| GBS at the HOB in AC |
| They went right into Captain Kidd. Great song for the seashore. Loved Séan’s bodhran playing here. He was fascinating to watch. One more comment – too much bass. Nothing wrong with what Murray was playing, it was great, but way too loud!
Did anyone do a soundcheck? Scolding Wife’s intro went to Alan while Séan took a sip of wine on the drum riser. Alan introduced it as a song about a poor man who finds himself in a desperate situation. "This is a traditional song, so we can’t be blamed for it.” A lot of the segues were done by Sean tonight. That is not the usual thing at all. I wondered if Alan weren't feeling well, but it sure looked as if he was okay as he fooled around. Alan and Bob’s vocals were superb, but they forgot to turn on Murray’s mic and it was way low. You couldn't hear the beginning at all! Alan tried to get him to mess up by pole dancing on him and commented after his verse how sexy he was. Murray came over to tease Séan and blow in his ear or give him a ‘wet willie’ during Séan’s verse, but Séan got Murray back by replacing the real words in his verse with, “She caught me by the Murray and threw me naked on the floor.” Kris backed Murray into the corner of the stage during the last verse. What fun! Alan recognized the help of Britt, Andy and Jay getting and keeping them up and running. Britt must lose weight during shows running back and forth, tuning and replacing broken strings. Although I haven’t seen Alan break that many strings lately. I don't know who was in charge of the soundboard, but they weren't paying attention if they thought the bass level was okay. Alan said he was out walking on the boardwalk and bumped into some people who had a request and he was going to sing it here. Séan began singing Under the Boardwalk and Alan asked if this was where the song was about. We all told him yes and he went on to sing the first verse, letting the audience take over after that. It was cute – Murray and Kris came right in with accompaniment and Bob also joined in with a bouzouki accompaniment. Séan danced the cha cha. What fun! After we were finished singing, Murray and Kris kept it up for a few more measures. What a great job! We really enjoyed it. Alan said it might not be the first time Kris had played that. He was sure Kris had played it in New Glasgow while some girl got her “face kissed off.” Alan was excited that he learned something today - this is where Monopoly is based. Séan was incredulous. “You mean St. James Place, Park Place, Boardwalk ?” Séan wanted to know where the little green houses were and then they talked about his favorite piece – the “get out of jail free” cards. Alan and Séan claimed they played strip Monopoly on the bus every night and Bob was the champion. At this point, Bob flashed a big smile and began unbuttoning his shirt. After the wolf whistles and laughter subsided, Alan said “Now let’s get into the special request – God help me!” And they launched into The End of the World. Alan did a decent job but I’m pretty sure he sang one verse twice. Although he loudly proclaimed how he got “every single word in that friggin’ song” after it was finished, I am suspicious. Séan had this neat reggae strum going or maybe it was Bob. I’d bet on Séan. Straight To Hell followed immediately. Love that song! I like everything about it – all the instruments, the words, the easy-to-sing chorus. And then there’s Alan’s “Go to Hell, Bob!” before the great fiddle solo. So much fun! I can picture this one being played on all the college/university campuses. Sean claimed it was a Christian rock record. Somehow I don’t think they’ll be able to get around that with the holy rollers. Séan said he had wanted to name the new CD Straight to Hell but it was soundly voted down by Bob. John Barbour was a nice surprise. Love that song live in concert. The way it builds and they let Séan have the spotlight and center stage while everyone else sits back. Every time Bob stopped playing bouzouki to get out the whistle, he dropped his pick to the floor, but I didn’t get any – the stage was too far away. I was a bit annoyed during this song because people in back of us kept conversing. It’s too good a song to ignore. After John Barbour, they spoke about how it was an unusual occurrence with St. Patrick’s Day coming during Holy Week and this might be a problem for practicing Catholics or Christians everywhere who like the drink. Séan claimed he checked it out on the Internet and that hasn’t happened since the 1940. “See? The Internet, it’s not just for porn,” Alan said. “That’s a confession waiting to happen right there – Lent and St. Patrick’s day on the same day.” I don’t know how, but they somehow segued all this into Helmethead. Bob was in excellent voice and everyone knew what to do for the "Fare Thee Wells!" Bob was very dancey here, also. Consequence Free followed after Helmethead but I can see where St. Patrick’s Day and Lent would lead into that one though. “Let this be our anthem for the entire weekend,” Alan suggested. With the arrival of this song, though, I knew the end was near. This was usually the first of the ending triumvirate – Con Free, Mari Mac and Ordinary Day. I still enjoyed their getting into this song. I guess they feel that way fairly often. I know I do. But, surprise! Not Mari Mac! Even though many had been calling for it. It made sense - nothing had been in a familiar place all evening. We really got a setlist all shook up! No complaints at all. I was happy to be surprised by each song. Lukey came next! Now I was really confused, but willing to go with the flow. The b’ys were all over the stage having a ball! The audience was singing and dancing and having a great time too. Séan ended up at Murray’s mic for one bit, Bob was two-stepping as he played, The solos were fantastic to watch as well as listen to. Séan’s first bodhran solo was played on the rim and in place of his second solo, he decided to dance instead! “What’s sexier than the bass? Nothing’s sexier than this bass!” was Alan’s intro to Murray’s bass solo. The crowd screamed in delight and the b’ys laughed with Séan’s antics as he danced all over the stage. That was the end of the regular show! Wow! It was nice to end on such a high note, but I was wondering about Ordinary Day. I think of that as their signature song more than any other. Oh well! I was ready for more surprises in the Encores. |
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