| Feelin' Groovy with Great Big Sea |
| When the stage lit up for the second half, Alan and Bob came out together. Alan immediately sat down on the drum riser and started picking his way through a tune on his bouzouki. Bob sauntered over to the drum rise with one of his accordions and sat down next to Alan. After several measures he joined in with something that complemented Alan's picking. Then Alan handed the melody off to Bob who played it ably on the accordion. They looked like they were having fun at that point. Some measures into that tune, Sean came out, grabbed his bodhran and sat next to Bob. Alan and Sean exchanged pantomimed pleasantries and the tune changed, with Sean joining in on the bodhran. I cannot for the life of me remember the tune's name although I have heard it many times, played by other accordionists in Newfoundland. The three b'ys played their way thru that tune and had begun a third when Murray and Kris joined them on guitars. Towards the end of that tune, the b'ys sang a verse of Ise Da B'y as a counter-melody as they played. Very nice!!!! I hope to hear that again! What a way to start the second half! Jack Hinks statrted immediately after the set of tunes as soon as all had their appropriate instruments in hand. An audience favorite, it got some people in the mezzanine up dancing. When I Am King followed it without much ado. I thought for sure they would have mentioned electing Alan King as they have on other occasions, but it was not to be. Alan had no trouble with any of his electric guitars or guitar hook-ups this show. He's been plagued with foul-ups in that area since the start of this tour I think. I'm glad they got that all straightened out. After When I Am King, They took a few minutes to drink water and chat a bit. Sean announced that it had been an interesting break. Alan mentioned that Sean "had disrobed" (the suit jacket was off) . Sean said that he had indeed "showered, shaved, applied deodorant, eaten pizza, knit a sweater, and learned to speak fluent Japanese." Long Lost Love appeared next on the setlist and I wrote in my notes that the band seemed very comfortable with it. Maybe Alan is learning how to play those reggae chords after all. The new songs seem to be ingrained in them now. It seems to me that no one up there is still struggling with them. Scolding Wife followed and the crowd in the General Admission section was like a sea of dancers. I doubt if anyone stayed still during that song. It was a sight to see! I mentioned to John in front of me that he was obviously enjoying himself. He had been up dancing in the aisle all night when an appropriate song was played. He informed me that he had won a radio contest to meet the b'ys backstage and had brought along a photo I had taken in Collingswood that showed him and his family in the audience. He was going to have the b'ys sign it. Cool! During Scolding Wife, both Murray and Sean came over to Sean during his verse. Murray lay his head on Sean's shoulder and caused him to stop singing. Sean turned to stare at him. LOL! Then he just continued where he left off, singing, "she caught me by the Paul Simon and threw me naked on the floor." By the time Murray got back to his mic, either Alan or Kris had moved it so it was pointing down. Murray had to do some contortions to singing into it as the chorus came up as soon as he got there. Alan made a comment to him about erectile dysfunction of the mic and reassured him - "Don't worry Foster, it happens to everyone at some point." Cheeky devil! Britt collected but didn't exchange any instruments so I knew an acapella song was coming up. I wondered which one. It was General Taylor! That surprised me a buit because it seemed Sean was a bit hoarse this evening and I wondered if he'd be able to get thru it. No worries, mate! He hasn't been doing General Taylor as often lately, but New York City audiences LOVE that song and it wouldnt be the same without Sean's singing it, I suppose. And Sean was aiming to please a crowd itching to hear it. I needn't have worried about his voice. I could not believe how he milked all those long notes. I don't know how he held them that long! He wandered the stage, visiting Alan and the Murray as he sang. He allowed the audience to take over several choruses - I think the audience probably could have carried the song themselves, tell the truth, but it was a study to watch Sean and the crowd exchange energy throughout. And General Taylor has "gone where even Murray Foster won't go." He got a well-deserved round of applause from a delighted audience. The hockey song, Helmethead was next and I wish I had been able to take a photo of the sea of fist pumping during the song. It was a sight! Bob sang it well and you could tell that was also an audience favorite. I wonder if Hockey Night in Canada would adopt it as a theme song. Or maybe GBS's Play the Game? What a coup that would be! Maybe we need to start a campaign. Or at least someone who can actually get Hockey Night in Canada on the TV. Time for Canadians to step up here. Dream to Live was excellent. Love that song on the CD. Love it live too. Kris really looked the part of a rock and roll drummer on this song. Go Kris! "Appropos for a Friday night in Manhatten" was the key phrase in Alan's introduction to Consequence Free. Again, the crowd of dancers was impressive and everyone on stage seemed to be having a good time. I wondered what song would come next. I didn't have long to know the rest of the setlist. Consequence Free was barely over, when Bob picked up his fiddle. All right, I said to myself, it's either Mari Mac or Straight to Hell. A quick look at Alan revealed no electric guitar, and as soon as I noticed, Mari Mac began. The second song in the Holy Triumverate of set-closing GBS songs. I think they paired those songs together for 3 or 4 years straight in concerts. But last year they shuffled them around and I thought that was the end of that. I guess they thought it was right to bring it back here in NYC. The light show during Mari Mac was quite impressive. let me tell you! That was one good thing about being in the back. I could enjoy the lights which only seem be be annoying when you are in the first row. Sure enough, the strains of the Morse Code beginnings to Ordinary Day follwed Mari Mac. I was happy to hear it, but sad that the show was over. On the other hand, we would have several encores I guessed. And maybe I'd finally hear Bob do Good Girls Don't in person for the encore. I sang and "danced" my way thru Ordinary Day quite happily. The crowd clapped, cheered and stomped their way thru a chorus of Great Big Sea, Hey! for was seemed like an eternity. But Alan was the first one out, as usual and he had his electric guitar. Would we hear Oh Yeah? They haven't been playing that one lately. I don't know why. It's not one of my favorites, but a lot of people like it. But no. it was Walk on The Moon. A good song for this audience, I think. I like it, and the pre-recorded stuff was not as loud as Bob's fiddle. That's a good thing. After Alan had walked on the moon, he began to play the chords to Silhouette on the Shade (Herman's Hermits in the 60's). It was distracting to me to hear those chords because I kept singing the words in my head and found it hard to listen to Alan and Sean's improvised New York City Song. Alan started off with "It's been a great day and we hope to have a better night if you know what I mean..." Suddenly he decided he'd better not talk about the kind of night he'd like what with the children up front. He looked down at them and said, "Oh, hello, Children!" and gave someone some guitar picks to distribute to the kids. He sang about how sitting on the subway next to a folksinger could be a cool experience in NYC. Sean sang about "in NYC, the girls are so pretty. They all eat pizza and it's not shitty." He also sang something about the Beastie Boys but I didn't catch it. Old Black Rum, which folks had been yelling for all night, came next. They had fun with it, the audience had fun with it and all was well. Encore 2 opened with Sean singing Gallow's Pole! What a surprise that was! I can't imagine his throat was okay at this point, but he gave a serious rendition of that song. Wow! So much energy was put into it from all band members. I have never heard it done so well. The mp3 version doesn't do the live version a bit of justice. This is not the first time I have heard it, but it was definitely the best time. It was the most rockin' version yet! Straight To Hell was the last instrument-accompanied song of the show. An audience favorite, Alan gave it his all and everyone had a ball. Bob played the fiddle and sang at the same time. I don't know how he does that. I have tried and it's not possible for me. Go Bob! Or as Alan yells at the bridge when he want's him to play - "Go to Hell Bob!" Lights during this song were great too - with reds and oranges predominating. As Britt collected the instruments, Alan started Rant and Roar. He introduced everyone and then Bob gestured towards Alan saying, "That was Alan Doyle, we call him the King from Petty Harbour." And that was that. Met up with Jack, Sally and Nancy after the show and we all went home together. It was nice to see all the OKPers there and I didn't realize it was Renata's birthday. Otherwise I would have wished her a good one. How could it be bad, if you're seeing GBS, though? I hadn't realized Christina from St. John's was going to be there. Good show to see, Christina. Welcome to New York! To Nancy, Dave, John, Fran, Lynda, Bet, Howard and Cheryl and their friends from Tasmania, Sheila, Michele and sister and some more people I am forgetting - Good to see you and hope to see you again soon, I hope! And I left Feeling Groovy even though the ride home was 2 hours longer due to construction and detours. "I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep Let the morning time drop all its petals on me Life I love you, all is groovy! Dadadadah dah dah dah, Feelin' Groovy" |
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