AshFest - Florida 2008

I will now admit to getting a little fried on the upfront details and planning for this Club Med Florida Ashfest. I believe Jim and his team at Ocean Concerts, were getting a tad frustrated with my inability to get all the details right. You see, I was also preparing for the short USA tour to follow on from the Florida date plus working on arrangements for the British Ashcon, plus the upcoming UK and German tours tour, plus, plus, plus….lotta stuff…Also, in the process of trying to deal, I was making matters worse by thinking of Ashfest being all about us, Wishbone Ash. Yes, I was stressing.

As it turns out, as the first hardy Ashheads arrived at Club Med and the dire hurricane warnings were deemed to be overblown, my fears were allayed with all the smiles and warm hand shakes and backslapping from the fans. These folks were ready to party! I realized that it was all about them / you not us!! And, I started to relax.

After breaking the ice at the cocktail party held on the Spanish patio, complete with fountain, we started to pull together our equipment and instruments for the outdoor acoustic set. The wind was a little unpredictable but the Brits were going; “it’s like Manchester or Scotland but warm.” Once everyone was seated we set off at a pace, working our way through some little - played songs and the smiles started between us. This was fun. The sound balance, where we were playing, under the awning, was great. As a result the band made up arrangements to some tunes, as we went along, getting into some nice jamming and soloing. Afterwards, at the all - inclusive bar, we got to know our guests a little better and fell wearily into bed.

The next day was fabulous weather – hot, hot, hot and with not a cloud in the sky. People got into golf and tennis with Brits playing Canadians and then there were the high fliers Joe and Atsuko who amazed everyone with their prowess on the circus trapeze. Muddy got into kayaking while I checked out Yoga classes with Diane Brody and then I tried some sailing. My partner in this activity was Steve, from Portsmouth U.K. who after taking first turn as skipper, handed off to me, thereby placing his trust in me to handle our catamaran in the required manner. Unfortunately, a gust of wind pitched the bow forward under the water, just short of capsizing, and I witnessed an amazed fan, flying through the air, straight in to the drink. All of a sudden it was a ‘man overboard situation’ but some quick reflexes enabled him to get back on board after a good dousing. Now I know why Steve’s better half, Kay, earlier declined the offer of a sail, after looking at our craft and her potential crew.

The actual rock show, which took place that night in the Florida Room, did indeed rock. The mysterious Argus figure turned up out of nowhere. There were the vintage British sports cars on display brought in for the crowd’s enjoyment and for us car nuts. We had a blast and the crowd was on it’s feet pushing us higher. Others have covered the set list so I won’t go over that, but it was different.

Everyone commented on the food at the resort. See? I was not wrong, folks? The next day was a serious chilling day because I can tell you, there were a few hangovers amongst us. Our crowd knows how to party, led by Dave C of course!! People actually got into all sorts of events on this day as well. In addition to some languorous time poolside, there was waterskiing (Dr. John), golf and archery. Then, Steve Koontz plus yours truly with Jen Bond, ripped it up in the bay on some jet skis.

The final night was very interesting. We took care of the obligatory group photo and then the auction took place with auctioneer supreme, Mr. Steve Romano calling out the bids. This was at times hilarious. Leon and Scott were his trusty assistants and some people picked up some serious memorabilia. By the way, Steve and Kristine also supplied the backline equipment, with Kristine actually driving the truck from Myrtle Beach. Thank you both! Back to the auction; there were items that truly surprised me; rare acetates, tour programs, posters, 1970’s tour jackets and so on, some brought along by the good Doctor and some by Leon Tsilis and Scott Pickard. It was a lot of fun and raised some real funds for the cause. Then we got into the jam session with great contributions by Chip Peters and Steve on guitar plus the amazing Jen Bond, who rocked out on drums during Driving a Wedge and In Crisis.

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention the wonderful feel - good ceremony which we all attended by the bay, celebrating Ginger and Dane who renewed their wedding vows and were toasted with champagne by us all.

I’m actually writing this, as I sit on the plane home in readiness for the B.B. King club date in NY City. The band gets to spend another day in the sun before joining me in NY and all that remains is to thank all of those who came. It was so much fun partying with you and also I’d like to thank Denny Marturano from FBT (with Chipster) who trucked the PA system down from Connecticut and did an excellent job mixing the band's sound, PLUS Leon Tsilis who overcame illness to make it all happen. Ocean Concerts; Jim, Ellen and the redoubtable Geisha Cumberpatch who took no nonsense from any of us! Thank you all for going the extra mile. Great team, great band, great crew, great resort. I’m happy. There was a unanimous vote to do it again. We’ll see. Why not?

Thanks a million you guys!!!

~ Andy Powell and the entire Wishbone Ash band and crew. Next stop - AshCon U.K. September 27th 2008.