Annual Daniel re-cap and Hammer No More the Fingers interview

The weekend before last I had the pleasure of attending a party where my two favorite bands played - The Hot Seats and Hammer No More the Fingers - and the majority of my closest friends were there.  I'm talking about the Annual Daniel.  This is a late 30's age dude's perspective, but for me this is bigger and more fun than any Phish show or huge Bonnaroo type festival is gonna be in this day and age - with  zero of the hassle.  Years from now we're going to look back on these parties in amazement at not just the incredible quality of the music a small number of us were lucky enough to be exposed to, but also at the the degree of bacchanalia we continued to maintain.

Hammer No More the Fingers played Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16 and absolutely crushed it, especially on Friday the 15th when they played two sets.  On a good night - and these A.D. shows were good nights - I'd say Hammer rivals just about any other up and coming rock act.  They channel the chubacabraj, but after summoning the goat sucker they chase it down the wormhole with its tail between its legs.

The Hot Seats showed up nice and fresh on Saturday afternoon, relatively speaking, and proceeded to deliver two sets of professional level string band music of a quality they only hinted at during the previous year's Special Ed and the Shortbus style reunion show.  These guys weren't the darlings of the Shetland Folk Festival for nothing!  Not only are they great musicians and showmen, but their quick wits and cynical optimism meshes well with the personalities who patron this party.  On and off the stage, these guys are great folks to be around and I think they truly have just as much fun as anyone else!  They brought out singer Alison Self for a naughty encore number which put a fitting "ending" on the evening.

On Sunday morning, despite an all encompassing grogginess and what you might call a hangover, I was able to interview Duncan Webster and Jeff Stickley of Hammer as we took a mid-morning walk along a gravel road by the river.  A transcription of that interview has been published here.

Hammer on Fri 6/15/12. Photo by Laura Fields

Hot Seats w/ Alison  Self. 6/16/12. Photo by Vickey Goff

Every year threatens to be the last, but as long as we can corral both of these bands I think there's a good chance that there will be yet another Annual Daniel.  And, oh yeah, Daniel turned 30 this year!  (Yes, there really is a Daniel).

Be a Fan