Great Big Western Trek

Pre-Show My 85-year old Mom and I spent Thursday in Vancouver with Gracie, who was a gracious hostess. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and did some mischief which will be shared later when the computer with the pics is back up. We left Vancouver early to get to Seattle to pick up Sunflower. She had borrowed Séan's Hawaiian shirt, so she was not hard to spot at the airport. Introductions were made and we were off for Portland. As would be the custom throughout the weekend, we visited a coffee place and a Baskin Robbins to soothe the savage Gracie! LOL! She was also very excited to visit the ATM and get her hands on some American money. Prolly was real shocked when she checked her bank balance though! The ride to Portland was uneventful and we dropped our stuff off at Marcus' house (my son who lives with 5 other activists) not far from Christopher's. We introduced Sun and Gracie to the member's of Activist Central. Sun made the comment that she wasn't in Kansas anymore - a bit of a culture shock, I think. Had enough time to change into our concert duds and go to the chatter's picnic. I lent Mom my Long Island Maritime Museum shirt and Gracie and I wore our newly purchased BOB shirts. They had BOB written in huge red letters. The shirt said YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH BOB

The account of the Great Big Sea show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland is right here! Enjoy the reading and photos! The pre-show BBQ at Christopher's house is also covered here.

We had a great time at the BBQ, got to see the red VW convertible, got to see Fred in a Utilikilt, BTW, he wears a nice pair of boxers underneath. We asked - he obliged! We also met Christopher, Jennifer, Ed (and Fred) of course. Fred and Christopher had these nifty T-shirts with vertical yellow traffic arrows on the back (signifying vertical movement) reminiscent of the TURN shirts, and "Ah ha me b'ys I need a LATTE" on the front - with LATTE being upside down like the word TURN on the GBS shirts.

It was priceless. They had the best Orange Creme soda I have ever tasted (or pop for the non-Philly people). Gracie preferred the vodka and OJ, which she had smuggled across the border. Sun tossed back some beers. But since I was designated driver, I had none. Mom even had a hard lemonade! We sang Happy Birthday to Ed and ate chocolate cake and then we were off to the show.

The first upsetting thing was NO CAMERAS! Sunflower and I reluctantly put ours back. While we were waiting outside for everyone, a woman came over to Gracie and I to ask about our BOB shirts. "What does it mean? Is it a secret code for something naughty?" Well, even though we certainly could think of some naughty things to do with Bob, we answered that Bob was a band member GBS and he was our favorite. No naughty meanings there." We left too late it appeared, because we had to sit in the balcony! :-( There were some single seats here and there about halfway back but we were 7 people so we ended up going upstairs. Before I did, I strolled casually over to Bob's mic and put down next to it, the shirt Gracie and I had for him. I folded it so he could see the word BOB, and went up with the others. The T-shirt we gave Bob said:

Darrell - Black T-shirt and black pants with boot on that you could see the tops under the pants. Alan - Black shiny shirt and new muted orange pants Séan - Blue shirt with zippers on the sleeve and blue jeans Bob - Black Nascar Bowling Shirt and black jeans (surprise!) Donkey Ridin' When I'm Up Everything Shines Goin' Up - Alan: This is a song of celebration. We're celebrating because we're here in the state of Oregon. We drove thru the state from Jacksonville today. It's a beautiful sate. But you know that you can't drive too fast in Oregon without getting caught. The cop who pulled us over said, "Son, do you know why I pulled you over?" "I guess we were going a bit too fast. We're from a different time zone, you know. Not used to speeds here. But he was just so polite! He says, "Here's your ticket and have a nice day." So we drive down the road and we see Tony and Danny pulled over, too! It's been an expensive trip to Portland so we need to sell a lot of swag this evening. Please visit the merchandise table and buy a lot. We'll have to sell a lot to pay for the tickets. Boston and St. John's - Alan intros the song to the fairest one of all "with the hope that she will still love you when you return." Séan: I love you, Alan! But where did you get those pants? (they were orange - a new pair of muted orange pants!) DO I need to call the fashion police, Alan? Alan: Yeah, and they'd say, "Why is your friend's hair dyed that way? And I'd say, "Because he's likes it that way!" The audience hecklers yelled "Where are you going to be tomorrow?" Alan: Alaska! Hecklers: Flying or Driving? Alan: (laughing) Oh, definitely fPaddy Murphy - Séan: This is a song about a friend's violent death During the "every man was feeling gay" part, he stops and points to Alan before going on. Alan ended up tripping over the wires on the stage during this song but he caught himself and didn't going crashing to the floor. Sea of No Cares - Alan told us it was a new song for a new album, which they have about 5 more days to work on in September. He said it would be released after Christmas in the new year in North America and Europe all at the same time for the very first time. General Taylor - Before he started, Séan bowed his head, folded his hands in prayer, and then blessed himself. That should have given us a clue all was not right. At the highest note in the second verse, he missed the note - big time. What came out was no where near where it needed to be. He was a perfect performer, though! He took a deep breath, got himself together and finished the song with one of the most perfect renditions of General Taylor I have ever heard! It was awe-inspiring by the end of it. Almost enough to make me forget about the note missed. Lukey - both Séan and Bob did the little rap thing at the end. Consequence Free - Alan: If you buy a CD we have a special dispensation to grant you absolution for all your sins. Bob blesses the audience, everyone laughs. Jack Hinks Mari Mac Ordinary Day - after this, the crowd gave them a standing ovation and we started a chant and they did come back for an encore! Excursion - At the end of Excursion, Bob leaned down and picked up the shirt I had deposited there for him. He held it up to read it, gave a big smile and a thumbs up. Gracie and I were happy campers! Mom, Gracie, Sunflower and I left after a couple Shawn Mullins songs since all of us were exhausted, and drove around the block to see Fred waiting out at the stage door for the b'ys. He did get to speak to them after all. Oh well. Story of my life this summer.

So there we are in the balcony - people from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Vancouver, British Columbia; Everett, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. Even though most of us had just met, everyone felt comfortable with each other. I tell you, these chatters are the most fantastic, generous people in the world. This was my Mom's first concert EVER in her long life and she was distressed that we were back so far. She wanted front row seats! LOL! The opener was good. I have no idea what his name was though. Shawn Mullins came out and sang the first song with him. He had some really funny songs that were a true slice of life. He played congas and guitar and could use some help putting on a capo. The audience was strange - most there NOT for GBS, and tended to just yell out comments and questions throughout the show. It was like Stadler and Waldorf on the Muppet Show. We spent the set wondering why there were only 3 mics set up. He used two of the three mics in his set and Bob's little corner of the world was all ready and no one touched his stuff! Wonder if it's in his contract! LOL! Danny came out to get the rest of the b'ys things ready. He had on the Long Island Maritime Museum shirt on again. They are sooo cool looking! Gracie went to the bathroom while all this was going on and had fun fending off other people who wanted to know what BOB meant on her shirt and who BOB was. Someone told her that there were some people who came who described GBS as "eye candy for the evening." I'll agree with that! Now - I am missing some stuff because of my choice of writing supplies. I had to borrow a pen/knife (take it literally) from Christopher and I forgot my paper. So I ended up writing on a napkin which at some point became shredded with clapping. So these are the notes that survived my over-exuberant response to "Lukey."