The snow had arrived. When I awoke where I was staying that morning, the ground was already covered and it was debatable as to whether I was going to the convention center, or trying to get home or perhaps staying where I was for a few days. Well, the convention center was on the way home, and of course, there was a Brother show to see, so I figured, I should at least try to make it there. Great decision, in my mind. The drive was decent, only taking about 20 minutes longer than it had on the way home the night before, and once I arrived, I slid into a semi-parking spot, not as close to the hall as I could be, but decided at that point I was determined to not move my car again until I saw the show, or spring thaw, whichever came first.

The mood at the festival was very different than the day before. Many of the vendors had bugged out, and empty booths were all around. It was darker in the hall as some bands were on stage performing to a much smaller, more sedate, but very appreciative crowd. As we wandered around, we heard about the changes in schedule, as Brother was supposed to perform on a different stage that day. All the bands had been moved to the main stage, and the times had been adjusted, so Brother's show was going to be shorter and we had some time to wait before they started. Saw many fellow Brother fans there, and heard funny stories about the night before in the hotel, as well as discussed the odds of making it home that day.

After another great show from Celtic Soul, the guys started setting up on stage. Five chairs were brought out to the front of the stage, and the instruments appeared, were tuned and set up. The 20 or so fans who had remained despite the snow warnings all grabbed chairs and sat right up front, and waited for them to begin.

The activity on the stage began die down, and Hamish came to the mic and began with "We don't really know what were going to do, start with a little groove or something? Maybe some didg? Or something?" T responded with "Something? How does that go?" and after a bit of discussion, Hamish finished with "cool, we know what we're gonna start with."

Didg Jam
Fragile
So Familiar
Sweet Time
Shadowman

Angus was dressed in the Andy Warhol inspired T-shirt that we had seen last at Temple, with a grey, thermal knit, long sleeved shirt underneath, orange sunglasses and jeans. Part way through the show, he removed the sunglasses and the T-shirt. Hamish had on a grey T-shirt, with the patterned denim pants, and the ever-present red shoes. Rick had on an off-white, long sleeved, jacket-type shirt, over a reddish T-shirt, and dark beige jeans. He had sunglasses on for the show, and a tan knit winter hat that held and covered all of his hair. Dez was wearing a yellow T-shirt under a navy pea coat, with jeans, and T was also wearing jeans, with a dark striped T-shirt on top, and a scarf around his neck.

Dez was playing electronic wind-like sounds in the background, as Rick was picking away notes on his guitar. Slowly but surely, the sounds all swirled and came together with Hamish playing the blue didg. Dez joined in with a bit of harmonica and it all slowly came down and faded out. After a bit of silence, Rick started the beginning to Fragile.

Everything done was with a very mellow vibe, and was stretched out. Angus began singing with a growly tone to his voice, giving the song a good kind of menacing feel, which really fit in with the mood of the day. Between each of the verses were little mini jam sessions, which each guy adding new pieces to the breaks. Being up as close as we were, with such a smaller crowd than normal, and with the guys doing a seated semi-acoustic set, was such a different experience. The different sounds of the instruments came through clearly, and how they fit so well together in the songs was evident. Harmonies with Angus and Hamish were extremely tight, and the addition of Dez on keyboards gives the songs a new feeling of power underneath them.

Hamish called Lori from Celtic Soul up on stage, asking her to join them on fiddle for the next song. As she was coming up, Hamish said, "Anyway, when we're finished, ah, we're all going to go for a walk in the snow" to which Rick replied "California boys." The guys all played around for a bit, getting set, and finding Lori a place to sit, which ended up between Hamish and Angus on the drum riser.

Hamish started off Familiar by himself on the guitar, and Lori, Angus and Rick came in towards the end of the first verse. Lori played well throughout the song; the fiddle always seems to add a new feeling to this song. One of the breaks was extended and highlighted her playing and she really captured the feeling of her song in what she played. T and Dez also really added to the song, creating a great atmosphere.

After some discussion on stage, Hamish asked if we all had a good weekend and then said, "We're taking requests - somebody say Sweet Time?" Angus had Hamish's guitar, and Hamish picked up his didg and they started the song. Lori stayed on stage for the rest of the set, and played quick and repeated chords, which fit nicely into the hard-hitting beginning of this song. This song has many different facets - at the beginning, it has a hard and menacing sound, but when they arrive at the first chorus of "in you own sweet time", the song changes to a more flowing piece, with drawn out harmonies. It changes back as the didg comes back in for the next part.

Angus vocalized through the break, and then the drums dropped out, leaving just Hamish on the didg, and Rick on guitar. Angus sang, "when you come around" over and over, which brought them back to the chorus of the song. The drums came back in, and Angus and Hamish joined together in harmony on "in your own sweet time" with Rick singing at the end of the line "own sweet time" lightly in the background. The three continued to sing around these verses to end the song.

T wandered off to get a drink after this song, and Hamish asked us "So, who's actually trapped?" to which we all groaned and laughed in reply. "That's exciting, isn't it..." he continued "...who knows what could happen? Rick doesn't even want to think about it" which brought out laughter from the crowd. Hamish said, "Anyway, no, it is exciting, it's exciting to be on the line home to Australia and say 'yeah, we're snowed in'. We're doing a TV show tomorrow morning... or not... as the case may be." Angus replied, "We're either doing a TV show or we're snowed in. And neither the twain shall meet. Either way, we'll have fun." Hamish thanked some of the other bands who had stuck around that day for some find music, Celtic Soul, Hadrian's Wall, "The Tinkers... the tinks." With that, they started Shadowman.

The new bass line for Shadowman adds a lot to the song, and it was accentuated as they fading very slowly up into the song. Hamish continued to play around with the words and melodies to the verses, not straying so far that it feels like a different song, just giving the song new power and feeling. The mellowness of the day worked well with the song, giving it a new feeling. The song swelled and grew towards the end, giving way to a large section of didg from Hamish, accompanied with fiddle from Lori, which slowed into the few guitar notes from the melody played by Rick.

As much as everyone would have liked them to continue, Bill came to the stage and said that unfortunately, there were other bands that he had to get in before the snow got too bad. The guys hung around to greet the fans who were there, and later on, I happened to catch all five of them sliding down the inclined slope outside the convention center entrance, looking like five little boys out playing in the snow. Guess Hamish got them out for that walk after all.

I ended up stranded at the hotel, partially because the turnpike was closed or blocked and they were close to declaring a snow emergency, and partially because my car keys had decided they'd like to take a long holiday in the snow somewhere. Through the kindness of friends, I had a bed and a place to stay that night. We had a fun afternoon running back and forth between the hotels, had a nice dinner with some Brother fans, and spent the night finding all the "theme rooms" in the hotel (The Titanic room is very cool), riding the elevators, and randomly seeing members of Brother throughout the hotel. At a very late hour, we all finally retired to bed, not knowing what the day ahead would bring, but always hoping for more Brother, and knowing that being with this group of fans would always be fun and full of memory making moments.

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