Elders Filmmaker in KC Star
Many of you noticed Ben Meade during The Elders set at the recent KC Irish Festival. Ben was filming a documentary “American Music: Off the Record and on the Road” a film that Meade sees as an examination of the conflict between the music you hear on most radio stations and that of independent artists who perform, produce and distribute their own music.
The Kansas City Star has some background on Meade including what he was doing at Crown Center:
He is wraith thin, dressed in black, with a sharp nose set in a model’s face, and he is filming KC Celtic rockers the Elders at the recent Irish fest at Crown Center. At first he restlessly circles the musicians, weaving his way among them, his lens often inches from their faces. Then he flops onto his back and starts moving across the front of the stage like a giant inchworm. The musicians improvise some slick footwork to keep from tripping over him. And Meade gets the shot he wants
See also:
• KCIF 2006: more reactions & reviews incl. Tim Finn
• Top Ten Irish Fest Memories pre-2006
• Kansas City Irish Fest Photos
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
While I am excited about someday seeing this footage, I have discovered that being at a show that is being filmed is, at the best, mildly distracting. At the worst, I find myself wishing for a big stick to bop the videographers head with as I chase them them off the stage.
Maybe my personally being clutzy has something to do with it, but when someone lays down near the feet of a performer, I have images of them tripping, and then a whole chain reaction of events that seems to come from a slapstick comedy. A whole tragic-comic scenario went through my head during the Elders set that ended with Ian’s drum smashed on the ground between the stage and the crowd. *Shudders*