Bob and I in the parking lot above Newbury Comics in Peabody
Boston is a great place to see Great Big Sea. I felt like a groupie today. Four shows last week and Boston this week! Fran was nice enough to tell me about the Newbury Comics Promo opportunity so I left Philly at 7 AM this morning. Route 684 was closed because of an accident but the nice tolltaker guy on the Tappen Zee bridge told me an alternate route. I don’t think I lost any time but Peabody was a little farther than I thought and it was taking me longer than I wanted.

I got to Peabody and there were a million cars already in the parking lot and it was taking a long time to make the left turn into the lot. So I made an executive decision to park elsewhere. I found a spot about a block away behind the shopping center. So I grabbed my fiddle and hoofed it down the street and around the corner. Searching for some steps down a steep hill, I passed right by a van whose sliding door opens. Not paying attention to the occupants I frantically searched for a way down the hill when I heard Alan Doyle's voice in the general direction of the van. So - I did an about-face and was face to face with Alan  himself! "Hi Alan," I said. "Bob wouldn't happen to be in the van would he?" (I can't believe I said that! Of course he was in the van - where else would he be?) Alan says "sure is!" And then I said, "do you think he'd sign my violin?" Alan yells into the van, "Hey Bob! Come sign a fiddle!"

Bob hops right out of the front seat SMILING! "Whaddya got there?" he says. "A fiddle I've been lugging around all summer. I've been trying to catch you since July!" I replied. To which he grinned broadly as if he were proud to be so slippery. He asked my name and what I wanted him to write. Taking a page from Sunflower's book, I told him whatever he wanted to write. I told him my name and he spelled it correctly with the "e". He wrote "Cheers, Anne! Bob Hallett GBS"

*sigh* The b'y was looking good too! Dress shirt under a sweater. I told him congratulations on having so many shows sell out this tour. He said it was a thrill but they've worked hard to get here to this point. And he said they'll continue to work hard to stay there. Alan said the Friday show in NYC was sold out first and the Thursday show was 14 tickets shy of being sold out. Boston was a sellout, Philly. Towson ,  DC and Buffalo! Bob plucked on the strings a little, told me it sounded like it was in tune. Alan asked him was it any good and he said, "Hard to say, Alan." He asked me how long I'd been playing and I told him a little over a year. He told me to practice, practice, practice because that was the only way to get ahead with it. I told him that I've been playing CDs and trying to pick out the parts of the tunes I like. He told me not to listen to "those Irish CDs" because the fiddle parts were way too hard on them. LOL!

I also had presence of mind to ask for a photo with Bob. He yells, "Hey Alan, come over and take a picture with the camera." Alan had a bit of trouble using it and said there was a problem - "You are too far away from Bob. Get closer." So Bob reached out and I went over to him and snuggled up right next to him. *G* "Close enough, Alan?" Then Alan started to sing, "Sometimes when we touch, the honesty's too much..." LOL! What a card! Then he was discussing with Tony the need to rehearse in the afternoon. And I went into the Newbury Comics store, floating on cloud 9. Saw Alex from Italy with Fran and scared her to death by sneaking up on her. So nice to meet her in person finally.
They sang 6-7 songs! I was surprised. I thought they were just going to be signing stuff, which they did after the little show. Started with Donkey Riding but Alan didn't wait the second measure to sing and started right away. After they did When I'm Up, he mispronounced the town's name. So who knew Peabody is NOT pronounced the way it looks? It is pronounced "PEAbuddee". He was frustrated at the mispronunciation but got it right all the other times. After learning how to say the name, He says Okay - Then we are Great BIG Sea from NewFOUNDland. Then they played SONC and he said all the cool radio stations were playing it - like the River in Boston who were sponsoring the gig. "Yeah the radio stations that don't play it SUCK!"
After Clearest Indication, Darrell said "Wow, Alan, that was so touching! I almost felt a tear coming out of my eyes. I had to blink them back."

Alan said that Sean's father had brought them Gideon Brown. And he said it was all about envying your neighbor's boat. "Size DOES matter, Alan." said Sean, deadpan. Then Alan got himself into trouble by picking up and getting distracted by a girlie magazine next to where he was standing. He claimed he was distracted by the girl on the front and picked up the magazine to leaf through it. "Oh! Is this one of those 'blue' magazines?" he asked innocently. "How blue is it?" He was told "light blue." There were a couple kids in the front and one of the little girls had fallen asleep. "This is supposed to be a family show. Oh! Did we do that to her?"
Sean says - Look what you've done, Alan! Traumatized her for life!"
Carbon Leaf was the most energetic I have seen them yet. Opening for the b’ys has been a good thing for both bands I think. Carbon Leaf’s stage presence has grown by leaps and bounds. They are much more professional from the  two weeks touring with GBS and probably a lot less sober. They have switched the setlist to fit the show better. Plus we like them! And Boston LOVED them.

The b’ys opened with:
Ordinary Day – what a lovely way to start! I love it!

Process Man – can’t get enough of GBS’ a capella harmonies.

When I’m Up – I doubt I will ever get tired of this song, but I still think it is a weird song for GBS to be doing.

Sea of No Cares – The audience really sang along with this one and Alan was pleasantly surprised so many people knew the words!

After, he announced that “the Avalon has sold out to the doors and you’re looking great!” He also said that “we have no restrictions whatsoever. We are willing to expose ourselves to everything Boston has to offer on a Saturday night. We apologize in advance to those in Vermont tomorrow. We’ll be doing just ballads.” The whole time he is doing this, he’s playing the beginning chords to Goin’ Up. And the whole time a large group of people are singing, “Oh oh oh!”

Goin’ Up – Alan states:” I can see there is no need to explain a Kitchen Party in Boston. And we usually rehearse your part, but I can see there’s no need.”

Clearest Indication – Sean looked right at Alex and acknowledged her presence and in the instrumental part, Alan came over too and nodded at Alex. I guess he was heartbroken that she was standing stage Bob! LOL!

Paddy Murphy – The Boston girls got loaded drunk

Gideon Brown – This is such a great song! The b’ys seem to enjoy singing it and the audience already knew the words. Plus Bob played shaker. He looks so intense, like he’s going to punch the microphone! LOL!

Own True Way – Alan: “Dedicated to the 13 or 14 people who came to see us on our first foray to Boston” which he claimed was 2 years ago – but I saw them 2 years ago at the Avalon and it was packed. The audience sang along. Alan was surprised.

Old Black Rum – “For all those who are overindulgent, hyper-lubricated and fond of excessive celebration. Bob wrote this as a 12-Step program for you.”

General Taylor – Sean’s voice was perfect and he sang, “A pint of rum for Sean McCann and a bloody great barrel for the Great Big Sea Clan.”

Stumbling In –  This is a good song live. Audience was singing again!

Consequence Free – Alan:”How about that Superbowl? Too bad about your Olympic hockey team. But I promised I wouldn’t mention the results of that. Sean *coughs* and Bob plinks the bouzouki strings.

Scolding Wife –Here was the intro. “This song is dedicated to all single people. It’s about a man who finds himself in a place far less than perfect.”
Sean :” Here’s my brand new drum! My drum died last week. Cooperman Fife and Drum  made it for me. Got it out really fast.” 
This is the best trad song in the world this tour IMHO! Especially since Bob sings solo.

Widow in the Window – Sean: “This song is about a relationship gone completely and totally wrong.” I love the way Alan goes to the back of the stage not to draw attention away from Sean on this song. I also love the fiddle part.

I’m A Rover – Alan: “And now from the sublime to the ridiculous. This is for all the ladies who have no aversion to opening their windows in the middle of the night to folksingers from Newfoundland.” I was so happy to hear this! Haven’t heard it since the summer. Alan also invited the audience to “play the part of the fair maiden and Sean will be the rover.” But Sean said: “only the ladies in the audience, please Alan. There are limits to what I do.” And when he got to the part where “She opened the door and let Alan in…”

Everything Shines – Dedicated to Chris Trapper and the Pushstars

Mari Mac – OMG! This was THE BEST MARI MAC I HAVE EVER SEEN! Sean was totally out-of-control near the end. He stopped playing guitar, flung it on his back, and grabbed the mic off the stand. Only one problem – it was firmly twisted around the mic stand and when he pulled it off to sing into it, the mic stand came with it. The shakers came flying off the stand and one into the audience. He dragged the mic stand to the back of the stage and Bob’s mic started to come with it. At that point, Sean tossed his guitar into the air towards the side where Danny was standing, Bob tried to move his mic stand back a bit as he was still playing, and Sean ended up spread-eagle on the stage floor for quite a few minutes. After he got up, he sheepishly said "Sorry"  to Danny and Danny smiled, shook his head and put everything back together again. This brought back great memories of the first time I saw GBS on TV in Sydney, Cape Breton on Canada Day, 1997. Sean also gave a stellar performance of Mari Mac and ended up spread-eagle on the stage in front of the Queen! What a nut!

Lukey – was an anti-climax after Mari Mac

Encore1
Boston and St. John’s – at the beginning of this song, Sean came running out from backstage like a madman and ran completely across the stage and disappeared for a few seconds before he came back to his place. Kris used his brushes for this – sounds good.
EOTW – We had Ode to Joy in the middle AND at the end. And Darrell was very bouncy.

Encore2
Excursion – I hope they never stop doing this song. Sean tried to get Darrell to mess up by walking over to him and kissing him on the cheek. But in true Darrell form, he just grinned and kept on singing.
Feller – Liking it better and better

Encore3 - Wahoo! THREE ENCORES!!!!
Rant and Roar – The look on their faces when the audience sang the chorus by themselves was priceless. They know they have touched us.
Here's his signature on my fiddle. Natalie MacMaster had signed it last year. He wrote "Cheers Anne! Bob Hallett G.B.S.!"
Then the last one was Ordinary Day. They all looked happy to sign stuff after, even Bob. I had brought my OKP shirt on the road with me and ran back to the car to get it. Opportunity of a lifetime. Of course I still didn't think to get them to sign my CD cover. Duh! But I think I did fine for the fiddle AND the shirt.

After the signing, I followed Fran back to Boston where we found a couple parking spaces near the Avalon. One of the weird things about the Avalon is there is no sign to tell where it is. How confusing! Alex and Jess, Fran and I lined up early – good thing too. I didn’t realize how rabid the Boston fans were. We saw Caroline and her beau and a bunch of other fans. A girl named Bridget gave Sean a t-shirt that said “I love Bridget” and she had one that said, “I love Sean McCann.” He didn’t wear it on stage but she was deliriously happy to give it to him. He DID however wear it the next night. Here's Fran's Photo from Winooski. --------------->

If you ever go to the Avalon, check out the bathrooms! They have the best ladies room I have ever been to at any venue. Except for the ice cold water with which you wash your hands, Brrrrr. I got to be stage Bob right there in front. Alex joined me before the show started. I was surprised she’d give up her Alan spot. But I enjoyed her company!
Look for the next review on July 4th!
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Mission Accomplished!