| Great Big Sea in Readington, NJ |
| First of all, I have to say that this was the funniest Great Big Sea Concert I have ever attended. There was a running joke all the way through it about exactly WHERE Paddy Murphy was, a John Denver RECITAL by Alan, and musings from Alan and Sean about Las Vegas performers singing GBS tunes. It was a panic! We drove the 2+ hours from Philly where it had been raining on and off all day. A phone call to the venue confirmed the show was still on, so off we went - Sunflower, Karen and I. The nearer we got to the Park the brighter it got, confirming once again that GBS has special powers where weather is concerned. It was the third concert I've been to that was threatened by rain where it has cleared up to the surprise of the weathermen. : Clothes: : Darrell - black t-shirt and black jeans, black shoes : Alan - black V-neck shirt with a Nike symbol near the V, dark blue baggy jeans, black shoes : Séan - the new black shirt from WTC and blue jeans, new sneakers : Bob - back to the black shirt with little rectangles at the yoke and black jeans. And of course he had his big black shoes on! LOL! Doesn't he always wear them? : Karen and Carol were again working the merchandise table for Tony. He'll miss them tomorrow, that's for sure! They are sales people to be sure! I walked around giving out Bounce Back cards and talking with people in the park. Lots of first-timers and lots of Canadians. The opening act was Patrick Fitzgerald. He was good! Mellow songs - very nice. The b'ys were late arriving to the venue and he could have done a couple more songs. No one would have minded. We saw, Fran and Chris, Mary2U, Caroline, Howard and Cheryl and a couple others from last night. Diane met a family from Kansas. LOL! All the way from Iowa to meet people who live near her old hometown in Kansas, right here in New Jersey! |
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| A Karen view from side stage at the merch table |
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| Here's Patrick Fitzsimmons - opening act for GBS. He did a great job and is a very talented guy! Go see him if you have the chance. He does have a CD out there. Great songwriter! |
| Patrick Fitzsimmons |
| Donkey Ridin’' Billy Peddle When I'm Up - Alan mentioned that this was the second day in a row that they had been in a beautiful setting in New Jersey Everything Shines Goin’ Up - Danny came out to exchange instruments with Alan. Alan says "Ladies and Gentlemen - Danny Thomas. He's available for select dances after work." Now here it started to get more than a little weird. Alan: We are from the Tropical Island of Newfoundland where the women go around with hardly any clothes on. But the men keep lots of clothes on though. We look better this way - trust me. Sean: Aw, MAN! Now you've got me thinking about you with your clothes off! (Makes a face) It's not a good thought! |
| Alan: (looks really funny at Sean, shakes his head, laughs) Sean: So Alan, what are you doing later this evening? …Wanna watch a movie together? Alan: (Alan shakes his head no, laughing) Sean: …Wanna just hang out together? Alan: (Alan shakes head no, again. Darrell and Bob are laughing heartily.) Sean: …No? (The looks Sean was giving Alan were hilarious! Very serious, keeping a straight face) Alan: Let's just get on with the song, shall we? (blushing) Boston and St. John's - It was such a touching scene here with Darrell. A mom was taking her young daughter back to her seat during this song and the little one had realized she could see Darrell thru the side of the stage. The Mom knelt down next to her and was pointing over to Darrell. Darrell seemed to notice and was smiling and nodding to the little kid. It was so cute! The Night Pat Murphy Died - Sean was introduced by Alan as "Sean McCann, Nocturnal Man, he plays the bodhran, from Gull Island, Newfoundland." Now it gets even weirder! Sean: This is a song about a dear friend who died... What happened?... I don't know. Alan: It was a bizarre gardening accident. Sean: (looking pained) Gee, I'd thought it'd be something more exotic than that! Like a government conspiracy...He's not really dead! He's the Manchurian Candidate!...Where IS Paddy Murphy and what have you done with him? Fan in the audience: Ask Gary Coniff!!! (US politician suspected in the disappearance of an aide) Sean: Oh my God! I can't believe you said that! That's just sick!...Well, we'll have to change the name now to The Night Pat Murphy Went Missing...He just up and disappeared!" |
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| Then they sang the song.: At this point, the sun, which had gone missing all day, broke thru the clouds and Alan began singing "Here Comes the Sun" by George Harrison. Alan: "We'll have to sing sunshine songs now. I don't know many! Let's see...(sings) "Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry..." I like John Denver! The b'ys don't know this about me - I'm Coming out! I'm confessing - I'm a John Denver Fan. I really am! (he starts to sing Calypso, but this stops fairly soon because it's so high.) Alan: That song is hard to sing! Whew! Hey it's cool to imagine when we're doing these John Denver songs...Can you picture John Denver up here doing GBS songs? Wonder which ones he'd do?" (ponders for a moment and waits for Sean to say something - Sean ignores him and shakes his head. |
| Sean giggling about the Gary Condit remark about Paddy Murphy's disappearance |
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