god awful heat and done so for no paycheck ... we so deserve a paycheck and not just a half-arsed compensation package that doesn't begin to cover the gasoline expenditure of each weekend.  Are any of us who do this going to get rich and be able to pay our bills each month with ease?  No.  Do we want to at least break even for each weekend we are out?  YES!  And we have a right to do so without backlash of any kind from our fellow performers, our patrons, Faire Management/Administraion, and fellow rennies.

     I'm sorry to hear that Pa Ren Fest felt it was best served to not reknew the Terrors' contract for this season; that must be heartily disappointing to the fans and to the Terrors' themselves.  It is hard to not have a contract renewed when you have worked your butt off and enjoyed every minute of it.  My sympathies to both the patrons/fans and the Terrors' and sincere wishes that Management decides to bring them back next season.

Blessings,
Emerald

[kcdcchef]

again, common sense, logic, and the general understanding of finances are lost on this site. particularly the performers who post here. the feaste hall thing i dont get. but my understanding from comments i have heard in the past from management is that they instead focused on adding the halloween haunts each fall. they added 10+ functional days to their annual operation, THAT, was and is impressive. they hadnt added days in what, 28 years before they did that??  the county has backed off at the demand due to common sense, and everyone knows it. the area with sandstone becoming more and more worthless, is less and less of a desirable spot.

back to the common sense thing. yeah, when i used to go back in the day and see the types of axel the sot performing, and the many other wonderful national acts coming in, are hard for KCRF. do any of you realize what they pay for that land now versus 10 years ago? 10 years ago that land still cost them NOTHING. they practically stole that land for a quarter a century. the only revenues that wyco and bonner brought in annually were the ag hall of fame ( a joke ) sandstone, and the renfest. they pay almost 400% more now for rent than they once did. ummmmm, lets see, that probably means it costs a ton more to operate the faire. probably, eh??

they are lucky to have the maestro, no doubt. because there is more home grown talent at kcrf that is exceptional, you have no idea. some of you that go to other faires, might realize it. but seriously, there is more natural home grown talent at kcrf than almost any faire i go to. and they do an exceptional amount with their annual shows ( except the joust, what a joke there ) but pub sing, chess, parade, royal cigar smoker, etc, change so much it is unreal. and now the halloween suff each fall. they do a TON there locally. if you dont believe me, go to other faires and see how much they rely on touring acts.

as far as what emerald said about what goes into it for those who do it for the love of the faire. i get that concept. now, there may be some unfairness in who gets paid what, i have heard rumblings about that before ( jolly rogers comes to mind ) but doing something just for the love of it, and losing money on it just to do it. sucks. lots of people do this. i do this. i spend soooooo much of my own money and time on my side business, i lose 4-5 grand a year on it. and i dont have it to lose. but i enjoy seeing how much people love seeing my gingerbread villages, so i dont care what i lose on it in time AND money.

i worked at the beast haunted house in kansas city for 5 seasons as a young man. it was my everything as a youngster. i spent between $2-300 of my own money each season on my make up. i spent between $100-$150 having my costume cleaned, repaired, and updated each season. i would spend money on batteries for flashlights. i would have to keep cold gatorade to keep my voice, and hydrated while working. i spent money on masking tape constantly repairing parts of my room i worked in. never ended, i swear. at the end of the season, it seems as though i would net like $2-300 if i was lucky. for an 8 week run. that didnt count the money i spent on developing pictures, buying film, having friends over for breakfast at 3am after we closed, etc, etc, etc. so yeah, I GET THAT. its hard to keep making yourself do it, that, i understand.

but the business end, i dont understand why some of you dont grasp that this festival was a benefit and nothing more its first 20 seasons. then the next 10 became a business in a damned pricey area. MADE THINGS HARD FOLKS!!