Weatherstock Concert Series Report: The Chosen Few

 

Yesterday marked the start of the Weatherstock Concert Series with an afternoon show (for those of us in NA, evening for those in the EU) by Laurelin band The Chosen Few, one of the 11 bands participating in the ultimate battle of the bands, Weatherstock. The Chosen Few is lead by Grymrock and members include Uswin, Maramac, Tallic, Chadders, Trotgard, Rimwing and Babuska. Before the concert began I went “backstage” at the Prancing Pony where the band had gathered to ask them a few questions on behalf of LOTRO Players.

What prompted you to start a band?

Grymrock: Oh dang… That is a hard one.

Uswin: Glory and fame.

Babushka: Rumours of male groupies! Sadly been disappointing in that aspect…

Uswin: Well, really it was for the love of performing, the acclaim is a bonus.

Grymrock: *nods at Uswin’s words* Aye, that is some of it, yes… Ya see, we met in the pub some years ago, miss, and things have just evolved from there.

Uswin: Indeed, only four of us back then.

Grymrock: We started out as a four piece group, and we are now, if I am not mistaken, an ensemble of eleven people.

Babushka: Some of us joined later on. Got the chance to play in a band and could not say no to that chance.

How did you decide what to call the band?

Grymrock: *chuckles* Oh, ya should have heard the first suggestions of that, miss. *smiles widely*

Babushka: Let us not go there. *coughs*

Uswin: Hey, Mystic Pork Snouts was a great band name. Catchy.

Babushka: And flattering…

Grymrock: Aye, almost spilled my beer over that one.

Uswin: Then there was The Breeland Tumblers. That was taken. Oh and Beard and Feet.

Babushka: Needless to say- at that time only male band members.

Grymrock: But, to be honest, I am not sure. We did play the sort of tunes that we could not find anyone else doin’, so we just played around with words until we got this one, and we’ve stuck with it.

You’re not so few anymore, as you pointed out, any thoughts on changing it?

Uswin: Well, it’s kind of stuck.

Grymrock: Aye, if we change it now nobody will come to our concerts.

Do you compose or transcribe your own music?

Grymrock: Oh we do all our own tunes, miss. Transcribing, that is.

How about original music?

Grymrock: Er, not so much. It is hard to write music for so many people, and frankly we do not have the time due to all the traveling between concerts and stuff like that.

Uswin: Well, I believe Ser Grymrock has been working on that.

Grymrock: Aye, Uswin, but nothing that is worth mentioning…

What genre does your band like to play the most?

Grymrock: Oh, we are the fast-and-happy type of band, miss. If ya can stand still at one of our concerts, we are either dead or seriously dru- er… prohibited to play.

Babushka: Good ol’ barndance.

Grymrock: Aye, Lady Babushka. We’ve done a few of those up through the years. *smiles*

Do you regularly hold public concerts? And if so, when and where?

Grymrock: Oh, not regularly, miss, but we do host our own little festival over on Laurelin… Ya might have heard of it? It’s called Archet Aid. *raises an eyebrow*

I think I missed that last year, unfortunately. Will you be doing it again?

Babushka: Too bad, that was a really good gig.

Grymrock: Well, it’s coming again this fall, so ya might catch it this time. Every year is the plan.

Babushka: We raised a lot of money for the poor people of Archet! Alas, the bandits keep burning the town down, so it seems the money goes fast there… *sighs*

Grymrock: That was not our goal though. It is a solidarity festival, not a charity one.

Trotgard: Well, it was very popular. *smiles*

 

 

Do you perform with a band outfit? If so, how did you decide what to wear?

Grymrock: *glances toward the female members* I think the ladies should answer that one.

Babushka: Pure democracy. The one that shouts the loudest gets the vote. Sulking, groaning, threats of burning certain outfits and bribing the others also works.

What is your favorite part of performing music?

Grymrock: Oh, that is an easy one, miss. The applause and cheer of a happy audience.

Uswin: Aye, that and the complimentary ale.

Babushka: And it’s also great fun to see a whole room dancing and jumping. Still looking for the groupies though…

 

 

If you could say one thing to encourage others to start playing music, what would it be?

Uswin: Go for it, grab some friends and some instruments and go for it.

Trotgard: Practice makes perfect… or was that for making pies?

Babushka: For you that would be eating the pies…

Grymrock: *thinks heavily for a moment* That must be that a life without music is a quite empty one, miss. With an instrument you can bring joy and happiness to others… if ya know how to play it. *smiles*

Babushka: Just… stay away from any instrument with “pig” in it… *shudders*

Grymrock: Aye, Lady Babushka, my thoughts exactly. Just stay away from that horn, if ya know what I mean. *smiles*

With that I said my goodbyes and went to await the concert by the Bree Stage. Quite a few folks were already gathering, a half hour before the show.

The Chosen Few played a very energetic mix of music from several folk traditions as well as some carefully selected modern pieces that did not detract from the mood of the set. As they predicted, it was hard not to get up and dance. One particularly enjoyable tune was accompanied with lyrics sung by Chadders which seemed to reflect on the existential nature of nearly being eaten by trolls.

After over an hour of music the band was hailed with many shouts of encore. There was no doubt of the concert’s success. This group will definitely be a strong contender at Weatherstock and a band to watch in general. They gave us an absolutely grand kick off to the awesome Weatherstock event!