It’s the end of another fantastic year, so it seems like a perfect time to take a closer look at what made it so much fun. Since we can be a little nerdy, we’re taking a different approach to this year’s list: rather than using superlatives and terms like ‘best’ or ‘greatest,’ we’ve chosen more descriptive terms, for the entertainment of it.
Summary:
Clover’s Revenge delivered 60 performances at pubs, parties and festivals across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, as well as having the privilege of performing for appreciative crowds in Scotland and England in the Summer of 2022.
Sadly, we did not play a single fight this year.
Also, we did not have the opportunity to play a wake.
Non-superlatives:
The most ancient and time-honored venue we played was actually outside, on the cobblestones of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The entire city is literally centuries older than American democracy. We wrangled a phenomenal spot, and we’ve got the pictures to tell a keen tale.
The newest, greenest and dewiest venue we played all year was The Shebeen Irish Speakeasy on Siesta Key, which opened its doors last week. We’d like to congratulate Ross Galbraith and wish him and Louise every success in building Siesta Key’s first and only Irish Pub!
Our most scrimpily populated performance was at a Tartan Day Festival at – where were we? God that was fun. The venue could seat thousands, and yet we had but a handful. While their numbers were, frankly, tiny, their spirit was boisterous, and even better, they laughed at all of our quips. With that said, an honorable mention must also go to that self same Tartan Day performance for the fulsomest and most Falstaffian medieval history and papal-themed banter.
*For reference, Tartan Day is a North American tradition that celebrates Scottish heritage, and is celebrated on April 6. The day commemorates the date upon which the Declaration of Arbroath was signed, in the year 1320. The Declaration of Arbroath was essentially when Robert the Bruce had taken enough crap from Rome, and told the pope where to go and how to get there.
The most profound sigh of relief we experienced was the day John Barron jreoined the Scotland tour after his, erm, convalescence.
The squelchiest and most besotted performance award goes to The Dunedin Highland Games, which might have actually been a hurricane. I personally counted at least 700 people under our tent while we performed a highly exuberant hour of Irish Speed Folk. It ended with the Fire Department shutting it all down, but not before we witnessed at least one poor vendor’s tent cartwheeling past.
The most outstanding and consequential rescue of the year goes to Folknharmony with a special thanks to Nancy Gauvreau, who provided entertainment in Scotland during John’s aforementioned convalescence.
What a year!
