My thanks to you, m'lord.  *curtseys*  

Of course, I am thinking of unplugged everything, although these days, there is (mostly hidden) sound available at large fairs, not so the old days.  And the Northern California faire has an after-hours show with people such as Tempest playing with full on sound systems, etc. , there may be others as well.

Ok, but do you think they would be appropriate for a RF?

Well, I didn't actually say it that way but it is implied. Obviously you want someone who fits in and I can understand thinking BN would fit in the best.

I'm going to go for a band I have seen recently at a festival - Solstice. I thought they were excellent at the New Day festival last year. Strong and powerful.

Other choices I might consider would be Curved Air or Steelye Span. Steelye Span are a perfect festival band and have released some excellent stuff recently. I have a soft spot for the delightful Maddy Prior as well!

You must have not gone to one of these like the one in Eugene in the Oregon Country Fair ... the best music there is?

The party with the drum circles, with Micky and on occasion some GD'rs on hand ... and half the audience is dancing around in the buff ... the party is neat and far out and lasts all night!

Of all the bands listed, the only one that might play for 3 or 4 hours or more, would be THE THIRD EAR BAND, who would improvise a lot ... but it still would not beat the huge drum circle ... AND everyone goes to it, not just  a handful of us!

Let's face it ... it is what "getting stoned" used to mean, and it was to be "enjoyed". With all these other bands, the excitement would die after they were done with their hour! Besides the fact that in Oregon, probably none of those would be liked, although one or two bands might do well ... but in general, none of them will ever beat the drum circles ... and that includes Phish and several other bands!

Drum circles are at many of the shows, as are end of show "Pub Sings," kind of like a variety show of the various performers in one spot.  They all have their own character, some make up in spirit for what they lack in other ways...I have gone to faires as a "playtron," (one who dresses in garb, but is not employed by the faire), as a player (under the aegis of the creators of the whole schmugugie, Ron and Phyllis Patterson, who would inspect each person make sure you knew how to speak and were dressed appropriately) and also a merchant for a couple of years.  Just providing my personal faire experience in more detail here.  

I realize this may make me taken less seriously with Prog, however, it's a fun thing to do.  

Ok, now I know who (probably) voted for the third ear band. 

It's fine. I actually have only been to one or two RF's. Actually only one that I remember and that was in the late 80's with an old friend who I had a falling out with a long time ago. Lol. But even then(or at least at some point) I think I remember thinking that Gentle Giant's Octopus album would sound appropriate coming from a car speaker in the parking lot and that is the origin of me asking this  question. 

I didn't know they had drum circles at these events. I used to do a drum circle but haven't been to one in several years. There were fun. The ones I went to were at my old church.

Sorry, but the budget only allows for one band. 

I would add Angelo Branduardi to the lot, even if quite similar to Blackmore's Night (but he started before).

Jansch is passed away, but Pentangle would be another great choice.

Saw Wolgemut at the Maryland Festival the year I attended there, they were a LOT of fun.  Also, if you've not heard Faun, they are highly recommended, would make an excellent choice for any Faire.  But neither are prog.

hmm their stuff is readily available so there is that  

Dragonfly and From the Witchwood would be faire-appropriate

But I think my choice would be Amazing Blondel, and I voted accordingly, though I suppose they were going more for the Elizabethan sound.  It sounds from another time anyway, at least their first 4 albums, with the 5th album (Blondel) still holding some of that character

Fairport Convention

Steeleye Span

Trees

Circulus

etc..

Was going to say Fairport and Steeleye, certainly. They actually played ballads that would date to the 15th century at least. Add the Silly Sisters (Maddy Prior of Steeleye and June Tabor), who are actually singing 15th century songs in a pre-Tudor mode, like...

Though I think German Pagan Folk band, Faun, Katharine Blake's Mediæval Bæbes, Jan Akkerman on lute, Rasmus Fleischer's Vox Vulgaris, or anything former-Faun lead singer Elisabeth Pawelke touches (e.g. Almara) would be my top choices to have from ProgWorld at a RenFest, I would much prefer the crumhorn duo I saw yesterday in Minnesota or the diminutive Elizabethan Church of England singers I used to sit with at the Michigan faire or the Ann Arbor vocal quartet, Anonymous4: their affect and accessibility is more humble and less pretentious. Plus, as mentioned above, they use 0.00% electricity. 

New Jersey band Advent would be awesome, too!

The one in California, south of Oxnard, (can never remember exactly where it was!), I went to twice and the 2nd time as part of our theater group class dressed in complete Elizabethan garb and doing vignettes and pieces of theater ... with a lot of twisted Shakespeare in it ... more like George and Martha get drunk sometimes!

In those two instances, I can not even remember the artists or bands that played there, which ought to tell you my attention span, and I was ALREADY into the European music scene by that time, and a lot of the "local music" stuff was not specifically exciting, though catching Robin Williamson was fun and neat ... and he fits into the the idea really well ... but I think that he would say that he would go to those for a lark and fun, and maybe play a little, but I doubt that he would stick to "hits" and likely only play traditionals, most of which would be labeled "what" when it came to southern California ... which is bad for a band or audience! But he did really well in the folk and bluegrass circles in California ... but not Oregon ... go figure!

By the time I came up here the story about the OCF was already huge and the main attraction for many years, would be the unannounced show by the Grateful Dead ... one member would show up, and then another join in sometime, and there was no rhyme or reason, except to party! I'm not sure that these days, folks can even relate to this at all.

The GD's experimental side and free form essence, was huge, and something that a lot of "progressive" music idolized from the late 60's when many European bands were doing similar things and thanking the West Coast folks for their direction. However, the free form noodling that the GD did, was fun for a lot of these fairs not only because they knew that a song would show up somewhere in the middle of it, but that in between you could go on groovin' and holerin' ... which was one of the attractions of the Fair in the first place!

In this particular manner, I would not pay 10 Cents for any of the bands listed at all ... though I might make an exception to The Third Ear Band, but what is it that they will do ... turn water into wine and wine into water...? If you can get the crowd to sing along it might work, but otherwise, I think most of it would fall flat ... and the listing of well known bands in those fairs, is not specially attractive, although Phish has been listed a couple of times in their day ... but I'm not sure they would be the "perfect" band for the festivals at all, anywhere in America. 

I think I would rather see a FOLK/BLUEGRASS revival in these fairs for the stoned and party fun ... a lot more than any of the folks listed.

Well, IMHO, Third Ear Band, Gryphon and Gentle Giant's main influences are medieval, and not renaissance stuff (baroque music), so they should be eliminated...

And Renaissance's musical foundations (despite their name) is well past the renaissance era, but purely XIXth & XXth symphonic

In terms of veracity, it's clearly Amazing Blondel (I see my buddy and PF colleague also voted them in ) that shoould/would win it hands down, but they're so boring , that everyone would leave and move to the medieval festival next door

I don't find Amazing Blondel's music boring at all! Plus, the RenFairs I've happened to attend seem to blur the lines with regards to what is fitting to the exact era they're claiming to represent (e.g. Whose Renaissance? 13th Century Italy's? France's with François I/Leonardo in the 1500s? Great Britain's with Edward IV through Elizabeth I?) Plus, I find that the average person has a very difficult time pinpoint particular musical styles to particular eras of history much less countries and composers, so "medieval" versus "Baroque" versus "Elizabethan" could mean Merovingian (do we have any music that we know survives from the early medieval? John of Damascus? Peter Abelard?), Gregorian (von Bingen), Carolingian, Occitan troubadours, the Eleanor of Aquitaine era of courtly music, Dufay and des Prez, Palestrina and Vivaldi, Teleman and Haydn, but who would know? I think we, the listeners, care about the use of period(-sounding) instruments (wood and brass) and pre-Industrial Rev-sounding music. Most Renaissance Fair personel seem to prefer the term "anachronistic" anyway. Thus, any time will do! Today's musician/performers are quite eclectic anyway and rarely show any allegiance to any single composer or single pocket of music, thus they fit into the world of "anachronistic" performers perfectly! 

You are absolutely right.....only the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) tries to truly stick to "period correct," in as much as possible with what they do.  And the stretch of time does differ from Faire to Faire and some are more period correct than others, with budgetary and availability of talent playing in mightily.  The original RPF (Renaissance Pleasure Faire) did strive to be period correct, but there have always been asides to modern culture, thanks to the participation of groups like the Firesign Theatre founders.  There are also Medieval and Fantasy Fairs about the country that try for a different approach than the Renaissance Faires.  

It's so weird to see this ... I would think that GRYPHON would be a much better choice, since they could pretty much play and improvise all night long and even (likely) join some of the theater troops for some more fun in the bits (provided they knew the bits, of course) ... c'mon ...  can't you just see it ... a take on R & J and the music by Gryphon instead of Nino Rota?

As much as I like GG, I tend to think that in the end, they were a bit more song oriented, than they were free form, and the RF stage stuff, is about a lot of freedom ... and many of those bands don't exactly have it. GG's well known for creating DIFFERENT music, which if Gary Green is any indication came off their "just play, and we never wrote anything" which is a great thing, which they obviously perfected into some really good material ... the problem that comes with this TODAY is that we don't like improvisations at the show ... we're there to listen to the hits ... and that means you just killed the RF's show.

The choices in most RF's are not bad, but these days, they are trying to satisfy the wrong crowd ... the OCF has been able to maintain, due to their history, and the private parties ... the Faire closes at like 9PM, and after that it's all private, and the waiting list for that party is about 9 years long! But the great music shows take place in that party, NOT IN THE FAIR ... where the hit makers can play their hour and go home with some money! 

But where the fun is, is when you get many of these folks in the private party, and they just go nuts having fun with anyone else in a stage ... and this is where the OCF has been the best ... just wish there were recordings of it, but they can't be allowed for obvious reasons, though I'm pretty sure there are many bits and pieces all over ... but for my .... why the fudge would you be spending your time with something in your hand to record ... a real party ... you're not enjoying it!

Indeed there is probably some recent revisionism about how renaissance was reappraised, but when at school during the 70's (whether in Europe or North Am), we were taught that the Renaissance era really started with the end of the Inquisition and discovery of the new world (both in 1492). The next "age" (Modernism) comes with the French revolution and the period before renaissance was called the upper-middle ages or upper-medieval era, as opposed to the lower/darker middle ages, which followed the fall of the roman empire.

As for these fairs, never been to a renaissance one (though they probably exist around renaissance castles in my area), but medieval fairs are fairly common in my necks of the woods (the more commercial ones being held in city parks, but some of the 'serious ones" are held in medieval castle with kights & armour tournaments), though indeed now are very selective about the music they choose, but it's generally more in the vein of string-instrument troubadour stuff (something Blackmore's Night is maladroitely trying to ape) than the pompous wigs & white-powedered faces and horn-filled music ala Marin Marais.

 (I actually did get what the author was saying, and I think it is a symptom of neo-prog artists "trying too hard" to be authentic and English.  I've been guilty of that a bit myself).

In the private party side of things, it's all acoustic ... but in the "show" band, during the regular hours it is electrified. At least in the OCF ... I don't remember the one in Southern California (Thousand Oaks or something like it near there!) in the old days.

Thus, the suggestions as to which bands, would change SIGNIFICANTLY between the two ... a hit band would not likely survive in the free form side of things at all ... whereas a folk styled band, or any kind of bluegrass or simplistic designed band, would be just fine ... this is the reason why I think that THE THIRD EAR BAND, would be fine in these places ... their material does not change or make a huge difference either way. Maybe Amazing Blondel, however I have not heard them in so long that they are but a distant memory ... for that matter, the early STRING DRIVEN THING, although the later side of the band is all rock music and not acoustic.

Having now given Blackmore's Night plenty of listens--throughout their entire discography--a can assert with conviction that they may be the least anachronistic band I've ever heard from this list. Candace Night's voice and lyrics--while beautiful and confident--are neither representative of the musics that I've heard preserved from the mediæval, Renaissance, Baroque era's of history (or music). They make Ritchie's music feel more like modern folk-rock music; there is nothing, aside from Ritchie's solo/instrumental pieces, that remotely "remind" me of pre-Baroque music.

With the popularity of these Faires, other enterpreneurs began to create their own versions.  Some are more authentic than others.  Same for the music one might hear at these Faires.  I prefer the more accurate ones to the less accurate ones, as they are how I was introduced.  But even at some of the Faires where there are questionable representation, one can still find gems.  I don't mind if musicians play folkier tunes, for surely there was music in the lanes, as well as in the courts.  We do know of some of these old tunes, many are cautionary tales etc, such as Reynardine or just tell gripping tales of wicked deeds and cuckoldry and the like, some are just bawdy fare. 

That all being said, I do prefer to see instruments of the period (and preceding it, as well), to ones that just don't belong (banjo, yes, I've seen it), or hearing obviously anachronistic ones, such as once hearing Richard Thompson's 1952 Vincent Black Lightning (without changing the lyrics to Black Lightning being, perhaps, a knight's steed, lol).  However, I do find little odd asides from performers that mention current events to be funny, as long as they are subtle.  Anyway, just my take.