Fake folkies of 'A Mighty Wind' blow into town for night of fun
Everyone will be in on the joke tonight at McCaw Hall, as the faux folk groups featured in the clever, amusing and loving spoof of early '60s hootenanny music, "A Mighty Wind," recreate their movie roles.
The Folksmen, the New Main Street Singers and Mitch & Mickey, the acts featured in the mockumentary, will be on hand, as will the nervous and fussy Jonathan Steinbloom, as emcee, and the buxom, dim-witted, Swedish-born publicist Amber Cole.
As excitement builds for tonight's show, fans are probably asking themselves questions like:
Will the Folksmen do their audience-participation number, during which fans get to imitate barnyard animals? Let's hope so!
Will it be the Folksmen or the Folksmen & Folkswoman? At the end of the movie, the bass singer in the group comes out as a cross-dresser (and looks lovely), but still sings way down low.
Will Mitch Cohen, of Mitch & Mickey, get his stuff together enough to perform, or even show up? We all know from the movie that he had a nervous breakdown and became a derelict, so it's iffy — although he performed just fine in the film. Let's hope for the best!
Will there be a big finale with all the acts singing "A Mighty Wind," just like in the movie? I'm betting, yes!
And the biggest question of all, the big moment of the night (if it happens) — will Mitch & Mickey smooch at the conclusion of "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," their paean to their own unrequited love? They'd better!
"A Mighty Wind" was a "Spinal Tap" for '60s folk (only not as consistently laugh-out-loud funny), created by the same gang of parodists. Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and "Wind" director/co-writer Christopher Guest were the British rock band Spinal Tap, and they're also the New York-bred Folksmen.
The Folksmen, reminiscent of such real acts as the Kingston Trio and the Chad Mitchell Trio, first surfaced in 1984, when Spinal Tap went on tour. The Folksmen opened and were so believable that they got booed at some venues. Many concertgoers had no idea that both acts were made up of the same three people, which is just what the artists hoped for. That tour experience was the genesis of "A Mighty Wind."
Mitch & Mickey, modeled after such sweetheart folkies as Ian & Sylvia and Mimi & Richard Farina, is made up of "SCTV" alumni Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy. Levy, whose character is the best thing about the movie, co-wrote "A Mighty Wind" with Guest.
The New Main Street Singers, featuring reformed porn star Sissy Knox (brilliantly played by the luminous Parker Posey) and fronted by Terry Bohner (cooly played by John Michael Higgins), devilishly skewer self-righteous folk groups like Up With People, the New Christy Minstrels and the Association.
Bob Balaban plays promoter-manager Jonathan Steinbloom and Jennifer Coolidge squeezes into the form-fitting costumes of Amber Cole.
One thing we can be sure of, all three groups will play the songs featured in the movie and CD soundtrack, including the Folksmen's "Never Did No Wanderin'," "Blood on the Coal" and the fast-paced signature tune, "Old Joe's Place"; the New Main Street Singers' "Main Street Rag" (this Main Street is home to drug dealers and hookers) and "Potato's in the Paddy Wagon" (about miscreant fruits and vegetables); and, of course, Mitch & Mickey's kissing song.
I'll be there, playing the music critic.
Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com
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