Johannes Brahms' Symphony No.
1 In C Minor's first public performance was in October of 1876.
Symphony No. 1 In C Minor was written to be performed by an orchestra
consisting of nine different instruments. If I was to try to
list all nine here, I don't know where that might lead to, so
trust me, it was written for nine instruments. Look it up, if
you want.
While researching 'ol Johannes
piece ( 'ya know, you really 'gotta love this stuff to do THIS
kind of research!), I found the following notes: ** The music
builds to one final great cresting, which subsides into the brief
but spacious, perfectly timed coda.** Which translated means:
it gets louder than hell, than slowly gets quieter and quieter,
with one quick RUPPP!!! at the end. "So What?", you
say. Well...........................
Cacklefest No. 1's first public
performance was ALSO in October (although a few years later than
the Brahms' deal) and was ALSO performed on nine instruments.
I could list all nine here, but I know what that would lead to.
Look it up, if you want.
And damn if it didn't build to
one final great cresting, which subsided into a brief, but, spacious,
perfectly timed coda. Or, got louder than hell, then slowly got
quieter and quieter, with one quick RUPPP!!! at the end. See
what I'm getting at? The parallels here are almost frightening...
and man, we ain't done yet! Brahms' Symphony No. 2's first public
performance followed - No. 1's almost one year to the day. Again
Gibb's Cacklefest No. 2 - almost one year to the day after Cacklefest
No.1! Number of instruments in Brahm's Symphony No. 2 ?
Twenty four. Number of participants in Cacklefest No. 2 ? That's
right... twenty four! Among Johannes notes for the opening
movement? The term "Allegro non troppo"... Italian
(Symphonyspeak) for fast, but not toooo fast. Which is a perfect
description for the way this year's Cacklefest was performed.
Enough of this useless trivia
-
I've been fortunate enough to
be present at both Cacklefest 1 and 2. And I've got to tell you...
there's nothing like witnessing the 'ol Famoso Raceway starting
line and staging area full of idling Front Motored Fuelers. The
sound of the cackling along with the staccato accompaniment of
throttles cracking open... the flames that could be seen from
some of the headers... the cloud that formed from all the NITRO
that was being burned... the smell of that burning NITRO... the
colors of the cars... the gleaming chrome. PLUS the Jade Grenade
and the Mike Kuhl diggers making short side by side "squirts"
downtrack... "BIG" making a "squirt" with
the Swamp Rat VI... The Greek piloting the Loukas and Preising
Fuel Coupe in street clothes... and Mike Boyd ending the show
with an on again, off again, lane swapping pass in the Marcellus
and Borsch "Winged Express" (man, you could sense 'ol
Willie looking down and smiling after that one!).
All and all, not a bad evenings'
entertainment. The following photos give a brief glimpse of the
total "Sensory Overload" that is the Cacklefest. Maestro
Steve and all of the boys and girls in the band.... 'ya done
good.
For the first time, last year
the drag racing took a back seat to a thing we called "Cacklefest".
This year "the thing" called Cacklefest was an event
unto itself. With 24 CackleCars spread throughout the pits of
Famoso, one could only imagine how Steve Gibbs, Greg Sharp and
crew were going to pull this deal off. Come Saturday at dusk
we found out. What appeared to some as organized chaos, the cars
were push started, one after the other, down the historic fire-up
road of "The Patch". Here comes a Top Fuel car ...
and another - here comes a Top Gas car - woah - here comes a
pair of Fuel Altereds! Nitro everywhere! This one's making a
burnout! - And so is that one! Sensory overload!
Cacklefest 2000 had 9 vintage
fuel dragsters. They came down without a break and all lined
up running on the center line of the track. This time starting
all the cars at once was out of the question. So, they basically
came down in two flights with selected cars actually staging
and making short, smoky runs. It was like a three ring circus
as you didn't know where to look next. I have no idea how long
"the show" actually lasted but when it was over nobody
wanted to leave. We just mingled and each, in our own way, relived
memories some four decades old. Hopefully the following photos
will give those who couldn't make it a small clue as to what
happened, and let all of us who were there to relive the excitement.
