Yeah, I know. It’s been three weeks now and I’m just getting around to posting this. We’ve been through this before with plenty of other blogs, so we’ll skip the part where I apologize and get right to the… you know, the main part.
I left the college at 6 pm (well a little after 6, as I had forgotten my mp3 player and there was NO WAY I was making the trek without it). The drive there was surprisingly lonesome, long, wet and a bit nerve-racking, I think because it was so overcast and dreary, the sky kept spitting rain on me, and I was constantly second-guessing myself about whether or not I had missed my exit, which is something I always worry about. I’m usually good about not losing my way when I’m driving to a new place, but it doesn’t stop me from being nervous. Few things make you feel more lonesome than making a trip to a place you’ve never been, by yourself, wondering if you’re lost and just haven’t realized it yet. I was ecstatic when I finally saw Dad – I’d found myself thinking that I couldn’t wait to see him, and that I’d give him a huge hug when I saw him, which I did.
It seemed like the venue was really out of the way, but I discovered upon finally getting there that it was in the middle of a town similar to some of the communities I’ve been in near the lake. After one missed turn, a mistaken intersection and a rather harried conversation with Dad, we found one another and, after still more driving in circles, we found a parking space that was technically 2-hour parking but that nobody must have been paying attention to.
The venue had sort of an old-time feel to it, with a strong tie to history similar to the House of Blues but less sleek. We couldn’t appreciate it too much due to the volume of people packed into the place (sold out to the doors, thank you very much), but we did stop and talk to Glenn at the swag table. I showed him my “I ♥ BOB” shirt, and he laughed at me. I also showed him the picture on my phone of my autographed bodhrán (I got my bodhrán signed by Séan McCann… didn’t I tell you?).
It took me several minutes, naturally, to decide what I wanted. Of course I got a copy of Bob’s book Writing out the Notes, available from greatbigsea.com and Insomniac Press. The online price is $13.99, but of course the swag price was higher ($20). I really liked the grey tour shirts, but it seems like I get a shirt at every tour I go to. I spent a considerable amount of time (surprise) deciding between the hat and the shirt, and ultimately decided on getting the hat, on the grounds that I don’t have as many hats as I do shirts and that come summer it may be helpful to have one during an internship (crosses fingers).
We didn’t talk to Diane and Kevin much, as it was difficult to wade through the crowd, but I stood and watched the door at the back of the venue after we found our seats (8th row, Stage Murray). This was strictly for the purpose of watching for Diane and Kevin, and had absolutely NOTHING to do with me wanting to show off my “I ♥ BOB” shirt to as many people as possible without being obvious about it. And you should know that as I was standing there I noticed a boy and a girl, perhaps a few years younger than me, point and then pick their way down row 9 (apparently their seats were right behind ours). As they got close the boy raised his hand in the international manner of a high-five request, and said “I just wanted to congratulate you on the awesomeness of your shirt!”
So there you have it. There is SOMEONE OUT THERE THAT LOVES MY BOBSHIRT. SO ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO MAKE FUN OF MY BOBLOVE (Dad and Kevin), CAN JUST TAKE THAT. And when Kevin approached me a few minutes later to give me money for some t-shirts he was buying to help me out with an entrepreneurship class (ha! I spelled that without spell-check!). I made absolutely sure he knew about The High-Five Kid. (which is how I referred to him, like he was some kind of legendary hero),
Later in the week I discovered that The High-Five Kid is actually an accomplished guitar, accordion and bodhrán player named Alex. I found him on the Online Kitchen Party in the “Show Reviews” thread.
I had a Subway napkin in my purse that I pulled from to make impromptu earplugs. Dad turned me down when I offered it to him, but changed his mind later… after my first scream… and even then, he only put it in the ear that was closest to me. Silly Daddy.
Before I get to the set list and the bulleted show highlights, I want to say that, although it seems that everyone who was at the show touted it as the best they’d ever been to, I felt that it was slightly sub-par from what I’m used to. It was naturally just as fun as any Great Big Sea show, but I felt just a smidge underfulfilled for some reason.
That is all.
Set List! (I checked this against the primary copy someone posted on greatbigsea.com, so it should be accurate (and for the record, I did remember to charge both my phone and my camera this time):
Process Man
Captain Kidd
The Night Pat Murphy Died
When I’m Up
Lukey
Safe Upon the Shore
Charlie Horse
Nothing But a Song
Good People
River Driver
Dear Home Town
Yankee Sailor
80’s Medley (I Fought the Law, Summer of ’69, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Don’t Stop Believing, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), 500 Miles, Bohemian Rhapsody)
Run Run Away
Intermission
(Long Life) Where Did You Go
Love Me Tonight (w/ “Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night” homage)
England
Beat the Drum
When I am King
General Taylor
The Scolding Wife
HELMETHEAD!!!!!!
Consequence Free
Mari Mac
Ordinary Day
Encore 1:
Wandering Ways
Excursion Around the Bay
Fortune Set
Encore 2:
Oh Yeah
“Ode to Ohio”
Old Black Rum
The abundant string of pineapple jokes puzzled me a bit – I wondered if there was some joke that I should have been aware of but was not. From what I can tell, the simple answer is that there was a pineapple on the stage, and the guys felt that it ought to be the source of the evening’s in-joke. The pineapple received several mentions and even some time in the spotlight during a musically irrelevant “pineapple solo”. Sean, of course, succeeded in taking everything Alan said and responding with something plausibly dirty.
______________Alan presents the pineapple to the crowd_____________
I got a video of “Yankee Sailor”, my favorite song from the new album, although I missed the first several chords as I was trying to decide if I wanted a video or not. Alan turned the spotlight over to Bob so he could introduce the song (still weird seeing him talk onstage). I also took a video of the second half of Mari-Mac, mostly for the purpose of annoying my mom with it. She detests that song. :-p
You would think that after 16 years together, Alan and Sean would have exhausted their options when it comes to ways to introduce “Paddy Murphy” onstage. Alan came up with this lovely invitation to the masses of Seanivores in the audience: “It’s Sean McCann! See him! Know him! Hear him! Touch him! Love him!”
_______________See! Know! Hear! Touch! Love!_______________At a semi-quiet point near the beginning of the show, someone in the middle of the crowd shouted “MARI-MAC!!!” extra loud, to which Alan paused and replied, “I’m sorry, we don’t take requests… we only play the hits. Aaaaaaaaaaall of the greatest Great Big Sea hits!” This is of course a well-known jest at the fact that, in 16 years of band-dom, the guys have only had one genuine “hit” – Sea of No Cares. They did not do this one at this particular show. I can’t remember which song followed this proclamation.
_______________________Kris and Alan____________________ Alan’s outro to “Safe Upon the Shore” was priceless, and I think it was perhaps a sentiment that has been reflected in the minds of a lot of GBS fans after first hearing the tune: “Grand job with that song, boys [Sean and Murray]. The first time I heard that song, the first thing I thought was 'This is pretty cool… what a beautiful song,’ and then I thought 'JAYSUS, HE'S DEAD!”
I’ll take a moment here to say this: they sort of allude to the fact that the boy in the song is dead when they sing the chorus (“So give a sailor not your heart lest sorrow you do seek… Let true love not be torn apart by favors from the sea”). What I think is interesting is that the chorus is so blatantly fatalistic while verses are full of hope, yet the overall tone of the song never wavers. You feel a strong, hopeful pull right up to the point where it’s actually revealed that the sea has played a cruel trick on the fair maid by returning her lover’s corpse to her. I also love how with very few lyrics and absolutely no music, (Sean and Murray) make you believe that the sea is a living, breathing entity, capable of love, anger, deceit, patience, etc.
Alan congratulated us when the song was over, commenting on how perfectly tight-lipped everyone was (it was one of the few times we all sat down). Sean turned this praise into a dirty joke, and they carried on with the show.
______________Sean and Bob "Safe Upon the Shore"______________
I thought the end of General Taylor was a little tense, vocally. Sean usually belts it out with that strong tenor he has, and it can be unbelievably impressive, but… I don’t know. It felt weak, like he was trying to be loud without using the full strength of his beautiful vocal power. I think Dad and I exchanged a glance at that point, and I’m sure he was thinking the same thing.
There was a woman named Jenny in the audience celebrating her 32nd birthday. Alan and Sean had us all sing to her, then proceeded to sing the song "Jenny" to her. We, of course, sang the phone number part. Alan asked us if we knew any other songs about girls named Jenny. I shouted out, "FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS!!!!", prompting him to turn in my direction. "Flight of the Conchords, eh? They have a song called 'Jenny'? Oh, that's right, they do." He ultimately decided, however, that FotC's "Jenny" didn't fit with the mood he was trying to convey, and they didn't sing it. But how awesome would it be to see Sean and Alan do that song together? I vote that they cover it!
Alan and Sean talked about how they went jogging in a park earlier in the day, where (lo!) they ran into Murray (quite literally, it seems). This prompted Murray to mention how Alan's new, "post-Robin Hood" beardedness tends to frighten small children. Alan and Sean in turn complimented Murray's cleanshaven, "manscaped" face. More bawdiness ensued.
____________________"Manscaped Murray"___________________During The Scolding Wife, Sean changed “caught me by the middle” to “caught me by the coconuts”. Séan is known for changing the lyrics of this line, and I’m sure there have been countless versions of it tailored for countless audiences over the years.
I wasn't keen on the video screen behind the band. They've never used, or needed, one in the past, plus the pictures were kind of grainy and in some cases distracting. When Kris was allowed the luxury of coming out from behind the drum set with the piano accordion, however, he took to wandering about and between the other guys, as is his wont. This time, however, he was dragging an extraordinarily long cable behind him, and thrusting the terminal end of it into everyone’s faces and instruments. Even though there were images being projected on the screen behind the band (which I, in my defense, didn’t notice – as I suggested, I’m not accustomed to GBS shows having screens), it took me forever to realize that he was carrying a scope-like camera around.
___________Kris threatens Sean with his handheld camera__________The people beside me quite loudly (and possibly quite drunkenly) requested “HelmetHead” perhaps every second or third song. I am a stark-raving HalletHead, as everyone is well aware. I would be tickled in every way if I could see Bob sing more than one song in any given show, and although I appreciate their love of The Bob, is it possible that I got a bit annoyed with them? Well, maybe annoyed is the wrong word. When they finally did do HelmetHead Bob had an extra long accordion solo, which tickled me.
_____________________♥AccordionBob!!!!♥ _________________
Alan was amazed and delighted to discover that whenever he shouted the letters “O-H!”, the audience would invariably respond with “I-O!” Evidently he had never been exposed to this particular peculiarity of Ohioans, and took advantage of it several times during the band’s “Ode to Ohio”. At one point he asked us, “Does that work everywhere in Ohio or just here?” I imagine he’ll be filing that information away to use on later tours. I personally was amused by Bob’s reaction to this rabble-rousing – in addition to The Stern Look, Alan received a patented Bob Hallett “WTF!” look. I think Bob’s patience was commendable.
I really can’t bring myself to end a blog without a proper closing (that’s the academic in me, I suppose), but since I didn’t write one when I started the blog three weeks ago, and I don’t feel like writing one now…
I feel like listening to Great Big Sea now. So I’ll go do that. Plus I’ll get to work on some actual academic writing (which is overdue and is the main reason this blog is so late). Wish me luck!
I really can’t bring myself to end a blog without a proper closing (that’s the academic in me, I suppose), but since I didn’t write one when I started the blog three weeks ago, and I don’t feel like writing one now…
I feel like listening to Great Big Sea now. So I’ll go do that. Plus I’ll get to work on some actual academic writing (which is overdue and is the main reason this blog is so late). Wish me luck!
