A Monsoon Concert...Thunder, Lightening, and Music, OH MY! And some Pyrates too!

Well hey there!

I'm back after a long hiatus from posting here! It's been an eventful year as I'm prepping for some cool things to come. One adventure that I was recently on was my recent gig with Wayward Companions at the Compass Inn in Ligonier, PA. And quite an adventure it was!

So first came the packing as pictured below:

The fun part is always packing. Seriously, it is. The anticipation leading up to the travel is something I actually like.

So normally I would head out on the Friday night before, but since we had an extra rehearsal to help break in a couple of new members, I headed out to Greensburg (where I was staying the weekend with relatives as I always do when I have a gig out that way) on Saturday morning.

I arrived at 10AM and got to have a nice brunch with family and overall, it was a very relaxing day leading up to when I had to start getting ready at around 3PM so I could be at the venue for a 5:30 soundcheck (the event was to start at 6:30PM).

Me shortly before I left my uncle's house and headed to the venue, The Compass Inn

Our setup along with some gorgeous shots of the Compass Inn

This was literally the calm before the storm! It is actually very peaceful and still out there and for a while, it seemed that the bad weather just might pass us by. Or so it seemed.

In the meantime though, the scenery was quite lovely and all seemed okay with the weather as Wayward Companions did our sound check and guests started to arrive.

The dance floor was all set up and some lovely ladies were dressed in their finest. Things got started with us (Wayward Companions) doing a couple songs followed by the beginnings of the dancing.

But then, things took a dive. Literally and figuratively speaking. We were in the middle of a break from the music and the dancing with everyone getting refreshments when the wind started to pick up and suddenly we were met with sheets of rain and winds that started blowing the tents over.

Us musicians had to move fast and immediately rescue our instruments and sound equipment from the downpour. We were able to get everything under the largest tent/dance floor just in time. And everyone else was gathering underneath the tent over the dance floor.

After what seemed like a really long time, the rain let up enough for the festivities to continue, but us musicians were unable to carry on. You see, we use acoustic instruments and such weather can be very detrimental to wooden instruments, not to mention our sound system. So while we were unable to continue, the dancemaster was able to get some 18th century dance music on his phone and the festivities continued on that way.

It did still rain a little bit, but after that, the worst of it was over. The dancing was a lot of fun and we all did manage to make the most out of the evening.

I also got to look around inside of the Compass Inn's gorgeous barn. Although in some ways it reminds me of a Pyrate ship (speaking of Pyrates, More on that further down).

The evening was certainly an unforgettable one and it was fun getting to do some 18th century dancing on a rainy evening. Still, it was definitely nice to get into some dry clothes!

But that was not the last of our 'Monsoon Tour' dates! Our next concert, which was a house concert with a pirate theme. The lovely Hawley family had us out for a concert in their lovely home. But what was supposed to be an outdoor concert on their deck (made up to look like a ship!) turned into a concert in the 'lower quarters of the ship' (their spacious garage, which was also made up to look incredible and like the interior of a ship) due to some more monsoon like weather. But the concert was actually quite nice and kind of cozy in their quarters/garage and the storm actually made for some cool atmosphere (and we got to play with the concept of having a party on the stormy seas).

It was yet another incredible evening and overall fun was had by all. After the concert, everyone gathered for a music circle, which was also a nice way to close out the evening.