Jane's Review
The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA, USA
Thanks to Jane in Virginia for a great, wish-I-was there review of what sounds like a best-ever gig at The Birchmere! What I wouldn't give to see those shirts in person.....
Advisory: The reading of minute concert reviews has been deemed a chief symptom of GBS addiction.
The lights came on and the stage was cleared and reset. Then with the lights down again, there began the sound of waves crashing, and then a chorus of Great Big Sea. It was a sound recording that didn't sound like them but an older more traditional version. They appeared Darrell first and Bob last, from a side door on to the stage with Danny handing them their instruments as they ran past him. They did three songs without stopping: Process Man, then Billy Peddle during which Alan shouted for us to sing along, and then right away Ordinary Day. We were hooked.
They stopped to let us catch our breath and to change instruments. Alan raised his hands up in that 'Greetings, I've come in Peace' pose of his and said: "Good People of Alexandria, now how regal that sounds. When people ask my home town I say that I'm from Petty Harbour," (look of amusement) "Name for name, it doesn't have the same clout. But I am proud of Petty Harbour as you are proud of Alexandria, for it is the place we call home."
"I think we could have our biggest kitchen party ever" was the introduction to Going Up tonight after which Alan asked us if we liked their shirts. They all had on nice shirts of differing shades of rose and purple. There was loud applause for the shirts. "We all went out and bought new shirts for this tour, Yes and since it's all we have, we'll be trading shirts for the rest of the tour. Tomorrow in Philadelphia, I plan to wear Darrell's, and Darrell is wearing Bob's. And the next night..." Séan interrupted: "You don't get to have my shirt." Alan, addressing the audience, in his Master of Ceremony style: "Séan is most handsome and has the best taste in shirts." Séan was speechless then finally returned, "Well I've never heard that one before!"
Alan returned in a real caring, tender 'buddy of mine' voice: "you look a little down tonight, Just wanted to cheer you up." Sean: "Oh so I'm not funny enough tonight? Am I the "not funny" guy, then?" It seems there is some long standing rivalry going about who dresses best in this band.
It was time to introduce the next song: "Ladies and gentlemen, to my immediate left the not-funny guy..." Séan added: "who will now sing a not-funny song." Did you guess Paddy Murphy? It was getting harder and harder to obey the stay seated rule.
"So we want to thank you for coming out tonight; It looks like we have a full house" (great cheers) "It's only the second time we've performed here at the Birchmere..." (our curiosity is stirred) "When we were here for Sound check earlier today, there was a lot less people" (oh man - we're all getting envious) Séan says: "As I recall it was just you and me, Buddy." (They got us good!)
Beggarman was next, which Mr Power rapped out in a concentrated steady way just like the never say die bass man that he is.. He was also to sing Excursion around the Bay later. After Auntie Mary, Alan gave us the history of the band. The two most common questions are; #1 How did the band get started? "Well. Bob and Darrell can actually play and Séan is gorgeous and I had a van." #2: Their ethnic background: Are they Irish? "In truth, we are one half Scottish" (a few cheers in the audience) "and one half Irish" (loud uproar) "which means one half of us wants to get drunk all the time while the other half doesn't want to pay for it!"
Alan reminded us of how Newfoundland sticks out on the coast: "We're kind of like Canada'a version of Hawaii but we have prettier girls. Newfoundland has always been the gateway to the new world. a crossroads for sailors as such so we've learned a lot of Sea Shanties..." When he started his 'perhaps with a little encouragement we can persuade' routine, the 'not funny' Seán just broke in and said "He's like this all day too, you know." Bob and Darrell nodded thier heads in agreement, conjuring up the image of Alan walking the streets, giving great romantic speeches.
General Taylor: Séan told us that in the next song his part had eight words and our part had seven: "My Part is:.."(he sang) and "Your part is" (we sang)... "I think we can just go right into this." The Band agreed. After Mari-Mac, Alan said "We're going to speed it up now" and they sang Fast As I Can.
"We want to declare the Birchmere a consequence free environment. We're all catholic. So we'll be taking confessions in the lobby after the show. Feel free to sin as much as you want. And for one time only, we will be selling indulgences, free passes to heaven." (they continued to add on) Séan: "The Pope has a discount on all those; he's doing better than we are." They bantered until they ran out of things to say and Bob caught their attention by shaking his head so Séan said: "What do you think Bob, should we talk more?" Alan: "Feel free to jump in."
It was here during Consequence Free and many points after that I remarked how very strong and well harmonized their voices are. Bob's voice is noticeably stronger and he plays his numerous stacks of instruments with such confidence. We were in good hands for the night. There was some sinning going on for Old Black Rum; a spritely Young Grandpa who was coming back from trip no. 4 to the bathroom, stood dancing at his chair, smiling and showing off for his family until they finally made him obey the rules and sit down. Then they sang a song "about being bad" - I'm A Rover.
They picked up the Bouzoukis and Alan said: Now to bring a little dignity to the stage. First, they gave us an Ode to Joy and then it was the End of the World. They invited us to visit their SWAG table. Alan started with his 'What a bargain' routine. "I do believe 9 dollars US is getting to be worth more in Canadian dollars everytime!" "We're selling t-shirts," Séan had to add: "nice t-shirts for those who don't want to dress like Alan" - "hats even socks really thick ones a real bargain.. oh and inflateable dolls of the band... but Séan is sold out."
The intro to Boston-St John's was simply that it was written quickly on their way from St. John's on their first ever US tour. That song has been worked to perfection! They also sang When I'm Up, Rant and Roar, and Jolly Butcher: their exemption from women's revenge on men. The first encore was Old Brown's Daughter: an example of what men will do "even go into politics" to win favor with the ladies. (You don't suppose they had a certain President in mind, do you?) Alan sang the whole song with his hands in his pockets, like a lovestruck schoolboy. We were then invited to come visit them "in house." Darrell and Alan switched mic's for Jakey's Gin. When they tried to leave, we beat on the tables so they returned and did Runaway with Séan on the flute, and Lukey's Boat.
Apparently some of us had not sinned enough that evening. We were led back out the main entrance to the bar in the lobby, where we commenced to be as wicked as possible. We drank sixteen bottles for the price of one, trying to get the chance just to talk to one member of the band, an autograph. We looked around with evil grins and contemplated bloody racket. Someone asked their stage manager Danny for a dance and he gave her a second glance but not a soul was allowed back past those well guarded doors to Paradise. We wallowed in our Purgatorial despair, begged and pleaded, cried on our partner's shoulders but to no avail. Alas they never came to the bar as they had promised and it was only the very wicked, who had stayed behind in the concert hall somehow that gave their confessions, received their nightly hosts and left one by one with a look of absolution on their faces.
P.s.: I have noticed that da by's come back from their European tours all charged. I think the "Good people of Germany, Denmark, Poland. the UK and Ireland" are good for them. I'm sure they are all sad to not be able to go back til next year, and anyway who knows, they seem to just pop up just anywhere these days!
Tina from the GBS Chat has kindly allowed me to publish her True Confessions......
Reflections of a Reluctant Groupie
Concert REVIEW and an opinion piece...
Many detailed and excellent chronological reviews have already been written about these shows by various fans. This, piece does not promise anything new or surprising; it is simply a different perspective.
Last week I saw three GBS shows while on a US vacation. I've never heard the word "groupie" used so much in my entire life... truly ... before even beginning to reflect on each of the shows, I'm going to pull that label out of the proverbial mental recycle bin and deal with it a bit. Oxford describes a "groupie" as "girl who follows touring pop groups". So guys -- apparently you're all in the clear; you can never be accurately labeled as such. The definition also states ONE girl, MANY groups. Interesting implications there. Most people don't worry about picky semantic details like this, but I'm picky and something is responsible for the negative feelings upstanding "girls" are left with if they see the same band more than once on a tour. I've never been questioned for going to see the local musical or play more than once during it's run. Sometimes there's music in them too, even pop music... but let's keep that under our hats gals, shall we?!
On the road some very cool things are bound to happen, things that make me smile: GBS music and stage antics of course make me smile (or why bother going), I was also stopped dead in a traffic jam on The George Washington Bridge going into Manhattan, literally parked bumper to bumper alongside a sign that read, "No Stopping on the Bridge". Things like that are easy to remember when you have the time to dig out a pen and a journal... I also found myself at "The Cloisters" in New York City, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art dedicated specifically to Medieval Art and the Middle Ages -- an art student and ancient history lover from way back, I was in heaven. Big Smiles broke into fits and howls of immoderate tittering at various points throughout the week as I met up with other fun-loving GBS fans. All of us were groupies except Bruce, Bob, Mike, and Shawn because they don't qualify.
The concert in Buffalo was packed or "crappacked", as I like to say. The sheer numbers of fans in attendance provided the momentum for the show. This was a good thing as the band although they gave their consistently slick performance, looked tired or a bit retiring. Alan seems to always be the exception to this; he was giving it everything. After 14 years of watching everything from "Mister Rogers Live" at Story Book Gardens to "Death of a Salesman" starring Dustin Hoffman on Broadway, I trust my judgement concerning the singular involvement of individual performers on stage. Bob's new fiddle tunes were a highlight. General Taylor knocked my socks off, with a "bravo" going out to the sound technician who mixed the set (I think it was Tony) giving a real boost to the double bass harmonies sung by Bob Hallett (I think). Those harmonies are not as prominent on the CD recording, yet when sung live ... practically register on the Richter scale. That sound could make a groupie out of Mark Messier.
The concert in Boston was undoubtedly my favourite. Again the crowd was piqued with anticipation as the tear down and set up took place between bands. My Favourite Relative. the opening band, reminds me of somebody's younger cousin just back from a Euro-trip: a bit too loud, a bit too retro, and definitely quirky in a way that limits appeal. They were interesting to watch on stage, but Jeez man get yourself a key board stand. I know for a fact that an ironing board will do in a pinch, and guitar straps were just not made to withstand that much uh... grooviness. Some people were really digging their style of Euro-pop but it's just not my thing. Been there, done that, and frankly the eighties are not something I'm looking back to fondly just yet. About 9 p.m. GBS took the stage. They looked pumped, especially Alan Doyle. Sean McCann did not look like a happy boy. Now that is too bad because Sean is very attractive when he smiles. Later we were told that Sean was sick. That may or may not have been the case, however, as soon as I heard that I thought again about the far-and-near touring schedule Great Big Sea keeps. Cheers to a band that can put themselves through such extensive touring and come out of it in one piece! The reason I loved this concert is because I opted to sit at the booth with Bruce and Christine. We had a great view from the side, tons of room to dance on the bench (minus shoes of course! - even groupies have consideration). Tony admittedly had a difficult time mixing the sound that night, but there were absolutely no complaints from our corner of the room. Only Sean's vocals were a bit low during Mari Mac. Alan came out to sign merchandise and say "Hello" as he had done in Buffalo - until everyone was impelled by a sturdy, seasoned Boston cop to clear the hallway. So who was I to argue... ; ) We said a quick "hello" as we exited en masse.
Portland was the final show of the tour and we spent the day, the whole lot of us, acting completely foolish. By dinner hour we had worked up quite an appetite. The Portland concert experience got off to a crappy start, in my opinion, on account of an extremely disorganized kitchen. They were definitely not ready to host a kitchen party of any description. Although the Stone Coast was expecting us for dinner and had a limited menu prepared, the food took 45 minutes to arrive. Except in the case of anyone who ordered the pizza which came over an hour after being ordered, and was served up with a cavalier flip of the head by our server. So some of us didn't get to eat, but Tracey did manage to track down a refund. To his favour, the manager of The Stone Coast was a great host and did some good work on damage control. Luckily I did not order pizza because GBS is great and all, but food comes first. Okay I admit it, I did make Deb and others chug their pitcher so I could finally have my lunch back at the Buffalo event. I know, I know I shouldn't have waited so long.
The Portland concert was great fun! We parked ourselves in the corner by down stage right (Darrell/Alan) and had a surprising amount of room to dance and jump around all night. We originated a groovy/cheesy/foolish set of actions and dance steps to the hot new ballad, "Boston and St. Johns". And you know ... thank god for that because Alan dedicated this song to "the fairest one of all" for whom it was written. So what do you then do as a fan during the tune??? ... sway, smile, and stare feeling like a dork?!? No ... I'm serious now ... this is a problem : ) If you're at a club or a dance and there is an up tempo tune playing you dance, then suddenly the DJ throws on a ballad and you have to make a decision. At a GBS concert you're kind of stuck in position, so ... What the heck why not...! The dance is available on Video tape for the rock bottom price of $1,000,000 U.S., if you want to give it a shot at your next concert.
All in all ... I was totally pooped by Sunday night in Portland -- El zonked! Apparently I even looked bored at one point, not so ... just tired. The week was a blast and well worth the considerable loss of funds in currency exchange. CHEERS!
I highly recommend going on the road to see this band, simply avoid The George Washington Bridge at dinner hour and Boston traffic completely if you can. Here are a few other tips for your journey: eat lots of great food, see the local sights, sleep enough, and laugh as much as you can stand to do it. Oh yes, I took only two pictures on this trip. If you have some good shots already, keep the camera at home and give yourself more freedom to dance, shop, dine, and carry on.
This is proof positive that GBS fans are not totally obsessed, have some other form of life, and have more than 2 braincells to rub together. Thanks, Tina, for a thoughtful article!
If you have problems with the e-mail button above, my address is teddy@ukonline.co.uk
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