Another Oktoberfest in the books

Greetings, Scandinavian Fans!

Once again autumn has graced the Pacific Northwest with rain. If we are to believe what the meteorologists are telling us, we'll have a rough winter. Time will only tell what the weather will bring over the coming months. For now, I'm enjoying the rain and falling leaves and time at home in my easy chair.

Oktoberfest season has once again come and gone. This year, 2010, marks the bicentennial of the Munich Oktoberfest. We had our hands full celebrating Oktoberfests all around our area. There were several interesting occurrences this year. The first came at the Meadowbrook Oktoberfest put on by Maple Leaf Lutheran Church. About two hours into our performance the Seattle Police showed up to tell us we were too loud. We had to finish the show acoustically. That didn't affect us too much since we we're basically an acoustic band. I didn't sing anything while the amplifiers were off. Other than that the show went on as planned. I never expected that a polka band would generate a noise complaint and be shut down by the cops. That's a badge of honor.

The following weekend at the Enumclaw Oktoberfest we had a great time. The crowd was very lively. A couple guys in the crowd were a little bit too lively and jumped on stage with me to sing. I like an enthusiastic crowd but those guys were a little over the top. I don't like people jumping on the stage to join in the show. Worst of all, one of the guys had bought a pickle from the Pickle Wench. He had eaten half of it before he jumped on stage. He tried to shove the other half of the pickle in my mouth while I was singing. I hate pickles. I am horrified of strange pickles being inserted in my mouth involuntarily.

In Leavenworth we were getting ready for our second show on Saturday in the Tanzhalle. Just as we were getting ready to move our equipment up on stage the power went out. Security had to evacuate the hall and get everyone safely out. We and the production staff had to stay behind at the stage and wait to see what was going to happen. We waited an hour and a half in the dark and then we left to get dinner. The power did come back on but not until after the end of our set. We had the time to get a good dinner at one of the restaurants in town.

From there on the Oktoberfests were pretty routine. We played and people drank and danced. We had a lot of fun. The bicentennial of Oktoberfest was celebrated very well across the Northwest and we were proud to be a part of that.

Now we have some time off. Perhaps I can get the recording finished in that time...