GBS - Mountain Stage
The Bob Schneider Group ran on stage next. What an eclectic group of people! Bob was wearing a very…interesting…t-shirt under a respectable suit jacket. The tee was anything but respectable, and an object of conjecture for a while. I first thought it was a celtic knot design, but when Kes leaned over and asked if I noticed the tee shirt, I looked more carefully. OMG!!!! It was a drawing of a diagram of a brain directly connected to a man’s genital system. We had a giggle over THAT one! You can’t put Bob Schneider nor his band in one genre either. The bass player looked like a member of the Rolling Stones, the guitarist looked like Bon Jovi and the drummer a bit like a short-haired Bob Marley. The first song is something my alternative-music-loving sons would have enjoyed. Turns out I found the one of his bands was called the Scabs – a favorite band of my son Nick. So I was right in that regard. He sang 5 songs, each different from the last in genre, subject and tempo. Very versatile guy! The pianist also played piano accordion and the guitarist plucked a mandolin also. Danny came out at one point and lent something to the bass player. Might have been a pick, I don’t know.
There was a brief segment with a fan letter for Julie and ew were treated to a song by her. Lovely lilting country voice.
The next singer was the Barefoot Boy with hair from a bottle, Trevor Hall. If you are going to dye your hair platinum blond, you should also do your eyebrows. He looked very vulnerable with long, delicate fingers which served him well with his guitar work. His demeanor reminded me of the first time we saw Howie Day opening for GBS years ago. Howie was nervous as all get-out, but he was entertaining. Trevor sang songs of angst, very alternative with strong reggae influences. One interesting thing about Trevor was that he did his own echoes and was quite good at it! Reggae was the style of the day. I hope Sean was listening and enjoying from backstage. My apologies - I forgot to take a photo. Would've been good, too!

Shawn Mullins was on next. When I had last seen Shawn Mullins in Portland, Oregon in 2001, GBS opened for him at the Aladdin. Now he was “opening” for GBS! How times change! GBS can sell out the Aladdin with no problem now. Shawn sang a song that was great and incuded the words, “we are born to shimmer, we are born to shine, we are born to radiate, we are born to believe, to love and not to hate.”

Later on, he did Everything’s Gonna Be All Right. I think even Vic recognized it and he was not a music radio listener when it was popular. He was asked if he ever gets tired playing that song, and answered in the wisest of replies, “I learned something every successful songwrtiter needs to learn. I never get tired of doing a song that pays the bills.” His latest CD was recoded in pre-hurricane New Orleans at the Ninth Ward Studios so he called it the “Ninth Ward Pickin’ Parlor.” Apparently the studio is now located in the recording industry mecca – Lawrence Kansas.  *waggles eyebrow * He did a great version of “House of the Rising Sun” as his last number.

After Shawn Mullins was finished, Larry Groce came out and read an email from listeners who said they had first heard GBS on the Mountain Stage Radio show and they were thrilled when they found out that the band was from Newfoundland. His wife was from Newfoundland. They said they’d be there at the show waving NFLD flags, and sure enough, there they were!
Sean waves to the people with the NFLD flags.
Alan, Kris  and Sean listen to their introduction.
Captain Kidd stalks the seas!