Okay, so this is where I try to write a con report. I just got up after ten hours of sleep and hope my brain will cooperate more today than it did yesterday.



(First, I didn't bring my camera so I don't have photos. Merde.)

Day One

First thing Tia and I learned when we arrived at the Freusburg late afternoon (because *cough* we got lost on the way once *cough*) was that the ConCom had given us (Lisande, Tia, Lastalda, Aryana, Trudy, Tindo & me) a room at the far side at the castle. At first our stomachs dropped a little because the room was quite far away from the music room and the dinner room, but once we saw the room a huge smile crept onto our faces. It was really big, considering, with lots of windows and located in one of the towers. So yay!

While getting our stuff from my car first friends were met and group hugs followed, and then it was already time for tea.

The opening ceremony was fabulous. The ConCom had dressed up like cats from the musical "Cats" (great job on the make-up by the way), and performed “Memories” on stage only they'd changed the lyrics to a recap of the last ten FilkCONs since this year was FilkCONtinental's 10th anniversary. Special Guests (the lovely Haymans) and GoH Talis Kimberley were introduced, and Talis told us the Cornish word for "catforts" which I've sadly forgotten :-)

Next up were three spots. Jela and Ratz were up first, their spot was fun, especially their version of "Only You" (or "Only Me?"), telling the story of a plain ordinary elf who'd love to be like Legolas :-). Gary McGath's spot was also very cool, especially his German version of "The Demon Underneath Your Bed Eats You Up". Last up was Steve MacDonald. First I need to say that I missed his spot the year before, and I was very curious to see him perform this year. And I was - still am - amazed. It was funny, and touching, and just...fun. I wish I could play guitar like that O_O Steve also gave the first catchy tune to us, which people would just randomly start singing the next couple of days: "I will not sing along/Keep your stupid song/We're the audience/It's you we came to see/You're not supposed to drain us/You're supposed to entertain us/ So get to work and leave me be."

I just dropped by the circle for an hour or so because I was so knackered, and went to bed "early" round 3AM.

Day Two

I passed on workshops and breakfast the next day to not stress myself quite out as last year, the only workshop I tried to participate in was Marilisa's Greek dance workshop. Unfortunately I had two left feet that morning and just couldn't get them to remember the steps :-p I was really tempted to participate in the harmony workshop but I was sort of anxious I might lose my voice until Monday so in the end I didn't (but now know I really should have.)

After lunch Sib, Lord Landless and Lord Merciless were performing on stage and I went to see all spots.

Sib's was hilarious as last year. She's got a wicked sense of humour I just love, and I particular loved the "Lord Of The Rings In Ten Minutes" bit. Also, Sib gave us the second catchy tune for the Con, "Zombomir" :-)

Lord Landless was another spot I missed last year but was able to catch this year. I really loved it, especially their version of The Fairy King. I've always loved that poem (we had to learn the German version by heart in school), and they put it to music perfectly. By the end not only me, but also Marilisa who was sitting next to me had goosebumps. I really like Silva's voice, it's so ... haunting in a way, even more when she sings creepy stuff.

Lord Merciless were just fun. I think Mei Bimberle will become legendary, but to translate the fun of that one into English might take a while. Let's just say, it was sung to the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight and not exactly decent :-)

Judith Hayman's concert was next which was lovely and then Talis Kimberley's first concert was up. I'd only heard two of her songs before, The Highwayman and Archetype Cafe, and they're quite different from each other so I really had no idea what to expect.

The concert was fabulous. I think the most appropriate expression would actually be "She rocked." Because she really did. Her music's a little jazzy, a little blues-ish, a little rock-ish and just really, really awesome. I adore her voice, and it was just fun watching her perform because she was obviously having so much fun. Another thing I particularly loved were her lyrics - they're sometimes funny, sometimes serious, but they tend to make you think and are generally quite witty.

At 7:30PM we all gathered in the music room for "10 Years FilkCONtinental - Let's Have A Party". What followed was a journey through the years, including the songs that particularly stood out each year. I think it was Katy who performed Cranes Over Hiroshima (and everybody in the crowd was bawling), and Steve sang "Many Hearts, One Voice" which I had been wanting to hear for ages (and made me bawling). The audience was singing back the song at Steve which was just - indescribable.

After that there was a party in the music room. Usually I'm not a party person and I found myself feeling a little out of place at first. I was just about to leave when I by chance spotted Trudy and Lastalda talking to Talis, and decided to join them for a moment. I'm so glad I did because Talis isn't just an awesome performer/singer/songwriter, she's also just a lovely person and fun to talk to :-) First thing we realised was that we both love Doctor Who *lol*

Day Three

Again I skipped all workshops on Sunday went to draw a little instead. Round lunch while Aryana was out practising with geBORGt for her spot in the evening, so Lastalda, Trudy, Tia, Lisande and I returned to our room to prepare a surprise for her. Two years ago Aryana wrote a four-line verse about friendship, but never made a song of it. So Lastalda did instead, and she even managed to turn it into a canon. Let's just say, Aryana was more than a little buffed when we sang it to her later. *lol*

Kirstin's spot was lovely, I didn't know she had a voice like that! And she also writes lovely, lovely tunes so...I'm glad I went to see her perform. I missed Kathleen Sloan's spot cause that was when we sang our song to Aryana, but was back to see Gib uns Tiernamen's (Christine and Rafael) spot. Oh yes, that one was fun. From the pseudo hip hop to the pseudo grunge song to "Kick Your Ass" - which was a song where the two of them basically insulted each and every fandom (excluding Buffy :-) ) and the chorus would start of like "Oh, someone's gonna kick my ass tonight..." and the audience would shout "Kick your ass!" back at them. It was fun :-)

The main concert included very lovely songs like the one the harmony workshop had practised, „Green Hills Of Earth“. It’s sort of a prayer and it sounds like a hymn and the arrangement was absolutely beautiful. I really wish I’d been part of the workshop. Steve is planning to put the recording on the Many Hearts One Voice CD that will be released eventually ;-)

After dinner geBORGt performed some songs which were just lovely, as per usual. And they're getting better and better at harmonies etc., I was really blown away. Kudos to you, Aryana and Bine! (And Michael, and Sandra and Jan-Hendrik...!)

Summer & Fall: Do I really need to write anything besides they were fabulous? You folks at GAFilk are so lucky to get them as interfilk guests, you have no idea.

Talis Kimberley's second concert was even better than the first one and I enjoyed every minute of it. Talis told us she's got this thing for End Of The World songs which is perfect because I do, too :-) Two songs will always stick with me: the first one... I've forgotten what it was called but it was also an EOTW song, and in the middle of it she suddeny started to sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in this sort of half aggressive, half creepy way while Deborah was imitating the sound of an air raid warning on her violin (at least that what it sounded like to me). That was really haunting. The second song that stuck with me was a song about how if back then during the war of Troy there had already been television, Cassandra would have reported about it to the BBC. I can't remember the exact lines of the chorus but it started off something like "This is Cassandra ringing in, reporting for the BBC, behind the walls of Troy, things aren't looking good tonight". I loved it because it had such witty lyrics set to a merry tune and it sort of made you choke on your laughter.

The circle that followed was the first one I actually really participated in - meaning I went there at 11PM, sat down and listened til 3AM :-p Summer and Fall were asked to sing the Siren Song and I still don't know how it is possible to sing a song like that live, and even make it sound better than on the recording. It's just beyond me.

Last year Marilisa had sung a creepy yet brilliant lullaby for Tom Riddle in the circle, and I'd warned her in advance I'd request that one this year. I really enjoyed hearing it again and Marilisa, did I tell you that Aryana and everyone sitting next to me had goosebumps?

Day Four - Day Of Truth

Got up "early" because I had soundcheck at 10AM. And basically spend the rest of the morning being hyper and nervous and asking myself what had gotten into me to sign up for a spot. But people were very encouraging ;-) At 2PM I went to Silke's room to tune my guitar for the last time, discuss some final stuff and then we went over to the music room where we watched Rika's spot before the moment of truth had come for me/us.




The weirdest part was that once I was standing in front on stage I wasn't nervous at all. My anxiety just made "WOOOOOSH!" and went away and I was feeling quite comfy. O_O The first song was "Remember Me", a LOTR song, and I was just blown away that as the song went on, the audience was beginning to sing the chorus back at us. Then we performed "Home On The River" which is based on The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. Second last song was "Chequered Shoes" where I messed up a little at one point but generally went better than anticipated. We closed the spot with the "Wolfslied", a German lullaby I wrote based on the Lindgren novel "Ronja the Robber's Daughter".

I'm still trying to comprehend to understand what happened up there (like people singing a song *I* had written back at me...or how the hell I managed to make my stage fright go away during the spot), so let's just say I got some really, really lovely comments afterwards. Especially by Colin, which was so lovely I dearly treasure it because what he said is more than I ever hoped for.

So, we're signed up for a spot again next year. (provided we get picked in case too many people sign up) Hehe :-p





After us The Magician performed some songs, incuding "Into The West" which made me bawl my eyes out - again. And “Dust In The Wind” and the “Yorkshire Tea” one but I forgotten which tune it was set to... hmmm...

The request concert I can barely remember – I guess because after our spot I was on such a high I didn’t actually focus on it....what do I remember? Oh yes, Talis sang The Highwayman which was lovely. Milchstrassenstreuner were asked to sing Lagerfeuer, Summer & Fall to perform the Siren Song, geBORGt “Eine Mutter hat zwei Köpfe” and the rest I seriously can’t recall, I’m sorry ... oh yes! Marilisa sang A Thousand Ships in Greek! And Kamen featuring Rafael, Summer & Fall, Volker and Kirstin performed Wolven One by Heather Alexander. The arrangement was by Lorrinde as Kamen told me :-)

Then there was the Closing Ceremony and the guests for next year were announced – Dandelion Wine! Yay!

I went back to my room and started packing before attending the circle – I’d intended to stay til the bitter end for once and I almost made it :-p But first things first: I love those final circles of FilkCON, they’re just – special, I dont know. Someone asked Marilisa to sing a song whose title I’ve forgotten “A Small Boat” or something? I seriously can’t really remember the lyrics and I’m afraid if I try to recall them now I might end up writing something that’s completely not right so I’ll refrain from doing that. I just remember that the mood of the song really got me, and I just started to cry, out of random. It was just so...beautiful.

Another thing that made me happy was to hear Katy & Ju perform “A Thousand Ships”. I must admit it’s one of my very favourite filk songs and I was a little sad that last year either they didn’t sing it or I always missed it – but I got lucky this year! Yay! Phil Allcock sang “Welcome To Sunnydale” which is plain genius, Steve sang the song that started WorldDream but I can’t remember the name. Oh, and Christine & Rafael were asked to sing “Kick Your Ass” again and received what they’d asked for :-p We even got Tia to sing for the first time, a round of applause for her!

When it was my turn to request something I asked Eva to sing “Crossroads”. Here I must add that in circles I’m always a little shy to request something, especially if I haven’t had a chance to talk to the people before. I don’t know why that is, but I really can’t help it. But yes, I asked Eva nonetheless and oh, I love that song. She writes such beautiful songs & lyrics. I’m really happy I could hear it live

As the evening went on more and more people were leaving and going to bed until at last there were only ten or fifteen of us left. It was then Lastalda asked me to sing The Town Of Haunted Song. I really didn’t want to sing it beause it was late and the song is pretty long but in the end I was forced to :-p So I started playing thinking “Oh God, everyone will be asleep by the time I’m finished”, Trudy next to me was singing along and I noticed dimly that Phil Allcock was playing along to the chords on his guitar, and Marilisa was singing along/playing the flute/ playing the violin and Deborah, too, was playing the violin. It felt like having whole orchestra performing your song, it was absolutely awesome. Thank you so much, if you read this!

Since it was growing late we decided to play lively songs everybody knew so – Allison, Debbie, Jodi I hope you read this – I pulled out the chords and lyrics for The Hockey Monkey song, and we sang it, hehe.

After that Deborah sat down at the piano and the people who’d been at the harmony workshop sang Green Hills Of Earth again which was just...wow. Deciding that this was a neat ending for the evening I said goodnight and went to bed.

The next morning we put our stuff in my car and said goodbye to everybody.

The only downside was that my car wouldn’t start at first and needed help. And it’s not starting again so I’ll need to be repaired which might be expensive, I don’t know.



All in all – thank you all for a marvellous time!



What I really loved about this con was that I got to know so many new people. Last year I was completely new to this, and I basically stuck like glue to the people I already knew. This year I got to talk to other people, like Thesilee, and Kamen, and Shae and many, many others which was just... great. I was also greeted like an old friend, and hugged a lot and – I dunno, it was just great and made me incredibly happy. I remember sitting at a spot next to Marilisa and suddenly she said:

Marilisa: “By the way I’ve got something for you.”
Me: “???”
Marilisa: *Pulls out Mich’s CD* “We read that you wanted to buy it so we thought we’d give it to you as a birthday present.”
Me: “!!!”

So, thank you again for that. I’ve listened to the CD twice already and it’s just... beautiful. I played Sholem to Tia at the con and in the end she bought the CD, too :-p And speaking of birthday and birthday gifts: Silke gave me a pretty, pretty new strap for my guitar. And next year FilkCON will start ON my birthday. Whee!





Avalon Rising: I’d meant to buy this CD last year already but couldn’t afford it. It’s sort of rocky celtic music (though there’s also tradditional pieces on it) and I love it. Especially Margaret Davis’ voice. *sigh* My favourite piece is their version of “Black Davie’s Ride”.

Talis Kimberley – Archetype Café: Beautiful. Wonderful lyrics, and tunes, and arrangements. I haven’t yet a chance to listen to it through but the first five pieces are great. So far I like “A Prayer For Santa Lucia” best.

Mich Sampson – Just Beyond: This CD I’ve listened to already twice and it’s absolutely fantastic. Debbie once said it’s not just a great filk album but also a great album in general, and she’s absolutely right. My favourite piece is “Sholem”, but also “Justin’s Song”.

An album that I didn’t buy because I was running out of money is the “Summer & Fall” one. But Tia let me listen to it and... I really need this one. If only for one piece: “Matter Of Delaying” (Of course the other songs are great, too... ;-) )

I’d read the lyrics on their homepage and the lyrics alone made me choke up. And I’ve wanted to hear the song ever since and was thrilled to find out they’d put it on the album. And as much as I admire Summer & Fall for their variety of instruments and complex arrangements, “Matter of Delaying” with its simple yet intense piano arrangement to me is the masterpiece of the album. The tunes is wonderful and it’s overall just... perfect. Wow.



Okay, that’s it from me folks – all I can think about right now. Typing this down took me almost three hours... whoa :-p