A beautiful day full of great beers, food, music, and friends at Witch’s Hat Brewing Company Fury for a Feast 2021.
Fury for a Feast 2021
While Fury for a Feast 2021 was the 9th annual fundraiser/food drive put on by Witch’s Hat Brewing Company in South Lyon, it was our first. Seems like every year we booked up other events and couldn’t make it. This year when we saw that the event would be held, we blocked our calendar.
Fury for a Feast 2021 turns a fundraiser for Gleaners Community Food Bank and Blessings in a Backpack-South Lyon into a festival of big beers, delicious food, and diverse local music. The Witch’s Hat crew converted their parking lot into festival grounds. Given the heat of the day, shade was at a premium. Thankfully, Witch’s Hat set up plenty of chairs and tables under tents to let folks socialize without burning up.
In addition to music, food, and beer, the festival included a silent auction to benefit Blessings in a Backpack-South Lyon. There were lots of great items up for bid from various sponsors. I had my eye on the Witch’s Hat tap handle. Not sure what the hell I’d do with it, but I had an eye on it. I was also eyeing the Witch’s Hat lifetime membership but figured that would get snapped up quickly.
The Land of BIG BEER!
Fury for a Feast is when Witch’s Hat unleashes their barrel-aged beers. These heavy hitters are available in cans. Mug club members get first dibs. What is left is up for grabs later in the day.
I was astounded looking over the list of beers on tap. These are monster brews. A few like “Salted Caramel This is Bat Country ” or “Chiroptera ” clock in at 15% abv. That will starch your shorts in a hurry.
Feast by Chef Ché Foster and Crew
We always enjoy the food at Witch’s Hat. The offerings at the Fury for a Feast 2021 were exceptional. We opted for a late lunch featuring the pulled pork parfait, cowboy beans, and potato salad. Ok, yes we usually eat vegetarian/vegan, but we consider pulled pork and bacon to be vegetables. The parfait was the most excellent pulled pork over mashed sweet potatoes. A delicious trio when you throw in the beans and potatoes.
I have to admit, I almost strayed into more meat territory. Someone just down from us got the “Isaiah & Jordan”. This was a super combo of one Detroit dog and one Chicago dog. It looked killer, but I held off on eating more and opted for another beer instead.
A Fury of Music
The music at Fury of a Feast 2021 was all over the map. I love a great mix of musical genres. From eclectic folk, Stone Clovery acoustic drinking songs, sludgy punk rock, and psychedelic pop rock to Grateful deadly jams, the festival covers all the bases and then some.
Punch Drunk
Armed with their trusty ukuleles (even a bass version), Punch Drunk brought a folky take on pop music. Playing many classic cover songs spanning a variety of genres, they were fun. I’m not sure if it was the ukuleles, but Punch Drunk was uplifting. I’m sure they could have made a cover of Slayer’s “Angel of Death” sound cheery.
Brady’s Irregulars
If you are familiar with the awesome Irish-infused rock band Stone Clover, then you know and love Pauly Brady. While Stone Clover is working hard to finish up a new album and get ready for upcoming gigs, Pauly brought a couple of friends (Dave and Taylor) for an acoustic set of Irish drinking music. They call themselves Brady’s Irregulars.
Who doesn’t love singing along to “One More Beer” or the Stone Clover classic “Awesome”? Pauly shared memories of Taylor’s drinking escapades with the Slumlord Radio crew which evidently inspired the song “Patron Saint of Cider”. Brady’s Irregulars put a huge capital “F” for fun into Fury for a Feast 2021.
Slumlord Radio
The Swedish lads from Grand Rapids known as Slumlord Radio took the stage at just about the hottest point in the day. Like the diehard rockers they are, they tore into their set with animalistic intent.
For our dining pleasure, Slumlord Radio unleashed their sludgy rock anthems “Southpaw” and “Holy Smokes” among others. They also lit up some fine covers such as the Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” which pulled Pauly to the stage to join in the shenanigans. Slumlord even dedicated a very cool cover of Dire Straits “Money For Nothing” to yours truly. Slumlord Radio added their punk rock flavor to make it all their own.
Dude
I’ve been looking forward to catching Dude live and finally made it. In case you aren’t familiar, Dude is Tony DeNardo’s side project when he isn’t wailing with The Muggs. I’d listened to the album Kid Gloves, but it did not prepare me for their live show.
The gleaming melodies and harmonies glow with a touch of psychedelic magic just like the record. However, Dude cut loose and jammed live. The new music cooks with high octane riffs on top of their stylish melody. I very much dug the extended jams, especially new cuts “Red Coat for Sale” and “Run Me Around”.
Social Bones
The burning sun finally hit the horizon as Social Bones took the stage at Fury for a Feast 2021. The cooler temperatures felt great when mixed with the Grateful Dead chill of Social Bones. These guys are top notch, effortlessly kicking out one jam after another. Their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman” was nifty.
As an added bonus, they had a painter on hand. I’ve heard of artists working in concert with a band, but I’ve never seen it for myself. It was quite intriguing to see how the music moved the artist as he worked. In particular, I wondered if hearing the same song multiple times produced similar artistic imagery to emerge. Perhaps the artist will read this and let me know.
Pictures
We have a whole gallery of images from Fury for a Feast 2021. It was great to share this experience with friends from both our beer and music families. Our hats off to the great people at Witch’s Hat Brewing Company for putting on such a fantastic event to gather food and money for Gleaners Community Food Bank and Blessings in a Backpack-South Lyon. We were thrilled to be a part of the fun and provide our support. Food insecurity is a daily crisis for so many. If you can help out, please do. If you attended Fury for a Feast 2021, thank you!!! And please let us know what you enjoyed most about this year’s festival. Cheers!
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