| Great Big Sea in Asheville (cont'd) |
| Donkey Riding opened the set but the b’ys just ran out and got into their places instead of the usual intro we are used to. I love this song and still do! The audience sang their hearts out and Alan seemed so appreciative. I kept watching the older couple who were standing stage Murray (almost said Darrell) and they began the show perched on the side of the stage sort of observing us nuts but, enjoying themselves. By the end of the show, they were dancing along with the rest of us! Bob was wearing a T-shirt for a change, that said “Some Good Blues” on the back and had a picture of a guitar. He was the only one wearing boots, everyone else was in sneakers of some sort or other. Sean was looking yummy in his Free NFLD shirt and light blue jeans, Alan in a long sleeve tan pullover shirt and black pants, and Murray in a nice button down blue checked shirt and what looked like corduroy pants. I feel bad but I really didn’t pay attention to Kris’ outfit tonight. Sorry. But Tony was running around in orange shorts and Danny had his Long Island Maritime Museum shirt on – that is the coolest tour shirt ever produced. When I’m Up was next and the audience didn’t want to stop singing. Alan complimented us on the singing, too. Sea of No Cares came next. That song is my current feel-better song. I have been singing it a lot lately – that and Consequence Free. Can you say “Stress?” Lukey found Alan requesting Bob play the instrumental part twice and a great bodhran solo from Sean. Kris did a cool drum solo and Murray acted surprised about his solo and was messing with Alan. He just plunked one or two strings and that was it. Alan didn’t miss a beat though and got Sean to do another solo and then Kris. Goin’ Up had Alan talking about Petty Harbour as usual and talked about celebrations as usual. He had everyone clap for Carbon Leaf and then had us repeat loudly several times, “Carbon Leaf reeks of sex.” After several declarations of sexiness, the CL boys came out on stage and began doing a Chippendale routine. Nelly’s “It’s Hot in Here” resurfaced and Alan and Sean sang a verse for them. It was priceless! We also were encouraged to yell “Tony Pitcher reeks of sex.” for Tony – his birthday “an important day in the GBS calendar” according to Alan. I briefly and fondly recalled the birthday night we spent with him and the b’ys in Richmond last year. LOL! It was …real interesting and extremely entertaining. Clearest Indication came here and Alan’s “thingie” needed some attention from Danny. Alan announced “If anyone needs their cable adjusted, see Danny Thomas. He’s an expert.” Paddy Murphy was fun. Sean introduced it as a song of drink and death. “This guy dies,” was the intro and everyone immediately knew which song and screamed accordingly. “You are all sick and demented” or something to that effect was the Sean comment here. “All the southern girls got loaded drunk” tonight. Somewhere in here there was some discussion of a waltz. I think they were “playing everything tonight, even waltzes” and Alan played a nice waltz on the guitar. It was another NFLD tune and Sean and Murray waltzed very nicely together. |
| A girl in a Pantera shirt who was a brandly new GBS fan had brought her North Carolina license plate, GR8BGSEA, and lay it in front of Alan’s mic. He noticed it here and held it up. “Look a license plate. It appears to be off a registered vehicle,” he stated. “That’s your ride home, Alan,” Sean quipped. Alan kept on, “G. R. ate big sea? That’s a mouthful!” Then he reads it differently. “GR8 (great) BeeGees EA?” Bee Gees! Who likes the BeeGees?” There were not many BeeGees fans to be found in the house. Well, then there was some more banter which I didn’t get and he ended up yelling a segue, “Bee Gees Rock!!!!! And so do folk songs from Fogo Island.” He intro’ed it as a song about how neighbors envy each others’ boats. Sean was a good boy and they were able to launch into Gideon Brown with no more ado. Bob has a new set of shakers for it and he looks a tad more comfortable playing them now. That song is one of my faves on the SONC album and I wish they’d do it up in a video. Either that or “French Perfume. “ |
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| The license plate says GR8BGSEA |
| Now I think here they did Everything Shines, which was on the setlist but in some other place. Mercy from Swift Current, NFLD, was a bit vocal about which songs she wanted to hear. At a quiet spot, she yelled, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It!!” and Alan didn’t miss a beat – “Yes, it is,” he said, deadpan, “There’s no reason for requests tonight we’re playing everything.” Then what a treat, what a wonderful surprise! Sean did “It’s Alright.” I love the reggae beat and the groups sounded wonderful, baking him up on their instruments. Murray really seemed to enjoy playing this one. And I loved watching Bob on the bouzouki. But Sean just stole the show! He was so intense and into the song. Wow. All I can say is “Wow!” I do hope it finds it’s way to the next CD. Go Sean! Must have knocked Alan for a loop too because after introducing Penelope, he did a count down and either forgot the words or forgot the chords. He did it twice and forgot both times. Sean was enjoying this immensely. We got the “Most bands rehearse at soundcheck but we like to try things out on the audience” excuse. It was totally enjoyable once they got through the beginning. And Alan did his little solo guitar thing well. |
| They took a little breather here and started talking about how they had enjoyed Asheville especially the “Vietnamese – Thai” restaurant they had been to earlier. Alan tried to recall the name, it was decided it was Luna – a French-Vietnamese restaurant. “Yeah,” Alan says,” Vietnamese noodles with……” He couldn’t think of a word. “Vietnamese noodles with an attitude!” was Sean’s comeback. That brought down the house! Alan asked, “Whose shed is this anyway?” Then Sean took over for a while. “No, more like whose basement is it? It’s just like high school, we’re playing in the basement.” The venue was a little – sparse, shall we say? The ceilings were low and it DID look like someone’s large basement. Sean introduced the next song as “a song about a bad lady.” I was thinking “Mari Mac” since Bob had the fiddle out but we got “I’m a Rover!” * sigh * Just as I think I have that fiddle part down, Bob goes and changes it again. This is the fourth change I’ve noticed. I guess you have to “fiddle” around with it so you don’t get bored. (pardon the pun)That’s ok. One more thing for me to practice is not a problem. |
| General Taylor was next and Sean put his heart into it. Murray did the bass parts and we did our General Taylor sway-dance and sang our hearts out with him. He held that one note really long and impressed everyone as usual. Go Sean! And may I state here that Sean was particularly dancey tonight. And Bob also. A good night, a very good night. After GT, Bob went right into TUNES for us and played a NFLD fiddle tune from either Emile Benoit or Rufus Guinchard. I am confused about the title but Kelly Russell plays it too on the CD I have. I was tickled but it was way too short. The whistle came out next for Sean and he pouted a bit in Kris’ general direction. There wasn’t enough room for a swordfight. So Kris gave him a hug before Run Runaway. Aw! I am almost up to Bobspeed on that on the fiddle for this song. One day… After his great whistle part, which is much better in person than on the CD, Sean called for drinks on stage in anticipation of the smuggler’s song. He stated to the bartender, “Anything but White Zinfandel!” So Alan commented, “So your drinking habits don’t include White Zinfandel? Oh! Maybe I’d better not put it that way. Sounds like you’ve got a problem if I say 'drinking habits.’ " No drinks immediately appeared, but someone was getting them so they played FRENCH PERFUME!!!!!!!! It was the first time I had heard it live. I so enjoyed the moment. Bob was a genius on the fiddle and sang the harmonies with such gusto. In fact he did everything with gusto tonight. What a joy to watch him smile and dance and sing his heart out! Near the end of the song when he does that psycho-fiddle part, he was “smokin’!” In fact, after he was finished that part, he blew the rosin off the bridge like he was blowing out a flame. And looked so proud of himself, too! In the meantime, Karen had passed a note to Alan stating that this was my birthday show. Alan picks it up and says “Happy Birthday to Anne! Where are you?” I raised my hand and he wished me a Happy Birthday – “We wish you a happy twenty third! That’s it, right?” Well, THAT I really enjoyed considering it’s my 51st birthday I’m looking at. The b’y knows how to schmooze. Yes, he does! Then he began to dedicate the next song to me but stopped. “You may not want me to dedicate this song to you. In fact, I’ll dedicate the song after it to you. This one is all about a drunk wife.” |
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