Great Big Sea in Seattle 2/11/06 (Part 2)
Feb. 12th, 2006 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperThis being the concert itself, as well as post-show hanging out. Highlights: an excellent acoustic set featuring Alan and Séan in high banter form with an extra level of verve because of the Bus Incident; a positively devastating rendition of "River Driver"; much affection for Seattle and coffee expressed by Alan and Séan; the audience causing a set list change by spontaneously busting into "General Taylor" between sets; Alan delighting us all with a Seattle-themed "we're really glad to be here, NO REALLY we're glad to be alive" ditty right before tearing into "Old Black Rum"; a beautiful unmiked performance of "Old Brown's Daughter"; and after, the B'ys causing a stampede to Kells.
We had no stage crowd--because the Moore had seats set up clear up to the stage. So there wasn't room for a stage crowd. This turned out to be fine for Meems and me, since although I missed being down there among the stage crowd, we still had an excellent view thanks to how the seats slanted down to the stage at the Moore. It was on the other hand a bit weird that people actually periodically sat down during the show, even during the second set. I was on my feet a lot, yelling and singing myself hoarse. But it turned out that I was also grateful to be able to sit down every so often. Later on, the shouting and cheering got almost deafening at least where I was, and I wound up grateful that I wasn't closer to the stage than I was, because I'm sure it was even louder down there.
My one small quibble with the whole performance was the mix again, the same issue I had with the Moore last time. Twelve rows back gave me a better mix of sound than I'd gotten at the last performance, but still, the B'ys' voices were a little bit hard to make out over the instruments. This wasn't so much of a problem during the first set, but during the second when they broke out Alan's Les Paul and Kris' drum kit and started playing the louder pop-flavored songs, I started missing out on some of the vocals.
It was fun to see, before the show, all the folks going around to various parts of the main floor and saying hi to one another--LJers and folks from the OKP, I suspect, all finding one another. And it really warmed my heart when, between the sets, this older gent further up towards the back of the main floor started belting out "General Taylor". We all joined in, and it was very fine! More on this below!
It must be noted that Bob is looking very fine these days. Folks who have been in the fandom long enough to remember the video for "Ordinary Day", or who have been able to see the video thanks to its release on the Great Big DVD, will recognize Bob's overall look as hearkening back to that! He's got long hair again and has lost the beard, which takes years off his face. It was striking enough that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mamishka turned to me at one point and pretty much went, "Ooh, check out Bob!" She joked that Bob had previously been something on the order of her fifth favorite member of the band; I pointed out that previously, there had been only four members. ;) Now, though, she affirmed that her heart was yea and verily full of Bob. I assured her that there were a great many fangirls on the OKP who shared that sentiment, and had to tell her about the great .sig one of the OKP girls is using, with a pic of her and Bob and the tagline "I've got a smile on my face, and I've got Bob's arm around me!" ^_^
Séan has also changed looks these days, looking a bit heavier set than in past years and with longer, darker hair. It works on him, even if I'm still used to seeing him with the blond hair and the sideburns we've seen in the past.
Murray and Kris, both laid-back looking and scruffy with the sort of look you expect out of Seattle grunge. Heh. And Alan was looking very stylish in a slimming black jacket he kept on the whole show. Very flattering, and of course what can you say about his hair except yum. ^_^
Here's the lineup of songs from the first set, which was entirely acoustic and consisted of the "folk" side of GBS' repetoire:
Slowly, slowly, I am getting accustomed to not hearing the opening bars of "Donkey Riding" as the "B'ys are coming out on the stage now" music. This time around we got a good chunk of "Great Big Sea" instead, which was actually pretty cool. And it was a sign of exactly how many loyal fans we had in the audience that a lot of us started belting out the lyrics along with the recording. Plus, it was a sneaky good way of getting a bit of Darrell into the show. I still miss him, and it was good to hear his voice as part of a show again even if he's no longer with the band. :)
"Captain Kidd" was the first actual performed song, and very well done indeed; I haven't managed to memorize all the lyrics yet, so singing along with it on the verses is a bit shaky, but I'm totally down with the chorus. And it led right into "Donkey Riding". Even if it's not the first song in the lineup anymore, it's fun to still have it around. I tried to sing harmony, but pretty much right out of the gate I started singing myself hoarse. Hee.
The way I've heard both "Jack Hinks" and "Lukey" played live the last few years, I have a hard time figuring out which song is about to happen. The trick that they are in two different keys, so it's all about trying to figure out whether Alan's doing his rhythm strumming off the F chord or off of G, and as I type this, I realize that of course he had the bouzouki for "Jack Hinks" and he does guitar on "Lukey". So I should have clued in that "Jack Hinks" was next.
After "Jack Hinks" was over, we had a bit of a lull as Alan realized that something was going on behind him--Kris, apparently having a bit of an instrument malfunction. Danny had to slide him a wrench across the stage so he could adjust his accordion, so Alan asked him what he was doing with a wrench. Séan piped up, "He's learned how to play it!" This made Kris start tapping out a rhythm on the wrench with one of his drumsticks. Snicker.
Alan then started telling us all about how it had been "two days with no near-death experiences", a state of affairs of which the entire band approved, though at least according to Séan, this wasn't for lack of trying as they took a seaplane down from Victoria. Alan then joked about his theory that "some other band in Canada" was poking needles into a voodoo doll to make them have such an adventuresome tour. "Sell a million records, will you?! *pokepokepoke*" Séan concluded this entire banter by asserting it was Bob's fault. SNICKER.
Séan then introduced "Graceful and Charming (Sweet Forget Me Not)", telling us all about how his grandfather had sung this song to woo his grandmother--and had won her with it, and they had been married for 62 years. This provoked a suitable wave of "aww" out of the audience.
I had already noticed the standup bass sitting over on Murray's side of the stage, which was pretty much bitchin' cool on general principles, but during "Graceful and Charming" it made its presence felt for me for the first time. During the bridge Murray threw off a wonderful little bass line on that instrument, while Bob was fabulous on the whistle.
Right after that came the opening portion of "Tishialuk Girls Set"--and the bass again asserted itself as Murray pulled his bow across it, while Kris laid down a line on his cymbals... and Bob gave us the haunting melody line. NICE. But what I wasn't expecting AT ALL was that they didn't go through all of this song. Instead, they segued right into "Billy Peddle"! Which I hadn't heard them do live since 2001, and which was beyond delightful to hear. It is still one of my very favorite GBS instrumentals, duking it out with "Fortune" for my most favorite. (Though really, "Tishialuk Girls Set" is possibly going to leap in there to duke it out with the other two.)
After this song, Alan expressed his general approval of Murray's contribution to that song--though he ragged him for being "not as cool as Bob". Séan jumped in to loudly demand feedback about his own performance on the shakers, asserting it had been one of his best. Alan parried that he might not have been able to control himself if there'd been cowbell. He also congratulated Bob: "Way to go, Bob, on the stuff over there!"
The intro to "Concerning Charlie Horse" was also chock full of the Funny. Alan started telling us all about how there were 17 or 18 songs about horses falling into ponds on the new album, and then proceeded to tell us all about weather in Newfoundland and how there were so many frozen ponds that when he heard about Jesus walking on water, he was all "So what?" ;) He then lamented that why would he piss off Jesus, and he was going to Hell. "No," replied Séan, you're going to Kells."
Alan also took the time to explain the lyrics of this song. Especially the chorus, since that required a listener to understand that the individual who owned the horse in this song was named "Shave". (Or that at least the guy's name sounds like "Shave", I should add; I'm not sure of whether that's the actual SPELLING.) Alan made faces, too, as he noted that if you don't know this, it makes lines like "Here's to Charlie Horse, here's to Shave the master" and "Charlie was like a brother to Shave" sounded rather weird.
After that, Alan proceeded to extol the virtues of Starbucks and triple lattes, and how after he had been suitably jazzed up on coffee, he could have walked down here from Victoria. "Let the rest of the tour be damned!" he cried happily. Because it was a Saturday night in Seattle, you see, and in the Land of Alan, this was what we call Wise Planning.
Next up: Alan asked Séan to sing a song "for the ladies". So Séan turned to the audience and yelled, "Let's hear it from the ladies!" Cue expected cheer from all the girls in the crowd. Then, "let's hear it from the lads!" All the guys bellow. Once more, "let's hear it from the ladies!" Alan and Séan both leered and snickered, and I believe it was Séan who then said, "We're here for the women!" ;)
With a buildup like that, it was no surprise that the next song was "I'm a Rover". During it, Kris and Murray got up to more hijinx. I think it might have been during the bridge that I saw Kris aim a kick towards Alan's backside, and right after that, I saw what looked like Kris getting Murray in a chokehold. And Séan in the last verse got in the line, "We both shook hands and we had some coffee...!"
Following "I'm a Rover", Alan proceeded to tell us all about why they took up singing folk music: "That's where the cash is. Sea shanties!" And he went on to talk about how the next song was all about envying your neighbor's... boat. Séan devilishly inquired, "Do they know what you're talking about? I'm getting excited over here." >:) And off into "Gideon Brown."
Hands down, though, the best intro and followup for any song in this set were for "The Mermaid". Séan started off by laconically saying, "Okay... a song." He then began to tell us all about how this song was about a creature who was, quote, "part lady and part human," unquote. Every single girl in the audience started mock-booing him, and he got this "oops" look on his face and started trying to extricate himself from that little flub. I'm not sure whether he did it on purpose for comedic effect or whether it was a genuine flub--but finally Alan took pity on him and urged the audience, "Make him feel welcome!" So we all cheered. 'Cause well hey, Séan. :D
I've heard people talk about the little dance that Séan does while doing this ditty live. He did it again. It was very cute. ^_^ His whistle playing was also very fine, and he finished up by telling us afterwards that the song was based on a "true story!" And, "visit your local aquarium."
Then, Danny took away all the instruments and Alan began an intro all about how there were more than just sailing songs in Newfoundland--there were also songs that came out of the logging tradition, in which men would go for months into the woods. I knew what was coming, then. Alan leaned over to Murray to get him to pluck a starting note on the standup bass, and with that: "River Driver".
And I mean, DAMN. We're talking wall of harmony here, people, rolling out like a tide across us all. Murray's rumbling undercurrent of bass was especially shiver-inducing, and that minor chord they hit coming out of the second to last chorus, the one that slays me every time I hear it in the recording, hit me like a boulder. Absolutely stunning and absolutely beautiful.
From there we went into "Scolding Wife", and it was a bit different this time around because they started off with a chorus rather than Alan doing his first verse. So that was a bit new and different and cool.
Next up: "Old Polina", and Séan introducing it as a song about a race between boats. Very cool to hear this live; I figured it would play well live, and I was right. The best part: Alan on the bouzouki. I remember looking hard at Alan's zouk and trying to figure out where he had the capo; from where I was sitting, it looked like the second fret. Which makes me think that the song is in A, and they're probably playing the chords for the key of G. (This requires musicgeeking investigation later.)
Following that was the very last song of the set--another song about a boat. And I knew this had to be "Lukey", because Alan started in with the same rhythm line he'd had at the beginning of "Jack Hinks". And this was a fine, fine song with which to finish out the set as well, with all of us on our feet and bellowing "A HA ME BOYS A RIDDLE AYE DAY" at the top of our lungs.
It was pretty cool to have a break between the sets and an opportunity to sit down and catch our collective breath. And it was during this break, while Meems and I were chatting, that somebody in the audience further back from where we were sitting started belting out "General Taylor". Heads started turning. Voices started coming in on the chorus. Meems and I jumped in, too, since we'd sung that ditty a lot during Jam.
And that really just brought a warm feeling to my heart, all of this spontaneous singing. It's stuff like that that makes me love being in GBS fandom.
I am told by a poster on the OKP that this actually prompted Danny, head GBS roadie, to pop his head out from backstage, laugh, and retreat again. And I'm pretty sure that this little thing was responsible for the B'ys doing "General Taylor" in the second set. ^_^
Speaking of which...
When the lights went down again, it was to the strains of Johnny Cash belting out "Ring of Fire". Which was an odd and amusing choice, and a lot of us started singing along with that, too! And from there, we kicked into the second set lineup, featuring:
There were fewer opportunities for between-song banter during this set, but that was all good--since there was a great deal of Alan and his electric guitar, which is pretty much Yum from the first note to the last. Which is what we got during "When I Am King" and "When I'm Up".
"Paddy Murphy" did get a bit of an intro, though, as Alan informed us all that we had an obligation to ourselves to make this the best Saturday of our lives. And Séan's obligatory mangling of the opening lyrics were this time "Kris and Murray got loaded drunk"!
Next up, Alan telling us of "dreaming of the summertime, when everything shines"!
I didn't know "Beat the Drum" was coming--Alan introduced it by telling us that they'd learned this song in Scotland, which I hadn't known. And they did an intro rhythm that I didn't recognize either, which was another little cool and different detail.
"Are the singers in the house?" Alan yelled while introducing what came next, and when we all roared, he said, "This is kind of a test to see if you're ready". Which led into the medley, which was a bunch of the B'ys starting off the bits of lyrics and seeing how far the audience could go with them by ourselves. Very fun. And it led next into "Run Run Away", also very fun.
Then, "General Taylor"! Which I hadn't been expecting at all, given thatseimaisin and raise_a_jar had posted that this had not been part of the set at their show. The extra verse this time: "Well a pint of rum for every man / and a gallon of whiskey for every woman". ^_^
"Helmethead" was next, which went over very well with Meems--she wasn't familiar with that song since she hadn't bought Something Beautiful* yet. Bob was in excellent vocal form, and his voice was clearer and cleaner than I'd heard it in a while. Very well sung, Bob! Alan and Murray also had some neat bits in the bridge of this song, as Alan jumped over near Murray on the stage and the two of them tore away on their instruments.
"Consequence Free" was greeted with a huge cheer. I don't think it was expected by the audience, either.
And once they started in on the minor intro chords, I knew "Mari-Mac" was coming next. Oh my yes the goodness of the "Mari-Mac" this time around--starting off pretty slow and then by the end at positively blistering breakneck speed. Fast enough that I was stunned, since the last couple rounds of live "Mari-Mac" I'd heard were slower than I'd heard them do it in a while. I don't know if it was the long hiatus, the impetus of the Bus Incident, or both that made them throw this extra oomph into this rendition, but I'm here to tell you, that last verse and chorus were thermonuclear.
Last up in the set: "Ordinary Day". Which always brings a smile and a dance and the audience singing happily.
And then, the encores.
I'd heard tell of "Come And I Will Sing You" showing up in the performances on this tour, but I hadn't properly paid attention as to when it would show up. We didn't get it during the first set, which had vaguely disappointed me, but when the first encore started, OH THERE IT IS! And it was well worth the wait. Again, Bob was in fine, fine vocal form.
"Excursion Around the Bay" was next. Still not quite used to hearing Alan do it instead of Darrell, but Alan's version is rapidly growing on me. How could it not? :)
And then, as Alan bellowed at us "LAST CHANCE TO DANCE!", they tore into "Fortune". There are reasons this instrumental is duking it out with "Billy Peddle" for my favorite GBS instrumental. A concert that had both? Two thumbs way, way up. And it was fun to see Séan step back to trade places with Kris and take a turn at the drum kit.
While we were doing the obligatory GREAT! BIG! SEA! chant for the second encore, I saw Alan stick his head out from backstage with this expression that looked like, "What? Us? You want us to come back out? Well okay, if you insist..."
When they did, they were all empty-handed. And Séan put his finger to his lips to shut us up--at which point the five of them, all lined up there shoulder to shoulder at the very front of the stage, treated us to an unmiked rendition of "Old Brown's Daughter". Harmony just as tight as on "River Driver", and yet, totally different--lighter and sweeter, rather than the overwhelming rumble of "River Driver". That these same five voices can produce such a different experience with two different a cappella songs rachets up my respect for their musical prowess all the more.
After that we got what was one of the high points of the show for me: Alan whipping into an impromptu ditty that they had to have whipped up since the Bus Incident in Vancouver, just this little knockoff thing that featured lines in it like "we're really glad to be here, NO REALLY, we're glad to be alive" and "if you see us wandering, send us back to our hotel, we might be drunk"--which was a most excellent lead-in for "Old Black Rum". :D
Last but not least: one more round of a cappella goodness, and "Rant and Roar". Possibly the best way to close a GBS show ever.
We didn't leave immediately for Kells--because if nothing else, I wanted to make another stop at the swag table. Séan's brother who was manning said table had told us that he should have more shirts after the show was over, but it turned out he hadn't. But it was fun to be in that line anyway and have two different people come up to me and ask, "Are you Anna the Piper?" One was Doug of the OKP, and the other wasceallaighgirl, who must have picked me out because of my hat. (It is a good hat. I love it so. ^_^)
We met up withsolcita and casirafics as well, and although solcita and ceallaighgirl opted out of Kells, casirafics came with us. On the way over there I bumped at last into writersweekend--who to my delight had made this her very first GBS show pretty much on the strength of hearing me gush about them so much on my journal. (Doing my duty as a member of the Street Team, yay!) She reported though that Kells was absolutely mobbed, and she and her husband had decided to bail. I hugged her and let her go her way, while the rest of us decided to take our chances.
But the place was absolutely mobbed. I am fairly sure that the entire population of the city of Seattle must have decided to converge on it. When we tried to get in, it was literally standing room only and there was barely enough room to work your way through the crowd. We finally nudged our way back to a rear corner and took over a single table, but for the longest time we had only one chair. So we had to take turns sitting in it while others got drinks. We finally got the very back table as well and got chairs for all, which let us have some actual conversation. Still, it was too loud really, and if the B'ys got in at all, we didn't see them.
I was pretty sure that the B'ys were clever puppies and would have realized that as they had announced their intentions to head to Kells, a large chunk of the audience would have headed there. But I'm not entirely sure how many of the crowd there were from our show, and how many of them were just random denizens of Seattle. I didn't manage to see anyone else vaguely familiar.
We did hang out for a while, though, and had fun conversation. I properly introducedcasirafics to Monica and Ren. When the table next to us cleared, we swapped jokes about how it'd be nice if we could send up a flare or something that would read "THIS TABLE RESERVED FOR GREAT BIG SEA", but no such luck. We heard after we actually made it in that they stopped letting people in for a while, so I'd be willing to bet that even if the B'ys made it to the door, they might have been turned away. One could say that well, they're Great Big Sea, they could have gotten in if they'd wanted to--but still, even our B'ys need somewhere to sit.
Between 11:30 and midnight, though, we all started getting a bit tired of the Loud. And after we finished off our drinks, we headed out; Monica and Ren back to their place,casirafics to her car, and Mimi and Fred and me to his truck. On the way back to drop off Mimi we ruefully had to tell Fred not to play GBS on his car stereo, since our throats were all hoarse and I was still pretty much biologically compelled to sing along with any GBS ditty. He played Carbon Leaf instead. Which still prompted bits of singing on my part, but still left me room for conversation.
And we dropped off Mimi... and headed back to Kenmore, content indeed with an evening of Vertical Movement and the possibility of further jamming sessions to come!
We had no stage crowd--because the Moore had seats set up clear up to the stage. So there wasn't room for a stage crowd. This turned out to be fine for Meems and me, since although I missed being down there among the stage crowd, we still had an excellent view thanks to how the seats slanted down to the stage at the Moore. It was on the other hand a bit weird that people actually periodically sat down during the show, even during the second set. I was on my feet a lot, yelling and singing myself hoarse. But it turned out that I was also grateful to be able to sit down every so often. Later on, the shouting and cheering got almost deafening at least where I was, and I wound up grateful that I wasn't closer to the stage than I was, because I'm sure it was even louder down there.
My one small quibble with the whole performance was the mix again, the same issue I had with the Moore last time. Twelve rows back gave me a better mix of sound than I'd gotten at the last performance, but still, the B'ys' voices were a little bit hard to make out over the instruments. This wasn't so much of a problem during the first set, but during the second when they broke out Alan's Les Paul and Kris' drum kit and started playing the louder pop-flavored songs, I started missing out on some of the vocals.
It was fun to see, before the show, all the folks going around to various parts of the main floor and saying hi to one another--LJers and folks from the OKP, I suspect, all finding one another. And it really warmed my heart when, between the sets, this older gent further up towards the back of the main floor started belting out "General Taylor". We all joined in, and it was very fine! More on this below!
It must be noted that Bob is looking very fine these days. Folks who have been in the fandom long enough to remember the video for "Ordinary Day", or who have been able to see the video thanks to its release on the Great Big DVD, will recognize Bob's overall look as hearkening back to that! He's got long hair again and has lost the beard, which takes years off his face. It was striking enough that
mamishka turned to me at one point and pretty much went, "Ooh, check out Bob!" She joked that Bob had previously been something on the order of her fifth favorite member of the band; I pointed out that previously, there had been only four members. ;) Now, though, she affirmed that her heart was yea and verily full of Bob. I assured her that there were a great many fangirls on the OKP who shared that sentiment, and had to tell her about the great .sig one of the OKP girls is using, with a pic of her and Bob and the tagline "I've got a smile on my face, and I've got Bob's arm around me!" ^_^Séan has also changed looks these days, looking a bit heavier set than in past years and with longer, darker hair. It works on him, even if I'm still used to seeing him with the blond hair and the sideburns we've seen in the past.
Murray and Kris, both laid-back looking and scruffy with the sort of look you expect out of Seattle grunge. Heh. And Alan was looking very stylish in a slimming black jacket he kept on the whole show. Very flattering, and of course what can you say about his hair except yum. ^_^
Here's the lineup of songs from the first set, which was entirely acoustic and consisted of the "folk" side of GBS' repetoire:
- Great Big Sea
- Captain Kidd
- Donkey Riding
- Jack Hinks
- Graceful and Charming (Sweet Forget Me Not)
- Tishialuk Girls Set/Billy Peddle
- Concerning Charlie Horse
- I'm a Rover
- A Boat Like Gideon Brown
- The Mermaid
- The River Driver (The River Driver's Lament)
- Scolding Wife
- Old Polina
- Lukey
Slowly, slowly, I am getting accustomed to not hearing the opening bars of "Donkey Riding" as the "B'ys are coming out on the stage now" music. This time around we got a good chunk of "Great Big Sea" instead, which was actually pretty cool. And it was a sign of exactly how many loyal fans we had in the audience that a lot of us started belting out the lyrics along with the recording. Plus, it was a sneaky good way of getting a bit of Darrell into the show. I still miss him, and it was good to hear his voice as part of a show again even if he's no longer with the band. :)
"Captain Kidd" was the first actual performed song, and very well done indeed; I haven't managed to memorize all the lyrics yet, so singing along with it on the verses is a bit shaky, but I'm totally down with the chorus. And it led right into "Donkey Riding". Even if it's not the first song in the lineup anymore, it's fun to still have it around. I tried to sing harmony, but pretty much right out of the gate I started singing myself hoarse. Hee.
The way I've heard both "Jack Hinks" and "Lukey" played live the last few years, I have a hard time figuring out which song is about to happen. The trick that they are in two different keys, so it's all about trying to figure out whether Alan's doing his rhythm strumming off the F chord or off of G, and as I type this, I realize that of course he had the bouzouki for "Jack Hinks" and he does guitar on "Lukey". So I should have clued in that "Jack Hinks" was next.
After "Jack Hinks" was over, we had a bit of a lull as Alan realized that something was going on behind him--Kris, apparently having a bit of an instrument malfunction. Danny had to slide him a wrench across the stage so he could adjust his accordion, so Alan asked him what he was doing with a wrench. Séan piped up, "He's learned how to play it!" This made Kris start tapping out a rhythm on the wrench with one of his drumsticks. Snicker.
Alan then started telling us all about how it had been "two days with no near-death experiences", a state of affairs of which the entire band approved, though at least according to Séan, this wasn't for lack of trying as they took a seaplane down from Victoria. Alan then joked about his theory that "some other band in Canada" was poking needles into a voodoo doll to make them have such an adventuresome tour. "Sell a million records, will you?! *pokepokepoke*" Séan concluded this entire banter by asserting it was Bob's fault. SNICKER.
Séan then introduced "Graceful and Charming (Sweet Forget Me Not)", telling us all about how his grandfather had sung this song to woo his grandmother--and had won her with it, and they had been married for 62 years. This provoked a suitable wave of "aww" out of the audience.
I had already noticed the standup bass sitting over on Murray's side of the stage, which was pretty much bitchin' cool on general principles, but during "Graceful and Charming" it made its presence felt for me for the first time. During the bridge Murray threw off a wonderful little bass line on that instrument, while Bob was fabulous on the whistle.
Right after that came the opening portion of "Tishialuk Girls Set"--and the bass again asserted itself as Murray pulled his bow across it, while Kris laid down a line on his cymbals... and Bob gave us the haunting melody line. NICE. But what I wasn't expecting AT ALL was that they didn't go through all of this song. Instead, they segued right into "Billy Peddle"! Which I hadn't heard them do live since 2001, and which was beyond delightful to hear. It is still one of my very favorite GBS instrumentals, duking it out with "Fortune" for my most favorite. (Though really, "Tishialuk Girls Set" is possibly going to leap in there to duke it out with the other two.)
After this song, Alan expressed his general approval of Murray's contribution to that song--though he ragged him for being "not as cool as Bob". Séan jumped in to loudly demand feedback about his own performance on the shakers, asserting it had been one of his best. Alan parried that he might not have been able to control himself if there'd been cowbell. He also congratulated Bob: "Way to go, Bob, on the stuff over there!"
The intro to "Concerning Charlie Horse" was also chock full of the Funny. Alan started telling us all about how there were 17 or 18 songs about horses falling into ponds on the new album, and then proceeded to tell us all about weather in Newfoundland and how there were so many frozen ponds that when he heard about Jesus walking on water, he was all "So what?" ;) He then lamented that why would he piss off Jesus, and he was going to Hell. "No," replied Séan, you're going to Kells."
Alan also took the time to explain the lyrics of this song. Especially the chorus, since that required a listener to understand that the individual who owned the horse in this song was named "Shave". (Or that at least the guy's name sounds like "Shave", I should add; I'm not sure of whether that's the actual SPELLING.) Alan made faces, too, as he noted that if you don't know this, it makes lines like "Here's to Charlie Horse, here's to Shave the master" and "Charlie was like a brother to Shave" sounded rather weird.
After that, Alan proceeded to extol the virtues of Starbucks and triple lattes, and how after he had been suitably jazzed up on coffee, he could have walked down here from Victoria. "Let the rest of the tour be damned!" he cried happily. Because it was a Saturday night in Seattle, you see, and in the Land of Alan, this was what we call Wise Planning.
Next up: Alan asked Séan to sing a song "for the ladies". So Séan turned to the audience and yelled, "Let's hear it from the ladies!" Cue expected cheer from all the girls in the crowd. Then, "let's hear it from the lads!" All the guys bellow. Once more, "let's hear it from the ladies!" Alan and Séan both leered and snickered, and I believe it was Séan who then said, "We're here for the women!" ;)
With a buildup like that, it was no surprise that the next song was "I'm a Rover". During it, Kris and Murray got up to more hijinx. I think it might have been during the bridge that I saw Kris aim a kick towards Alan's backside, and right after that, I saw what looked like Kris getting Murray in a chokehold. And Séan in the last verse got in the line, "We both shook hands and we had some coffee...!"
Following "I'm a Rover", Alan proceeded to tell us all about why they took up singing folk music: "That's where the cash is. Sea shanties!" And he went on to talk about how the next song was all about envying your neighbor's... boat. Séan devilishly inquired, "Do they know what you're talking about? I'm getting excited over here." >:) And off into "Gideon Brown."
Hands down, though, the best intro and followup for any song in this set were for "The Mermaid". Séan started off by laconically saying, "Okay... a song." He then began to tell us all about how this song was about a creature who was, quote, "part lady and part human," unquote. Every single girl in the audience started mock-booing him, and he got this "oops" look on his face and started trying to extricate himself from that little flub. I'm not sure whether he did it on purpose for comedic effect or whether it was a genuine flub--but finally Alan took pity on him and urged the audience, "Make him feel welcome!" So we all cheered. 'Cause well hey, Séan. :D
I've heard people talk about the little dance that Séan does while doing this ditty live. He did it again. It was very cute. ^_^ His whistle playing was also very fine, and he finished up by telling us afterwards that the song was based on a "true story!" And, "visit your local aquarium."
Then, Danny took away all the instruments and Alan began an intro all about how there were more than just sailing songs in Newfoundland--there were also songs that came out of the logging tradition, in which men would go for months into the woods. I knew what was coming, then. Alan leaned over to Murray to get him to pluck a starting note on the standup bass, and with that: "River Driver".
And I mean, DAMN. We're talking wall of harmony here, people, rolling out like a tide across us all. Murray's rumbling undercurrent of bass was especially shiver-inducing, and that minor chord they hit coming out of the second to last chorus, the one that slays me every time I hear it in the recording, hit me like a boulder. Absolutely stunning and absolutely beautiful.
From there we went into "Scolding Wife", and it was a bit different this time around because they started off with a chorus rather than Alan doing his first verse. So that was a bit new and different and cool.
Next up: "Old Polina", and Séan introducing it as a song about a race between boats. Very cool to hear this live; I figured it would play well live, and I was right. The best part: Alan on the bouzouki. I remember looking hard at Alan's zouk and trying to figure out where he had the capo; from where I was sitting, it looked like the second fret. Which makes me think that the song is in A, and they're probably playing the chords for the key of G. (This requires musicgeeking investigation later.)
Following that was the very last song of the set--another song about a boat. And I knew this had to be "Lukey", because Alan started in with the same rhythm line he'd had at the beginning of "Jack Hinks". And this was a fine, fine song with which to finish out the set as well, with all of us on our feet and bellowing "A HA ME BOYS A RIDDLE AYE DAY" at the top of our lungs.
It was pretty cool to have a break between the sets and an opportunity to sit down and catch our collective breath. And it was during this break, while Meems and I were chatting, that somebody in the audience further back from where we were sitting started belting out "General Taylor". Heads started turning. Voices started coming in on the chorus. Meems and I jumped in, too, since we'd sung that ditty a lot during Jam.
And that really just brought a warm feeling to my heart, all of this spontaneous singing. It's stuff like that that makes me love being in GBS fandom.
I am told by a poster on the OKP that this actually prompted Danny, head GBS roadie, to pop his head out from backstage, laugh, and retreat again. And I'm pretty sure that this little thing was responsible for the B'ys doing "General Taylor" in the second set. ^_^
Speaking of which...
When the lights went down again, it was to the strains of Johnny Cash belting out "Ring of Fire". Which was an odd and amusing choice, and a lot of us started singing along with that, too! And from there, we kicked into the second set lineup, featuring:
- When I Am King
- When I'm Up
- The Night Pat Murphy Died
- Everything Shines
- Beat the Drum
- Medley: Video Killed the Radio Star/Sweet Dreams Are Made of This/Summer of '69
- Run Run Away
- General Taylor
- Helmethead
- Consequence Free
- Mari-Mac
- Ordinary Day
- Encore #1: Come and I Will Sing You/Excursion Around the Bay/Fortune
- Encore #2: Old Brown's Daughter/Song about the bus incident/Old Black Rum/Rant and Roar
There were fewer opportunities for between-song banter during this set, but that was all good--since there was a great deal of Alan and his electric guitar, which is pretty much Yum from the first note to the last. Which is what we got during "When I Am King" and "When I'm Up".
"Paddy Murphy" did get a bit of an intro, though, as Alan informed us all that we had an obligation to ourselves to make this the best Saturday of our lives. And Séan's obligatory mangling of the opening lyrics were this time "Kris and Murray got loaded drunk"!
Next up, Alan telling us of "dreaming of the summertime, when everything shines"!
I didn't know "Beat the Drum" was coming--Alan introduced it by telling us that they'd learned this song in Scotland, which I hadn't known. And they did an intro rhythm that I didn't recognize either, which was another little cool and different detail.
"Are the singers in the house?" Alan yelled while introducing what came next, and when we all roared, he said, "This is kind of a test to see if you're ready". Which led into the medley, which was a bunch of the B'ys starting off the bits of lyrics and seeing how far the audience could go with them by ourselves. Very fun. And it led next into "Run Run Away", also very fun.
Then, "General Taylor"! Which I hadn't been expecting at all, given that
seimaisin and raise_a_jar had posted that this had not been part of the set at their show. The extra verse this time: "Well a pint of rum for every man / and a gallon of whiskey for every woman". ^_^"Helmethead" was next, which went over very well with Meems--she wasn't familiar with that song since she hadn't bought Something Beautiful* yet. Bob was in excellent vocal form, and his voice was clearer and cleaner than I'd heard it in a while. Very well sung, Bob! Alan and Murray also had some neat bits in the bridge of this song, as Alan jumped over near Murray on the stage and the two of them tore away on their instruments.
"Consequence Free" was greeted with a huge cheer. I don't think it was expected by the audience, either.
And once they started in on the minor intro chords, I knew "Mari-Mac" was coming next. Oh my yes the goodness of the "Mari-Mac" this time around--starting off pretty slow and then by the end at positively blistering breakneck speed. Fast enough that I was stunned, since the last couple rounds of live "Mari-Mac" I'd heard were slower than I'd heard them do it in a while. I don't know if it was the long hiatus, the impetus of the Bus Incident, or both that made them throw this extra oomph into this rendition, but I'm here to tell you, that last verse and chorus were thermonuclear.
Last up in the set: "Ordinary Day". Which always brings a smile and a dance and the audience singing happily.
And then, the encores.
I'd heard tell of "Come And I Will Sing You" showing up in the performances on this tour, but I hadn't properly paid attention as to when it would show up. We didn't get it during the first set, which had vaguely disappointed me, but when the first encore started, OH THERE IT IS! And it was well worth the wait. Again, Bob was in fine, fine vocal form.
"Excursion Around the Bay" was next. Still not quite used to hearing Alan do it instead of Darrell, but Alan's version is rapidly growing on me. How could it not? :)
And then, as Alan bellowed at us "LAST CHANCE TO DANCE!", they tore into "Fortune". There are reasons this instrumental is duking it out with "Billy Peddle" for my favorite GBS instrumental. A concert that had both? Two thumbs way, way up. And it was fun to see Séan step back to trade places with Kris and take a turn at the drum kit.
While we were doing the obligatory GREAT! BIG! SEA! chant for the second encore, I saw Alan stick his head out from backstage with this expression that looked like, "What? Us? You want us to come back out? Well okay, if you insist..."
When they did, they were all empty-handed. And Séan put his finger to his lips to shut us up--at which point the five of them, all lined up there shoulder to shoulder at the very front of the stage, treated us to an unmiked rendition of "Old Brown's Daughter". Harmony just as tight as on "River Driver", and yet, totally different--lighter and sweeter, rather than the overwhelming rumble of "River Driver". That these same five voices can produce such a different experience with two different a cappella songs rachets up my respect for their musical prowess all the more.
After that we got what was one of the high points of the show for me: Alan whipping into an impromptu ditty that they had to have whipped up since the Bus Incident in Vancouver, just this little knockoff thing that featured lines in it like "we're really glad to be here, NO REALLY, we're glad to be alive" and "if you see us wandering, send us back to our hotel, we might be drunk"--which was a most excellent lead-in for "Old Black Rum". :D
Last but not least: one more round of a cappella goodness, and "Rant and Roar". Possibly the best way to close a GBS show ever.
We didn't leave immediately for Kells--because if nothing else, I wanted to make another stop at the swag table. Séan's brother who was manning said table had told us that he should have more shirts after the show was over, but it turned out he hadn't. But it was fun to be in that line anyway and have two different people come up to me and ask, "Are you Anna the Piper?" One was Doug of the OKP, and the other was
ceallaighgirl, who must have picked me out because of my hat. (It is a good hat. I love it so. ^_^)We met up with
solcita and casirafics as well, and although solcita and ceallaighgirl opted out of Kells, casirafics came with us. On the way over there I bumped at last into writersweekend--who to my delight had made this her very first GBS show pretty much on the strength of hearing me gush about them so much on my journal. (Doing my duty as a member of the Street Team, yay!) She reported though that Kells was absolutely mobbed, and she and her husband had decided to bail. I hugged her and let her go her way, while the rest of us decided to take our chances.But the place was absolutely mobbed. I am fairly sure that the entire population of the city of Seattle must have decided to converge on it. When we tried to get in, it was literally standing room only and there was barely enough room to work your way through the crowd. We finally nudged our way back to a rear corner and took over a single table, but for the longest time we had only one chair. So we had to take turns sitting in it while others got drinks. We finally got the very back table as well and got chairs for all, which let us have some actual conversation. Still, it was too loud really, and if the B'ys got in at all, we didn't see them.
I was pretty sure that the B'ys were clever puppies and would have realized that as they had announced their intentions to head to Kells, a large chunk of the audience would have headed there. But I'm not entirely sure how many of the crowd there were from our show, and how many of them were just random denizens of Seattle. I didn't manage to see anyone else vaguely familiar.
We did hang out for a while, though, and had fun conversation. I properly introduced
casirafics to Monica and Ren. When the table next to us cleared, we swapped jokes about how it'd be nice if we could send up a flare or something that would read "THIS TABLE RESERVED FOR GREAT BIG SEA", but no such luck. We heard after we actually made it in that they stopped letting people in for a while, so I'd be willing to bet that even if the B'ys made it to the door, they might have been turned away. One could say that well, they're Great Big Sea, they could have gotten in if they'd wanted to--but still, even our B'ys need somewhere to sit.Between 11:30 and midnight, though, we all started getting a bit tired of the Loud. And after we finished off our drinks, we headed out; Monica and Ren back to their place,
casirafics to her car, and Mimi and Fred and me to his truck. On the way back to drop off Mimi we ruefully had to tell Fred not to play GBS on his car stereo, since our throats were all hoarse and I was still pretty much biologically compelled to sing along with any GBS ditty. He played Carbon Leaf instead. Which still prompted bits of singing on my part, but still left me room for conversation.And we dropped off Mimi... and headed back to Kenmore, content indeed with an evening of Vertical Movement and the possibility of further jamming sessions to come!