| New York New York! Great Big Sea |
| The 80’s medley opened with “I Fought the Law” – I guess thinking of Law and Order. I have no idea what else they did – I just have FUN written in my notes! I also noted that Alan was dancing along to some of the 80’s songs with Séan.
Run Runaway followed along like a runaway train. We didn’t get off the track but very nearly approached top fun-speed. Séan’s performance of General Taylor earned a WOW! WOW! WOW! from me in my notes. Apparently Bob felt the same way, as he removed his jacket and folded it across the accordion chest. He was wearing his Juno shirt with Friggin’ Eh! On the front. Sean enjoyed their pop version of Sea of No Cares as much as we did. He spent the song eyeing the girls dancing in the aisle next to us and smiled at one. “Thanks! I needed that!” he smiled as the audience clapped and cheered. Then he broke into song once more. “Thank you very much! Thank you very much! It’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me!” (from Scrooge!) As Alan introduced the next song, the audience took over the show. “This is a hockey song,” he announced. “LET’S GO RANGERS! LET’S GO RANGERS! LET’S GO RANGERS! LET’S GO RANGERS!” echoed through the venue for quite a while. Alan just stood there and grinned, till it died down a bit. “No one said ‘Red Sox!” BOOO! “Islanders anyone?” More boos. He tried one more time – “This is a hockey song” and knelt down in front of Bob. Séan joined hi in the Bob worship as Helmethead began. Murray came right up to the edge of the stage and tried to get a guy in the front row to play his bass guitar, but the guy didn’t get the message. Murray leaned all the way over his head and played the bass right above him. Consequence Free had an editorial comment from Alan. “Every single day!” he added when they sang, “I could really use, to lose my Catholic conscience. Cuz I’m getting sick of feeling guilty all the time – every single day!” Smoke poured out of the fog machine and it covered a multitude of sins. Mari Mac was truly on fire! There were several beautiful young ladies dancing in the aisle in front of Sean and Alan. Alan was doing his best not to look, although Sean looked enough for both of them. But at one point Sean felt it necessary to break eye contact with them and walked over and sang to Amanda’s group in the front row. Bob’s punk influences manifested themselves as he played what could only be described as a head-banging fiddle. He wove all around the stage, dancing, bowing and really putting a lot into his performance. And darn! I couldn’t keep up it was so fast! At the end, Alan staggered back and left the audience to enjoy the light show. Nice effect! Ordinary Day found Murray and Séan switching mics and Kris doing a GREAT drum solo. Encores When they finally came out, accompanied by Séan’s “Come and I Will Sing You” stool, Alan was waxing nostalgic. He stood, looking out over the audience and grinned, humbled by the response GBS had gotten this evening. "This is a venerable theatre, a lot of famous people have played here. You wait your whole career for a night like this, to sing here for a sold-out house,” he said, looking as happy as a pig in mud. Then Bob began GBS ‘s oldest-known song and the audience joined right in, loud and clear, without prompting. Excursion was fun, with Alan botching up the words once again. LOL! He sang a verse twice. No matter, we all enjoy any version he sings! Fortune followed and every man on that stage poured everything he had left into the tune. Second Encore had all five walking to the edge of the stage for Old Brown’s Daughter. Alan tried his darnedest to shush the audience. He wasn’t having much luck till he began singing. Then the wild, energetic New York audience realized the treasure they were being presented with and got quiet. No problem hearing the b’ys belting out this Newfoundland song, which has stirred the souls of many this tour. What a magical moment! I will never get tired of hearing the acapella harmonies of those men on stage. Ever. Many they reign for many years to come. A wonderful night, even with all the rain. We waited a bit by the stage door and I did get a chance to talk to Murray when Amanda’s friend bought him a beer. He is a good man, that Murray. A good man. We went back to St. Andrew’s for a bit where there was a session going on, but didn’t stay too long as it was getting late and we still had to get to Amanda’s. Amanda gave good directions and we made it to Brooklyn without incident. Settled in for the evening and the cat didn’t even bother my allergies! The el train halfway down the block didn’t even bother me – I was used to the city noises in Philly. Morning found Columbine and I up and at ‘em but we couldn’t wake Amanda. Just as well, as we were up late into the morning and Amanda hadn’t gotten too much sleep on the roadtrip. Thank you, Amanda, for your hospitality. Love to do it again with you sometime. Her good directions from the night before helped me OUT of Brooklyn and I dropped Columbine off at the Port Authority building. Taking the Lincoln Tunnel, I tried to hang on to the feelings from the night before, knowing I was going home to a possible death in the family. I put the carefree, happy memories in a safe place in my mind and brought myself slowly back to reality. But you can be sure that Great Big Sea figured prominently in the choice of music for the 3-hour drive home. Thank you, Great Big Sea for giving me the chance to forget for a while and float on that Sea of No Cares. |
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| Shines Right Thru Me brought everyone back to their feet again. I don’t think anyone on the floor was sitting ay the end of the first half and the second half started as one big dance floor. Amanda and her friends got special recognition from Séan and Alan, with Alan singing to them at one point. They had spent most of the show up to this point dancing their fool heads off and the b’ys on stage were truly appreciative of their efforts. The audience was even more ready for the energetic second half than the men on stage had expected I think. The energy flowing in both directions was incredible.
Everyone except Bob had removed his jacket and was in shirtsleeves. I don’t know how Bob wasn’t melting with the heat of the performance. Alan’s shirt said “Serenity.” I think that speaks volumes for the mood of the band in the past few months. They seem to be really happy with their lot and riding on the joy of the moment. I hope it continues for them. “So what did you do during the break?” Alan asked rhetorically. “We had a 10 K jog! We stopped at the library and read…………a chapter of the Bible.” “And stopped for Mandarin Chinese,” Séan added with a grin. “And Murray was appointed the new leader of the Christian Church!” Cue surprised look on Murray’s face. Paddy Murphy was a delight, watching Séan. He was full of energy, dancing up a storm and all over the stage. When I’m Up’s vocals had a bit of an echo at one point. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but it worked for me! At the point where they wanted the audience to sing, Bob outstretched his arms and dropped his fiddle bow. Grinning, he stooped to pick it up before it was needed and went one with the song. When I am King continued the energy, accompanied by Alan’s electric guitar. The audience was electric too. And the middle part of WIAK got VERY reggae. Go Séan! |
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