Today was a day of intrigue, oddities and interesting stories.
Somehow, as a freelance journalist and interviewer, I got a full
press pass to the Ottawa Folk Festival and spent the afternoon
listening to Amy Millan sound-check with her band. Before I
arrived, though, I was a little leery of interviewing someone in
an outdoor setting due to the fact that at 2 pm, the rain came
down in sheets and bucketloads. I actually had my windshield
covered completely by cars passing me on the queensway and
hitting puddles. Anyways, upon arriving at Britannia Park, I
was greeted with some sun and friendly festival folks. They
pointed me in the right direction and seemed relieved that the
rain had ceased. I went to a section labelled 'VIP entrance'. I
was already feeling important. I told these people my name and
they scrambled through a plastic bin and found a press pass
with my name and credentials on it. Wow. I entered the festival
grounds and found Amy and her band warming up on stage.
I wandered backstage. No one cared. They saw my pass and
looked on. I actually remember thinking 'I feel like an impostor!'
as I strolled around amongst festival organizers and musicians.
The impostor sensation came back again when Amy and her
band were done the sound-check and there was a girl from
CBC waiting to interview her. The CBC interviewer seemed
very uninterested in me and walked right up to Amy. For some
reason, though, the CBC interview was being delayed due to
technical issues. The tour manager Eoin (pronounced 'Owen')
looked at me, seemingly frustrated with CBC and said 'How
long will your interview take, bud?' I responded 'Uh - probably
only 10-15 minutes'. He gave me a thumbs up and sent Amy
my way. We found a nearby picnic table area and had a great
little interaction. She was really relaxed and friendly. I thanked
her for her time and headed back to the VIP parking area (VIP
means you don't pay for anything) and left the grounds,
shaking my head at the weirdness of it all.
Later that night, after a birthday dinner for my mom, Sarah and
I decided to go back to the festival and catch Amy's set. After
thinking about trying to sneak Sarah in, we bought her a pass
and headed into the grounds. We actually caught almost all of
Amy's set in the cool, starry summer night. And then, when the
day couldn't seem any more surreal, on a festival stage in front
of thousands, Amy says 'So I was interviewed earlier today by
this very nice gentleman named Matt...' and went on to mention
how I'd asked her if she was from Thunder Bay which led into
an anecdote before a song. I felt pretty privileged. After the set,
I went backstage, found her and thanked her for the shout-out.
Today, the Good Lovelies and Bruce Cockburn take the stage.
Tomorrow - Joel.
Wow.
