I thought seeing the guys would have softened my longlasting withdrawal symptoms but I guess things are even worse now...

Anyway, here my reviews hoping they won't sound too much like a diary but it's really hard to separate the gigs from the rest of the trip.

First of all, Copenhagen is charming, I loved it even if it was sooooo cold! I left a blooming Italian season to face snow and freezing winds. Call me The GBS Iced Martyr from now, please! On February 19, under a snow storm I started my solitary research of the places they were going to perform and of the tickets. It took a while to understand that the famous Billetnet was not a web site to get the concert reservations but the Danish Post Office! Have you ever bought live concert tickets in a post office? Really weird! A kind guy found me at a bus stop while I was grinning for the cold and for reading the local bus company name: TouristsFart! I swear I had to take note of it...

Anyway he brought me to Portalen (and if they'll perform again there, please take note the S-train stop is Hundige and not Greve) and later a taxi driver showed me the Pumpehuset. Can you imagine how well I felt as soon as I saw some black and white GBS promo posters around me? Guess that's the moment when I finally realized I was there to see THEM! After almost 3 years! YES YES YES!

I spent the afternoon visiting the town and checking some music stores and here I have sad news for the ones who were waiting to receive a copy of the supposed special European TURN cd edition. Actually there's no special edition! There are no singles released by now and the only new thing in TURN is that the second song is not "Feel It Turn" but "Can't Stop Falling" and "Demasduit Dream" takes the place nr 9. That's all. No other realeases by now and I didn't even hear them at the local radios or TV shows. Nothing! I just found a lot of Turn copies in the shops.

And here we go: 8.00 pm the show has to start! I actually have a shock when I enter Portalen. Last time I saw the guys I was jumping with other 8.000 people in the mud of Citadel Hill. I do not really expect to do the same but I wanna dance and jump around and sing out loud but when I climb the Portalen stairs I find a hall with dark lights and coffee tables with soft candles on it! Everybody is quietly and peacefully sitting at his table. I can't enjoy a concert where everybody sits at his table, really!

I sit at my one, third row, very close to the stage and start looking at the poeple around me. The average age is 40 or more, no teenagers, a couple of semi-breast-naked Margaritas checking their position and concerned 'cause they're not close to the stage. Everything is so quiet! I think I can take the chance to take written notes of the event...

And then the show starts and my first reaction is: "Oh Gosh, it all seems so familiar and easy!" It was like being at home, like if 3 years hadn't passed by, like if I had just stopped talking to Alan few minutes before the show. Can you imagine when you feel extremely confortable and peacefully excited because you're experiencing something you know so well? That's it! Their voices, their movements, their stage location, Alan's faces, the knot, the Alan man on his guitar and even their clothes and haircuts. I felt so ......comfortable!........I can't find a better word, really. And one more thing. People in Denmark are really kind but in 2 days I had come to think there was something "cold" in their perfectly peaceful detachment, I mean: their emotional reactions to common events is so far from mine. Seems they do not express emotions unless they're pushed to react. So, when Alan came out smiling, with that joyful glance, making the most incredible faces, my first thought was: "A human! Finally somebody expressing feelings! YES!" And I swear he had to give his best at 1000% to push the audience to take part to the show! And he won but I'm pretty sure it was such an hard job for him!

The people around me were so quiet and silent I felt ashamed of singing but my chair was shaking :))...

Now, I'm talking about Alan 'cause for their first Danish jig the other guys seemed a little absent especially at the beginning. Maybe it was the reaction to the audience or the jet-lag effect, I don't know. Séan wasn't really there and looked tired. Now for the ones interested in their look: Alan had his black shirt and caki pants, Bob and Darrell in total black and Séan in jeans and that stripes pullover.

They start with "Donkey Riding", "When I'm Up", "Jack Hinks". Alan is the impersonification of bliss, can't really imagine somebody transmitting more positive energy. He keeps on smiling and making bows, shaking his hair. He says "We arrived yesterday and enjoyed some shopping, museums, and....(*cunning faces*).... Christiania!". Séan raises his arm and Darrell laugh! People laughing. Alan goes on: "especially Séan and Darrel who just came here few minutes ago!"...

Now for those who doesn't know, Christiania is a free area where drugs are admitted and you can easily find pushers and soft smoking drugs. Talking about drugs, they start "Goin'Up"! And here Bob wakes and he gives a great bass voice contribution to the song.

At the end, Alan takes few notes from his pocket and says things in Danish (I have no idea but people were laughing hard!). Then he says "we're going to perform some songs never been sung before....(*faces like "hey there it's a joke!*)...they were written down the other night in Christiania!"

They go on with "Boston and St. John's", and then Séan starts introducing "The Night Pat Murphy Died" saying he's going to sing a sad song. When people laugh and he says he's glad to know we laugh for his dead friend. While performing Bob is giving "terribly scaring" glances to the audience... and there I felt the first direct magnetism effect! From that moment I couldn't stop staring at him and the few people dancing were weirdly dancing just close to him at the right of the stage! He also gets close to Alan playing in the middle of the stage and kick him laughing.

Alan starts introducing "Consequence Free", saying "this song is about having absolutely no responsibilities, and it's so appropriate to Séan during this Danish Tour! All you have to sing is na na nanana nanananaaaaaa that has no special meaning in Danish and not even in English".

After the song Alan starts promoting TURN and the merchandising desk saying "...we're making charity, we're raising funds for the STARVING CANADIAN MUSICIANS FUND..."

When he start the "Old Black Rum" people seems to wake up and start dancing and singing.

Alan announces news for their next European dates: once again they will be performing in late August at the danish Tonder Folk Festival (I hope the name is correct).

They start "General Taylor" and Bob's bass covered Séan's voice. I also have the impression Séan makes the song shorter, but I'm not sure... Then before the break, they perform "Lukey" and I swear I've heard hundreds of different weird versions of the refrain! Fred would have enjoyed it, I'm sure! :))

The break makes the people a little excited and the band restarts performing "Ordinary Day", "Process Man", "Billy Peddle". Following the positive public reaction, Séan's seems to wake up and says "the more you drink, the better we sound" making everybody laugh :))

People get crazy with a Bob's fiddle solo, "Little Beggarman", "I'm a Rover" (and here Alan makes a great introduction saying the song is about a man knocking at a lady's window to win her bed, so all the ladies with bedroom windows in Denmark should beware of Séan! Séan sens him a glance like saying "ok, I know I'm your designed victim, come on go on and kill me!"). Performing the song, Séan makes mistakes with the lyrics and starts laughing...

Then we have "Fast As I Can", "The End Of The World", and "Mari-Mac" but people do not really sing along with the guys.

Restart again with "Old Brown's Daughter" and here Alan gives his best saying this is a story about a little fisherman (and makes movements with his arms to show how tall was the little fisherman...I'm sure he is a child now :)) and Alan's faces during the song tells me the subject of the song is a children as I thought!). Alan sings with his sweetest voice and during the whole song Bob's lost deep in his thoughts and keep on looking at his feet. They go on with "Excursion", "Auntie Mary", "Rant and Roar", to end with "Jakey's Gin". At that point all the people are standing, clapping and asking for more :))))))))

After the show, some people are waiting for the band, included me :)))))))))))) But nobody comes out... damned, it's late and I'm going to miss the last ride to be back at the hotel... I gotta hurry, so I get close to the stage (don't ask me where I found the courage 'cause I really have no idea considering I was there alone!)...... and I do my first silly approach to the band! Danny is cleaning the stage and I go to him but *shit* I call him "Louis"!!!!!!!!! I KNOW he's Danny, but I can't avoid calling him in the wrong way! I blush when he says "I'm Danny!".......*shit*. Anyway, he's really kind and says somebody from the band will be out in few minutes. I go to have something to drink and there suddenly from the dark stage comes out Alan! Gosh! I was not prepared to face my fave one :))) and my English fluency is dead!

Then I think "ok, it's the only chance you have, go and bring to an end your silly meeting, chicken girl!".

In the meanwhile Alan is sitting on the stage. I don't know how but as soon as I start talking to him, once again things gets so easy :))

I introduce myself, and when I say "Alex", he says "Oh, THAT ALEX! The one being mugged!"... *damned*...... and since I was not already dying he adds "I knew you were coming". Now, how did he know that little detail?????? Come on girls, confess the crime! Who sent messages about my trip to the band?... I can easily guess :))

Anyway, we talk a little and he signs some stuff for me included a card when he proudly shows me to have written "Alex, finally makes it!" and some other stuff with the usual Alan-man. Then we start talking about Italy and how much he'd like to come but right now there are no plans about a tour there. I don't know why, but suddenly I realize I'm touching him... actually I don't know what happened but I blushed when I found out I had my hands on his legs from 10 minutes or so and it was all warm....... *shit*..... I didn't mean, really! But they were there :))))))))), the feeling was good, anyway (did you doubt?). We talked for a while again and then I really had to run, so I said it was such a pleasure for me to meet him and see the band performing.

Now, in Italy we kiss a lot when we say goodbye, so it just came out naturally to do the same! Girls, don't kill me, all right? I kissed him once keeping his hand and then twice. He asked me something like "Two or three kisses in Italy?" and I said "usually two!", he replied with "Oh yes, I guess it is 3 in Poland"... but I don't think it would be that bad to change the Italian habits if it means to kiss him more :))... be sure I didn't say that to him :))

I left, without meting the other guys and I'm sorry for that, really but be sure I was on a cloud and still I can't understand how I survived that "meeting":))))))

Ok, I guess that's all for now! I'll be back tomorrow with the second jig review, and more details about Sean and Bob and my street meeting with them :))).

First of all, my GBS day started (with my extreme pleasure and painful satisfaction) long before the beginning of the show. You'll also have proof of my being a true silly chicken. This time fate offered me all I needed on a golden dish and I didn't take the chance as I should...but it's ok, I have no regrets (though Mel wouldn't think the same I guess!).

Well, as I said, it all started in the early afternoon. It was such a beautiful sunny Monday I decided to wander around the town and enjoy the sun. It's about 2.00 pm when I'm walking along Stroget road and I see somebody passing close to me in the opposite direction. I had no time to realize anything that my mind had fixed the feeling of having seen Séan's nose! Now, a little explaination: I get crazy for Séan's nose, guess it's just perfectly shaped. So, I had this "flash": SÉAN'S NOSE!!!! He must be Séan! Can't control myself and start following him, walking right behind his back. I really don't know what I'm doing, following people is something I hate and I have no particular intentions about stopping him or stuff like that. I'm just curious and happy to see somebody familiar there. I follow him and check everything: he's wearing jeans, a red pullover with a blue "without arms" windbreaker on and a funny blue hat covering part of his face and ears. I think he can't be Séan walking in that funny and weird way, keeping his legs too "open" (I'm looking at him from the back, so I can only check his way of walking!). Somehow I've always figured out his walking style would not have been like that! He's running fast with a shopping bag in his hand, then he enters a shoes-shop and disappears! I lose him but I keep on having the inner feeling he was him! His way of looking was too different from the Danish one and I'm sure the first impression I had of his face was the right one, not to mention his Sean's shoes! I feel like blessed anyway! How many chance could I have had to see just the right guy in a big foreign town? It's a good sign, and he was alone, no Danish blondes with him :)))))

Euphorically confused I sit in a square and write down some postcards (I felt so inspired!), it takes about 30/40 minutes and then I decide to go back along my Stroget way. I walk for few minutes and then, suddenly, at the other end of the road (that means 3/4 meters far from me), I see the most happy face in the universe! ALANNNNNNN!!! I can't believe it, I see him so clearly, it's him! He's walking alone very fast but his face is radiantly smiling at "nothing"...he just smiles and walks on by with his little-jumping-up- walking, and I can clearly see the green of his eyes and uncombed hair:)) Once again I feel at home,once again in this land of perfectly beautiful people he looks the only "human" and he's so perfect in his "imperfection" respect the locals. He wears jeans and a blue/red winter jacket, gloves maybe, and he has a blue wool hat too, but it doesn't fit him as it should, it's a little too high on his head like if he had forgotten to wear it properly.

What should I do? I'm so confused 'cause it was so unexpected. I stop in the middle of the road and keep on turning to decide if I should follow him or not! Hard decision, but at the end I think it's better not...I hate being that kind of fan, I mean the "private life intruder" type, and I'm also a lil scared he wouldn't appreciate an out-of-stage meeting, so I give up and let him go his way! What a chicken! That was my chance to meet him out, fortune has been so generous and I wasted my chance!*damn* but once again I feel blessed: meeting my fav one in the middle of the most crowded Copenhagen road, being there at the right time to see him! It's a sign :))))

I'm emotionally exausted so I go back to my hotel and start thinking about the night show at Pumpehuset.

I fall asleep and when I wake up I realize it's so late, almost 8.15 pm and the show starts at 9.00 pm: I must run if I wanna have a close to the stage position. I dressed up fast as I could and started running along the way! Outside it's dark and freezing and when I get close to the performing area I'm out of breath, actually dying and the cold doesn't allow me to breath...I'm there, walking and acting like a semi-dying for the run when I feel steps behind me. I turn and think "Gosh, I wanna die now!": Séan is right behind me and few steps closer there's Bob talking to another man. I know I stopped and stared at them with an hallucinating glance meaning "help, I'm dying..." and I feel so silly! No, not in front of Bob, please! I also think: girl, go to Séan and pass him the M&M's you brought with you... They both look at me and at that point I had no strength at all, no heart to approach them! I moved away and let them go to get ready for the show!

Have you ever felt like a chicken for 3 times in the same day??? Nice feeling really, especially if you lack self-confidence!

Anyway, I entered Pumpehuset, met some Germans I had met during the first jig and got my first row seat right under the stage between Alan and Sean.

The show was awesome, a blast! The public was much warmer and ready to react and take part to the show: the guys started with all the ballads and kept the people dancing from the first songs. All the guys were at their top with humour and voices...and looks :))

Now, I can't avoid confessing I was killing myself laughing when I saw Alan was wearing those orange pants he had at the Awards. They are really orange!!! :))...and you'll soon have a whole set of pics with these pants for your pure pleasure girls! All the other guys were in black!

Séan was incredibly handsome and sweet, he had a perfect mood for that night, he talked a lot, joked a lot and smiled all the time kidding with Alan. Bob himself showed a whole bunch of emotional reactions, included big and huge smiles, grins, inquiring and ironical glances, and believe it or not he talked (don't ask me what he said 'cause I was so amazed by his voice sound I didn't catch the meaning!), he also kept on jumping :))) He was Bob at his best! And I had other proves of his magnetism: the people were always gathering and dancing close to him (not to mention a guy who used to stare at him each time he wanted to get close to the stage to dance, trying to capture a sign of approval on Bob's face), and me myself started taking pics of the other guys but ended up shooting a whole set of photos on him: it was a true magnetic attraction 'cause I always started focusing the camera on Alan to end up shooting on Bob...*damn*...

For what concern the songs, they performed all the songs they sang at Portalen, with few changes in the songs order and in their list: they did "Can't Stop falling" and "How Did We Get...", and Hostage, I think they prformed once again "Little Beggarman" by Darrell.

So, this time I decided not to take written notes 'cause I really wanted to dance and sing and take pictures...but as soon as I got back home I wrote down some things that the guys said. They reconfirmed they'll be at the Tonder Folk Festival for sure this summer.

They remade jokes about Christiania and after Séan performed a great solo in "Can't Stop Falling" (Mel, I swear it was the sweetest and sexiest ever while singing that short part!) Alan started kidding about it and Séan replied he's always been left alone and quiet like naked while singing that. Alan says "you always feel naked for most of the songs" and then Séan pretends taking off his shirt and staying really naked on the stage, so Alan says "ok folks, the night is finished" and pretends to go away. Here everybody is laughing hysterically, Bob and Darrell included :))

Séan again, introducing "General Taylor" (and his voice was spectacular!) after having performed" Pat Murphy", says: " as you see, I'm the one who sings all the songs about dead people and Alan the happy ones! But he's a happier person!"

They all keep on laughing crazily and the crowd as well. Nobody can stop the fun, Bob himself can't control his smiles so Alan stops, makes his saddest and most serious face, saying : "Please, be serious! We're a folk band...we're supposed to be sad!" Huge laugh from everybody...here the guys start losing control :)))))

The Séan's performance of "Feel It Turn" is magic, he's so deep in it and his voice so sweet. He has been excellent that night, really :)) And this time when he started introducing "Mari-Mac", all the people already knew the refrain and repeated it before he asked to give it a try. So, looking at Alan, he said: "Wow, they are Canadian!"...

Alan made some jokes in Danish and I can't really explain how his faces were! He's a show in the show :))

And he also talked about their new company: Warner. after few minutes talking about it he says: "Now that we sucked up to the company, I'm going to suck up to the audience...and wow, the lights tonight are so perfect...and the merchandising table is so nice...and also the barmen..." ...at this point people couldn't stop laughing loud! And Bob looked so satisfied of Alan silliness :))))

I can't remember much more, but I swear this jig was a true blast: they reached their top for everything and the audience gave an incredible feedback of fun. Everybody on and down the stage was satisfied. I personally had my moments of panic: as I said I was in the first row so, as somebody made me notice, Alan smiled to me a lot of times and he looked like making poses each time I was taking a pic and that was embarassing! Don't know if it's true he smiled at me and looked with approval when I was singing but the idea of it made me nervous! It's so embarassing! Each time I caught his eyes, I turned to Bob :))))

Anyway, after the show I had to escape once again, so this time I had no chance to say hello to them and I was so sorry for missing to meet Bob and doing my sweets delivery to Séan, but I really could not stand there more...who knows, maybe I'll get another chance soon, maybe in Germany in few days :)))

But no regrets, I've been lucky and had a lot of fun :))