Lady Mondegreen set list and notes.
Because I have been asked, repeatedly, how the LMG concert went, I'm going to tell you. Later will come the proper OVFF reports, and the discussion of the rest of the convention, and maybe even some Phouka columns. But right now, you get a set list. So there.
The LMG lineup for OVFF was Merav, Batya and myself (primaries), plus Eloise, Alyssa, Amy and Mary (associates). It was a big ol' party.
Opening number: 'Three Fine Slayers of Rupert Giles', music EFO, words LMG and friends.
Vocals: Batya, Merav, Seanan.
Instrumentation: Brenda Sutton on bodhran.
Ose-meter: Five. Not total ose, but people die.
When people see the LMG girls on a stage with Brenda playing drum, they think they're going to get 'Three Fine Daughters...', and they very nearly did. Brenda helped to convince us at the last rehearsal that we should do the parody instead, and I think that was the right call -- people paid attention 'cause they thought they knew the song, then giggled madly 'cause they didn't. (For those keeping track, I sang Faith, Merav sang Buffy and Batya sang Kendra.)
The number was solid and had novelty value, and was a good introduction to the set. Yay!
Second song: 'Lorelei', the Pogues.
Vocals: Seanan, Merav, Batya, Eloise, Alyssa.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: Eight. Quite possibly the purest ose in our set.
This is a lovely, lyrical song that isn't actually filk and was thus pretty guaranteed to be new to most of our audience. Amy the Fiddler made some suggestions that helped us re-do parts of the arrangement Friday night (gotta love those last-minute changes!), and it worked splendidly. The biggest strength of LMG with the associate members present is the sheer depth of potential harmony. There were points during 'Lorelei' when we managed to become a semi-literal wall of sound. Very cool work, if you can get it.
Third song: 'Saturday Night', Seanan McGuire.
Vocals: Merav, Batya, Alyssa, Eloise, Seanan, Amy.
Instrumentation: Amy on fiddle.
Ose-meter: Three. I hang my head and weep for shame.
'Saturday Night' is my weird fairy-tale country reel, and for some insane reason, we decided to cover it. We wound up doing a surreal conversation arrangement, where we traded lines back and forth at a prodigous rate, with solos on the choruses and unison bits that, again, became walls o' sound. Amy played fiddle over, under, around and through the lyrics, then took an amazing instrumental solo that was just...wow. Wow, Amy, wow.
I can't really be objective about this one, 'cause I wrote it and am thus harsh. But Amy's fiddling kicked all ass.
Midway point: 'A Thousand Ships, Take Two', words LMG, music 'A Thousand Songs' and 'Five Hundred Miles'.
Vocals: Batya, Merav, Seanan, Alyssa, Eloise, Amy.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: You have got to be kidding.
Katy and Ju, whom we adore, have this song called 'A Thousand Ships'. It was up for a Pegasus this year. So when we wrote a parody of it, we had to perform it. I was actually really pleased with how this came out -- we had a whole chorus of people going do-do-do, and the lyrics were funny, and folks laughed, and life was good. Not much else to say.
Fifth song: 'The Magical Mystery Medley', words and music from various Disney cartoons, arrangement by LMG.
Vocals: Alyssa, Merav, Batya, Seanan.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: Negative three.
We were bad, evil people, and introduced this song like we were going into 'Haven' (which could be pretty with a large vocal arrangement, but). Then we launched into our demi-gospel rendition of the opening from 'Gummi Bears'...and yeah. Erica looked like she was going to die, and Adam kept his face down in his hands the whole time, so I think we won. In order, we laced together: 'Gummi Bears', the theme from the Disney Afternoon, 'Tale Spin', 'Darkwing Duck', 'Rescue Rangers', 'DuckTales' and back to 'Gummi Bears'. Little harmony, but the transitions were tight and fun.
This happened because we got strung-out at a rehearsal and needed a bonding exercise. Once we had ourselves in bondage, we needed to share.
Finale, part one: 'Don't Go Down', Peter Yarrow.
Vocals: Batya, Mary, Alyssa, Merav, Eloise, Amy, Seanan.
Instrumentation: Mary on bodhran.
Ose-meter: Give it a six.
This was almost accidental -- we'd been playing with 'Don't Go Down' over the summer, usually while cooking, but never really intended to perform it. Then we got it in front of the whole group, and...whoa. If there's one performance I'm really proud of from the con, it's this one, because we weren't just a wall o' sound, we were a wall o' sound with style. Scatting and drumrolls and wild laughter and the whole audience singing along, and...
Mmmmmmmmmm. Good.
Finale, part two: 'Cottontail Girls', words Talis Kimberley, music traditional.
Vocals: Everybody and the audience.
Instrumentation: Nope.
Ose-meter: Ha ha ha...right. For ose-bunnies, we had a surreally upbeat set.
The point was made when we were getting ready for our set that if no one saw my tail, they'd expect me to be removing clothes at some point before the end. And lo, they were right, because I -- and several others -- did. Right about the time we put on the bunny ears. See us take 'ose-bunny' literally!
This song is just plain fun. We enjoyed singing it, the audience enjoyed joining in, and we went out with a bang, not a whimper.
And that's the set. It was a good concert, and I am very tired.
The LMG lineup for OVFF was Merav, Batya and myself (primaries), plus Eloise, Alyssa, Amy and Mary (associates). It was a big ol' party.
Opening number: 'Three Fine Slayers of Rupert Giles', music EFO, words LMG and friends.
Vocals: Batya, Merav, Seanan.
Instrumentation: Brenda Sutton on bodhran.
Ose-meter: Five. Not total ose, but people die.
When people see the LMG girls on a stage with Brenda playing drum, they think they're going to get 'Three Fine Daughters...', and they very nearly did. Brenda helped to convince us at the last rehearsal that we should do the parody instead, and I think that was the right call -- people paid attention 'cause they thought they knew the song, then giggled madly 'cause they didn't. (For those keeping track, I sang Faith, Merav sang Buffy and Batya sang Kendra.)
The number was solid and had novelty value, and was a good introduction to the set. Yay!
Second song: 'Lorelei', the Pogues.
Vocals: Seanan, Merav, Batya, Eloise, Alyssa.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: Eight. Quite possibly the purest ose in our set.
This is a lovely, lyrical song that isn't actually filk and was thus pretty guaranteed to be new to most of our audience. Amy the Fiddler made some suggestions that helped us re-do parts of the arrangement Friday night (gotta love those last-minute changes!), and it worked splendidly. The biggest strength of LMG with the associate members present is the sheer depth of potential harmony. There were points during 'Lorelei' when we managed to become a semi-literal wall of sound. Very cool work, if you can get it.
Third song: 'Saturday Night', Seanan McGuire.
Vocals: Merav, Batya, Alyssa, Eloise, Seanan, Amy.
Instrumentation: Amy on fiddle.
Ose-meter: Three. I hang my head and weep for shame.
'Saturday Night' is my weird fairy-tale country reel, and for some insane reason, we decided to cover it. We wound up doing a surreal conversation arrangement, where we traded lines back and forth at a prodigous rate, with solos on the choruses and unison bits that, again, became walls o' sound. Amy played fiddle over, under, around and through the lyrics, then took an amazing instrumental solo that was just...wow. Wow, Amy, wow.
I can't really be objective about this one, 'cause I wrote it and am thus harsh. But Amy's fiddling kicked all ass.
Midway point: 'A Thousand Ships, Take Two', words LMG, music 'A Thousand Songs' and 'Five Hundred Miles'.
Vocals: Batya, Merav, Seanan, Alyssa, Eloise, Amy.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: You have got to be kidding.
Katy and Ju, whom we adore, have this song called 'A Thousand Ships'. It was up for a Pegasus this year. So when we wrote a parody of it, we had to perform it. I was actually really pleased with how this came out -- we had a whole chorus of people going do-do-do, and the lyrics were funny, and folks laughed, and life was good. Not much else to say.
Fifth song: 'The Magical Mystery Medley', words and music from various Disney cartoons, arrangement by LMG.
Vocals: Alyssa, Merav, Batya, Seanan.
Instrumentation: None.
Ose-meter: Negative three.
We were bad, evil people, and introduced this song like we were going into 'Haven' (which could be pretty with a large vocal arrangement, but). Then we launched into our demi-gospel rendition of the opening from 'Gummi Bears'...and yeah. Erica looked like she was going to die, and Adam kept his face down in his hands the whole time, so I think we won. In order, we laced together: 'Gummi Bears', the theme from the Disney Afternoon, 'Tale Spin', 'Darkwing Duck', 'Rescue Rangers', 'DuckTales' and back to 'Gummi Bears'. Little harmony, but the transitions were tight and fun.
This happened because we got strung-out at a rehearsal and needed a bonding exercise. Once we had ourselves in bondage, we needed to share.
Finale, part one: 'Don't Go Down', Peter Yarrow.
Vocals: Batya, Mary, Alyssa, Merav, Eloise, Amy, Seanan.
Instrumentation: Mary on bodhran.
Ose-meter: Give it a six.
This was almost accidental -- we'd been playing with 'Don't Go Down' over the summer, usually while cooking, but never really intended to perform it. Then we got it in front of the whole group, and...whoa. If there's one performance I'm really proud of from the con, it's this one, because we weren't just a wall o' sound, we were a wall o' sound with style. Scatting and drumrolls and wild laughter and the whole audience singing along, and...
Mmmmmmmmmm. Good.
Finale, part two: 'Cottontail Girls', words Talis Kimberley, music traditional.
Vocals: Everybody and the audience.
Instrumentation: Nope.
Ose-meter: Ha ha ha...right. For ose-bunnies, we had a surreally upbeat set.
The point was made when we were getting ready for our set that if no one saw my tail, they'd expect me to be removing clothes at some point before the end. And lo, they were right, because I -- and several others -- did. Right about the time we put on the bunny ears. See us take 'ose-bunny' literally!
This song is just plain fun. We enjoyed singing it, the audience enjoyed joining in, and we went out with a bang, not a whimper.
And that's the set. It was a good concert, and I am very tired.