| GBS at the Canal Club Richmond, VA September, 2003 |
| Well, this was fun even before the show! We drove down to Jane’s house in Richmond to spend the night. I didn’t even get lost this time! LOL! Jane had bought tickets for her whole family so we had early dinner and drove to the Canal Club in two separate cars. We found free parking a little bit away from the Club under the highway and had to pass the tour bus to get into the area where the club was. There was a line, but not very big, when we got there. We went up to say Hi to Lynda and met some new people and a lot of “old” GBS fans. Tom and Emma were tailgating in the parking lot. This was their 4th show this year, having been to Peterborough, Toronto, and Buffalo previously. They were blasting GBS thru the speakers on their van and Jane and company stopped to talk to them. I went on to save a place in the ever-growing line-up. I met several people from previous shows we had gone to in the South: Mollie from Virginia Beach and Curlygirl from the OKP whom we had met in Asheville at my birthday concert; Theresa and Kristin whom we had met up with at the infamous bone-crushing 9:30 Club Show in Washington DC; Jess and the cheerleaders from Wolftrap; Ali and her date John, friends from DC, Boston and all over; Ken and Judy, our new friends from Richmond, who were seeing GBS for the first time; and last but not least, Cheryl and Howard whom we’ve seen all over the East Coast and Canada at shows. It seemed like an eternity we waited in line – must have been having soundcheck trouble. Watched Danny unload a case of Corona empties off the tour bus. Someone sure likes Corona! The doors were supposed to open at 7 PM but they didn’t until after 8 I think. We entertained ourselves by telling tales of past shows and tutoring those newbies in the fine art of raising your fist to “Hey” as well as yelling “on her hair” for Old Black Rum. We also encouraged them to dance and sing their hearts out as well. And when we got inside, made sure the first timers could see. The opening band was not my cup of tea. But then again, opening bands rarely are. The only opening band I have loved from the start was Carbon Leaf. There were rumors that they were supposed to show that evening. The band was known as the Leon Millmore Band. “Everyone just calls us ‘Leon.’” The lead singer needed a new pair of jeans as this pair had a million holes in them. I was distracted by the holes. The lead guitarist had on a very LOUD shirt but wow! Could he play! They promised a free CD if they messed up on any of their new songs. Which they did, and threw a bunch of CDs out into the audience. They also threw…are you ready for this?…Twinkies! Karen describes them as a “Dave Matthews Wannabe Band.” |
| While we waited for them to tear down and Danny to set up, I hatched a plan to get Bob to sign my Naked Accordionists Calendar. I figured we’d NEVER see him after the show Theresa suggested I hand it right to him and Lynda said it would be best during Consequence Free. What a great team they were! So I’d wait for Con Free and hand it to him. I was excited! My great digital zoom camera was broken and I had this disposable digital that Karen was using. She takes better pictures than I do. She was all ready to go when the b’ys ran out to the Chemical Workers Song. Bob had the biggest grin on his face. I don’t know how many people were there, but I know it was not a sellout. But Bob seemed very happy all evening. When I’m Up was next and well-danced by all present. Sea of No Cares brought Alan making turtle faces and Bob smiling all over the place. Maybe because everyone was singing along. Alan talked about doing some new songs from their new album tonight and that we were their guinea pigs. Lukey was amazingly performed by all the b’ys but I have to give proper due to Murray – Wow! What a performance! Way to go Murray! The next song came right on the heels of Lukey and I watched Bob with the fiddle but I was confused. The chords Alan was playing sounded like the chords for Clearest Indication! Guess what? It WAS Clearest Indication! I was so happy Bob played fiddle for this. It was the third time I have heard him do the whistle part on the fiddle and I like it so much better than the whistle. You can hear it much clearer and it adds something to the music. “Now we’ll do some songs about drinking, sent out to the boys from Carbon Leaf,” chortles Séan. There were new words to The Night Pat Murphy Died - “…Carbon Leaf got loaded drunk.”…”every man was feeling gay – It’s all right, we’re Canadian.” (referring to the same sex marriage law) Alan gave a masterful bouzouki solo here too. It was a fun song tonight. Right about here the security guard came out and asked everyone with cameras to quit using the flash. Karen had already secured a piece of duct tape for that eventuality and obliged. Shortly after that the stupid batteries in the “new” camera ran out – after about 14 photos! How annoying! Of course, no one had extra batteries, so that was the end of the photo session that show. Shines Right Through Me – new song! First time! They rehearsed this a little at the soundcheck in Buffalo but this is the first time I heard it done all the way through. Very nice song, Alan. Glad it’s on the new album. Gideon Brown was done with Sean very happily singing along. No sex references but happy Sean nonetheless. When I Am King - This was a fun intro with Alan stating that he’d change the customs laws when he is king. He’d let everyone in with no hassles. They must have had some fun crossing the border this time. Sean comments “And I will be your jester, Alan. I live to please you.” And he gives a little bow. LOL! Alan starts talking about movies and says "I always wanted to say 'Send in the Royal Penis Washer!'” ( a line from some movie).Then he told us all about the girl who dumped him for the Captain of the hockey team. |
| Penelope was next. Alan changed his solo a bit. Still sounded good though. I like this song much better live than on the album. Beat the Drum was next with Bob smiling away again. Sean had a little bodhran solo hear. I wish it was much longer. It’s about a drum, after all. Sean’s General Taylor was superbly sung as evidenced by the very loud comment to a dead quiet audience. “That’s got to be the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen!” was the girl’s aptly made review. We all laughed and the b’ys smiled. The new Tunes came after, but it’s still way too short. Come on, Bob! Show off a bit more! I’m a Rover brought out a new wrinkle in Kris’ arsenal. While Sean was busy singing, Kris was playing the bodhran! Old Black Rum was advertised as “A remarkable deal – even in Canadian funds! Sixteen doubles for the price of one!” Everything Shines! Scolding Wife found Kris wandering around the stage much to the other b’ys distress. Murray owns his part now although the b’ys tease him about sounding “too Canadian” when he sings it. They think he should sing it “like a Newfoundlander.” That's what he told us after the show. Feel It Turn with its booming drums at the end came next and was done well by Sean as usual. Consequence Free, which was a great comfort to me last year on many days, is always fun to sing along to. At the end of the song, I placed the naked accordion players calendar open to Mr. February, and a Sharpie on stage in front of Bob’s Mic. “Speaking of Consequence Free, would you sign my calendar, Bob?” He looked at it wide-eyed and backed up, beginning to play the fiddle to Mari Mac. Mari Mac was fun as usual. Sean has a great time singing it and looking possessed. During Mari Mac, Alan sauntered over to look at the calendar and laughed and waggled his eyebrows. I think Bob was afraid that Alan was going to hold it up or something so right after the song, he squatted down, signed it and closed it up, leaving it on the stage by his mic. Ordinary Day’s Morse Code finally sounded and signaled the end of the show. Love the song, hate it being last. We had brought the cell phone into the club to call Sunflower in Iowa and have her share a little of the show. Last time I went to a show at the Canal Club, Sunflower was a big part of the fun before, during and after the show. We called her before the show began and asked her to answer the phone when she heard it after 9 PM. We didn’t tell her why. Karen had the phone and decided to call her every time they did a new song. They did quite a few so Diane got called a lot. At some point in the show, Karen was trying to get Alan to talk to her. He wasn’t getting it, so she wrote on a piece of paper “Diane in Iowa” and pointed to the phone. He got it! And grabbed the phone and talked with Diane for a few minutes. Lucky girl. And we were thrilled we could make her night. For the first encore, Alan and Bob came out and I thought we were going to hear Boston & St. John’s. But Alan started to talk about some songs coming from a learning experience and how they had buried some friends who died too young last year. He wrote this song to help the ones left behind deal with life. And we heard the most beautiful song I have heard in a long time. He had sung it before but this time, with the low D whistle was heartbreaking beautiful! And is called “Something Beautiful.” Everyone was wildly clapping and cheering for the song as the other b’ys came out and Excursion started. We all knew what to do for HEY because we had tutored the newbies in line. It was fun! Feller came next and the section where Bob has his accordion part was funny. Kris is playing the piano accordion for this tune and he and Bob were doing this “dueling banjos” type thing with the accordions. All the others were sitting down on the drum platform while Bob and Kris were having a blast. We had to clap and cheer for quite some time to get them out again. Alan and Bob were playing bouzoukis and we heard a tune which sounded like “Arriving To St. John’s.” Then all of a sudden, they launched into End of the World. It was a nice ending to a nice evening. We stayed for a while at the Club, saying hi to the guys from Carbon Leaf, who were incredulous that Bob would pose half-naked for the calendar. We suggested to them that Carbon Leaf should do it or a combination GBS-Carbon Leaf Naked Calendar could be shot. They said ‘No Way!” Danny came to fetch them to go to the bus and party a while with the GBS guys. Alan was out there by the bus, as was Murray. Alan was not his usual carefree self, but posed almost cheerfully with fans. Lynda had brought the book I had asked her to give to Bob last March. But she hadn’t had the opportunity, so she gave it back to me and I gave it to Alan instead. He seemed a little distracted and after looking at it said that Danny would most likely get the most out of the book. In the meantime, Jane and Danny were sitting and chatting in a luggage compartment under the bus. LOL! We talked to Murray for a bit and then called Diane back to get her reaction to the evening’s events. “Did I talk to Alan Doyle on the phone tonight?” she quizzed me. Dan left with the kids and Jane and Karen and I were able to hang back till the guys went in the bus. They were leaving straight from the Club so they only had a little time with Carbon Leaf, I guess. We went back to Jane’s where I wrote this review and Karen went to bed. Thanks Jane & family for your wonderful hospitality. And of course, I lost the camera with the photos somewhere in the beginning days of school. * sigh* SO all the lovely potential photos are lost to posterity. Please forgive me. |
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