Vericoncert!

Sassafrass Boston and Ada were delighted to perform at Vericon, the Harvard/Radcliffe Science Fiction Convention!  Our concert was almost entirely Norse, including the first performance of the final two songs in the Sundown cycle.  These were “Here’s To Valhalla,” a drinking song for the warriors of Asgard, and a rough demonstration of “If I Could Ask You,” a quartet for Odin, Loki, Baldur and Hella.  The latter shows the children pleading with their fathers to give up their vengeance and the stubborn pride that will destroy the world through Ragnarok, and in rehearsal, Emily (Baldur) and Kara (Hella) sang the opening lines so beautifully that Ada (Loki) cried.  Which means that Loki has now wept for Baldur, so he’ll be released from Hell, and the world is saved!  Hurrah!  (Though that does mean there may need to be some slight revisions to the song cycle before we perform it at Balticon in May.  We’ll get right on that…)

Ada & Tili as Odin and Loki, performing “If I Could Ask You”

We also sang “Gift of Life” and “the Futhark Song,” and ended with a group performance of “Somebody Will,” joined by the Harvard fan community and such Vericon guests as Greer Gilman and Jo Walton.  As always, it was great singing with and for you all, and we look forward to singing at Vericon again!

Also, we collected emails for our mailing list of people who want to be notified about our Kickstarter when we start it.  If you’d like us to add you to that list, please do let us know!

Sassafrass also helped once again with the  Vericon charity auction.  This year Ada as Loki helped lead a Team Competition, between “Team Good” and “Team Evil.”  In the end we raised more than $12,000 for Doctors Without Borders, four times what we did last year, and far beyond what anyone expected.  You can see the records of the competition on the chalkboard behind us.  Many thanks to all who helped make the auction a staggering success!