Bristol Renaissance Faire Photos 2003

Above: End-of-the-day drum jam, Bristol Renaissance Faire, Saturday, July 19, 2003. The pipes, drum, and horn of the German band Wolgemut ring out across Farnham Way. Standing at center is Michael H. Gartner. To the left, just out of the frame, dancers move ecstatically to the pulse of drums and pipes.

(VOL·geh·moot)

"Wolgemut," Michael Gartner tells the audience, "is an old German word meaning 'to be in a good mood.' " You don't have to listen long to know the name is appropriate. Whatever the band's tour configuration has been, their sound has remained authentic, upbeat, and ideally suited to the Faire. (The CDs are excellent, by the way. I am currently addicted to Chanzonetta Tedesca from Wolgemut Shauspeluden II, and to Michaeleska from the first Shauspeluden album. Playing each album is like spilling out a little bag of jewels.)

Right: Edinburgh-born Canadian piper Richard Kean, playing with Wolgemut on Saturday, July 12, 2003. He looks as though he might just have stepped out of a Pieter Brueghel painting. The pipes are not a sort most of us are accustomed to seeing these days, nor is their sound one we are accustomed to hearing.

Visit Richard Kean's webpage.

Below: Wolgemut's piper and drummer at center-stage on Saturday, July 12, 2003, during a wonderfully peculiar rendition of We Will Rock You. Believe me, they did! These guys have very little need for electronic amplification. On the left, Swedish percussionist Tor Bruno Magnus Andersen, playing a Tapan; Richard Kean on the right.