The King of Massey Hall. Yes, ye are.
"Long" is the operative word here: This is a very long post - so long it might open slowly because of all the vids and pics - and it has taken me a long time to get it up here. I considered splitting this into two parts, making for three total, but figured I'd just use that as an excuse to take even longer with the final part, since I seem to be putting off the words in favour of the graphics. The continuing struggle to commingle the proper measures of kindness, love, discretion and honesty. It's always the honesty that's the hardest part, though the discretion can be make for a slippery slope too.
Enough doubt. Up onto, and over, the edge of it all...the rest of your Birthday Year. Accomplishments and advice at the end.
January meant it was time for your Come Out With Me Tour to begin, the first three legs of it. A daunting schedule indeed, in all of its terrible wonderful glory.
By Opening Night at the Triple Door in Seattle (SRO), and a number of Come Out With Me Tour shows were already sold out. The Seattle shows were wonderful. Both of these trends would continue.
As the moonlight advances, I'll just take my chances... (In Seattle,on the Opening Night of the Tour)
In a beautiful (and packed) San Francisco theatre, you live-debuted the song I love best from your new record.
In sold-out Portland, a Song Of Home sung a long, long way from Home.
Sharing the stage with your Robin Hood castmates Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand on an LA Friday night on the Sunset Strip at the legendary Roxy.
Row, me Bully B'ys
Oh, the Face on Ye while now or never-ing in sold-out Phoenix.
A fun show in an Albuquerque steakhouse (a circular Albuquerque steakhouse, no less) - preceded by steak and a salad-bar buffet.
Selections from (also sold-out) Denver gig include the Tour Debut of your"Beautiful To Me" song of inclusion.
A sweet and successful first time in Oklahoma City - what a cool venue!
Rocking a legendary Dallas pub.
Lots of GBS on the set list for the Canadian expatriates on a sold-out -out-to-the-doors (and to the windows - that place was blocked!) night in Austin.
Rocking the house in Houston, final of your Texas Trio of gigs.
The wearily triumphant smile of a fella who has just completed 12 shows - 12 great shows, a goodly number of them sold out, or nearly so - in just 14 days. He would get one day off, then onto the Boat he'd go.
Coming Out With You on the high seas, closing out Tour Leg One with three shows - and a few unofficial appearances - on your very first Rock Boat.
And then you got to go Home. For a little while.
The brief gap between Tour Legs saw the release of a collaboration with Glass Tiger on "My Song" for their 31 album, as well as the premiere of your kindhearted and courageous "Beautiful To Me" video, made in conjunction with The Magic Project. In just a few more weeks, both video and song would become a highlight of your big Canadian gigs.
This was also when you made your the Big Announcement about the launch of A Dollar A Day, a Foundation created to support frontline mental-health and addictions programs, co-founded by you, Brendan Paddick, and Dr. Andrew Furey.
By the time you ventured out on the Second Leg of your Tour, there were already 13 sold-out shows on your Tour Schedule (with many more to come), among them New York City, Chicago, Montreal, both Halifax shows...and Massey Hall in Toronto. Holy shit, Alan. These were such Big Shows, on such Big Stages, and you, your band, an your crew rose to the occasion, rose above and beyond the occasion, with a deadly new set and screen set-up (it took me several shows to know where to look for everyone on stage and to keep track of you ranging all over your stages wielding that awesome cordless mic) and most of all with powerful performances that adapted to all that change with the focus and determination and poise of the consummate professionals you all are.
Sold-out Peterborough, at the Showplace. Last time there was with GBS on the SoNC Tour.
Always a grand time in Kitchener's Centre In The Square, once upon a time with GBS and now with your Beautiful Beautiful Band. I think maybe only a dozen or so seats were left unsold.
The Grand in Kingston, another sold-out gig, and your show more than lived up to the venue name. Sweetest moment was when you invited an appropriately-attired gal in the crowd to sit stage edge with you and sing Take Us Home.
Montreal. You sold out in Montreal. That is almost as impressive as selling out Massey. Almost, but not quite.
"I've seen your face in the lights on the Harbour..."
You not only sold out the most prestigious, influential theatre venue in all of Canada, you put on what I believe to be the best performance I have ever seen from you that night. You conquered Massey, Alan, and you made it your own.
Your face tells the Story. Massey sign looking a bit like a Crown atop your head...foreshadowing.
You were Perfect.
It was one of those kinda nights..
On from Toronto to Ottawa's renowned National Arts Centre, again with only a scant handful of unsold tickets.
One day off (Laundry Day) and then back across the border again. Sold out in Cleveland!
A pair of River Drivers.
Buffalo Rock Star.
Holy Ground, still.
The weather in Ann Arbor might have been frightful, but inside the venerable Ark, all was delightful. This was the first time the Fortunate Ones, whose opening sets all through Tour Legs 2 and 3 were always great to see and hear, joined you for your OD encore.
You had a grand night out in sold-out Chica(r)go.
And played a sweetly intimate gig in equally-sold-out Minneapolis.
I stand by my "Best AD Gig Crowd" opinion of Winnipeg. I love that town and its people nearly as much as you do. Last time I checked the venue web site, about 2 hours before the gig, the only seats still unsold were waaaaay up in the back row of the second balcony.
Saskatoooooon is also much-loved. Of course Saskatoon sold out - the love goes both ways.
You step into the light....
A grand Newfoundland Night out in Regina (curling and music). You danced in Regina, and that made my night, for sure.
I love it when you dance.
The Winspear show was amazing. Best sound in just about any venue I've been in. Definitely the place to film a live DVD.
Calgary was awesome. Hey, it's Calgary - how could it be otherwise?
I very nearly did not make it to the tour-leg-ending Vancouver show (poor showing, Air Canada). If not for some belated good fortune and the help of dear friends, I might have missed the night that was not only closing out this leg of the Tour, but was also - as of 7:30 pm Vancouver time, midnight Newfoundland time - the 25th anniversary of Great Big Sea's first official gig, and, as you eloquently (words and face) explained at the show I am so deeply grateful for having made it to, the anniversaryof your 25th Year of making music for a living.
What a Crew to have all around you - by your side, at your back, in every place you need them to be - in your 25th year of making music for a living. And don't even try to tell me that it's all because you are lucky. This is what you have created, Alan - this is your doing, what you have made happen wit your hard work and your readiness to make the most of every opportunity presented to you by good fortune/luck.
Happy 25th, Dear Petty Harbour Boy.
This is where I was going to break Part Two from Part Three. Nope. Row, me Bully Boys...Onward.
A bit more of a break for you this time, a real vacation, though you still kept up with your usual promoting of newly announced shows and your Dollar A Day Foundation, along with continuing publicity and praise for your friends and peers. It felt like only a few days had gone by before it was time for you to be Always Going Somewhere again, time for final of the three Terrible Wonderful Tour Legs. Preceded by meetings in TO and a private gig in Vegas, of course; not much chance of you starting this last leg by going into the homestretch fully rested.
Rochester: Third Leg, First Night. Off we go.
A sold-out Friday Night in New York City, and you made everyone there sure they'd picked exactly the right thing to do on that brilliant night.
Sold out again in Pawling. (Note the Hall and Oates sign beneath your arm.)
Pawling Rock Star Guitar God, jumping off the stage onto a chair, shredding away out in the crowd.
Yet another one of your triumphant First Times. This seems to be a pattern with you.
Folk Star Bouzouki God. Making folk instruments sexy for 25 years.
Rocking the Rams Head in Annapolis.
Nothing from Richmond because I did not go to that show. I did hear that it was excellent.
Getting by with a little help from your friends in Ithaca, on a night when there was a pile of weather to be under.
You sold out Sellersville, but I missed that one too. I didn't even need to be told how good a show that one was.
I love the stars behind you at Norfolk's Infinity. What an amazing Dream of Home you did that night!
You made a strong, principled, courageous statement in Washington DC, before a politically savvy audience and just a few short blocks from the White House. I was so proud of you.
Northampton, after a much-appreciated day off. Beginning of the second leg of the third leg, as it were.
A powerful night in Fall River at a venue that just keeps on getting better.
You sold out Stone Mountain in Brownfield, Maine. Such a great venue, such a great show - as always on both counts. You gave me much to ponder about industry changes that night, then about how you might best deal with those changes. You always make me ponder, Alan. This is mostly a good thing. No pics or vids from Stone Mountain, but I did keep this.
Sold out in White River. What a show - by turns deep-in-the-tour slap-happy...and then utterly awe-inspiring.
Two nights in Boston, both of them sold out to the doors. What a way to close out the Stateside Come Out With Me Tour shows. Nice to see you share the stage with a dear friend too.
Rock Star
Guitar God
High water and bad weather in Fredericton created transport troubles and a need for equipment scrambles, but you and your crew sorted it out and made it all work wonderfully well. As you do. It was a night for winning hearts.
Filming your video for "Come Out With Me" in Saint John's gorgeous Imperial Theatre.
Ordinary Day with Cat and Andrew.
Having a time in Moncton - fearless little boys (except with fair maidens), birthday celebrations, and a beautiful song for Mom and Dad.
Closing out the Third Leg of the Tour with two sold-out ECMA Big Ticket gigs in Halifax.
Taking what might be the most-deserved, well-earned group bow of all time.
The Halifax gigs may have been the last ones on the official Tour Schedule, but you weren't done yet, not by a long shot. The next day would find you being a charming Host of, as well as a splendidly performing Songwriter in, the ECMA Songwriters' Circle, two sessions thereof.
ECMA Songwriters' Circle (full event) from ECMA TV/Bell Alliant (5/6/2018 link)
An admittedly, unabashedly Alan-centric view of the SC.
Immediately after the SC wrapped, it was directly over to the Marquee for the final scheduled performance of this Tour, a spot on the live broadcast of CBC's Q.
(Video begins at 7+ minutes, for unknown reasons)
Then one final song, one last dance with you and your BBB. Fittingly, it was a shanty.
You left the Marquee for the airport, where you endured a 2-hour delay, but you did make it home. Where you promptly went back onto the Charitable Circuit.
And promptly went back out again, just one more trip before your real break, this time for something very special: It was finally time for the official investiture to the Order Of Canada ceremony, which you shared with several dozen more Canadian luminaries, including ("Holy Shit, it's") Mark Messier.
Always the Face that best tells the Story.
After receiving your Order Of Canada, there you were, always coming home again, this time for a substantial break, nearly 5 weeks of it. Anyone who thinks you'll be spending this time kicking back and taking it easy doesn't know you very well, do they? Not you, not the man who spent the days up to and including his own birthday plugging A Dollar A Day. But you're Home now, and that's what matters.
Welcome Home, Alan. For a little while.
______________________________________________________________________________________
It's impossible to escape the humorous aspect of choosing your Most Significant Accomplishment each Birthday Year: "Well, let's see...there's your excellent Bob-Rock-produced record, your second bestselling book (which contains some of the best writing you have ever made public), your Order of Canada, your charitable foundation, your IGP collaboration, your 100+ gigs during the Birthday Year...which to choose?" I've been doing this Birthday Thing since 2004, I think, and it isn't as if there hasn't been an abundance of options in each ensuing year, though I do believe your pace is quickening, especially post-GBS. I see how hard you work, Alan, and not only in your public endeavours. Some of it at least - I see it more than some do, but less than others, for sure - and what I see fills me with delight, admiration, awe, compassion, and concern. All these things mixed together, though not necessarily in equal measures.
I see a you dancing as fast as you can, and while I love it when you dance (you know how much I love it when you dance), I often find myself thinking (never more so than when I am at this point of another yearlong summary of your accomplishments) that if I had anything of genuine value to give to you, it would be to somehow gift you with A Break, the opportunity to go wherever you choose for however long you choose to do whatever you choose, as whomever you choose. Then it occurs to me that what you might choose is ten straight sold-out nights at Massey Hall, to be crowned King In Perpetuity, which would just give me even more of an abundance of options to choose from come next Birthday Year. Not that I wouldn't give you that too, if I could.
But I can't. All I can offer is an opinion of arguable merit and advice of even more questionable worth. We give what our circumstances permit, and we give it with love. We do the best we can do, and we do it with all of our heart. You're no stranger to this approach.
As awesome as all of your individual accomplishments this year have been (especially the book, but I will write more about that for you later), and as remarkable as the sheer endurance you've shown during this year has been (I did consider that as being your most significant accomplishment, having some inkling of just how crucial it's been to all the resultant successes), what I'm going with is the indisputable fact that this was The Year You Levelled Up, the year that your hard work in this and prior years culminated in a distinct and decisive increase in just about everything: the size and importance of your venues, your growing audience numbers (you sold out close to half the shows on this tour, many of those sell-outs on prime weekend nights in major cities, with at least a dozen more shows a mere handful of seats from joining that tally), and in the scope of the shows themselves, technically and artistically.
It was so much more than just Massey Hall, so many spectacular, sold-out shows where you and your band owned the night, and so many successes across varied fields of endeavours (it barely raises an eyebrow now when you're introduced as a Musician, an Author, a Producer, an Actor, as Newfoundland's Ambassador and Favourite Son, and more), but Massey did embody and exemplify it all - the big stage, the prestigious venue (sold out to the rafters and filled with palpable adoration), the ace band playing impeccably in the full glory of their talent and skill...and you, giving what I believe was your best performance of all the many I have seen. It was perfect, Alan; you were perfect, next-level perfect. You were the King of Massey Hall, the Once and Future King of Massey Hall. And of anywhere else you so desire - you do have an entire new level to claim as your rightful realm.
Advice is rarely easy, giving or receiving. On the giving side of the equation, there's always the concern that the other person won't listen to what we say, or worse, that they won't even see any value in what we have to offer. And advice should never be self-serving, given less for the benefit of the receiver than the giver. Maybe most of all, there's a keen awareness of how foolish it is to try to tell any other person what they already know, especially when giving advice to someone who is fiercely intelligent and relentlessly thoughtful. Advice - genuine and honest advice - requires a courage and a confidence, a faith in both oneself and in the other person, that are all too often in scarce supply.
It's when I get to this point - and I wind up here every year - that I'm sorely tempted to hide behind bullshit (yet still absolutely true) advice such as "Get more rest" or "Take care of yourself" or "Believe that you deserve every good thing you've worked so hard to achieve," or even the slightly risker but still safely vague "Be the kind, generous, decent person I know you can be". Some years, I've capitulated and chosen the bullshit option. Advice is rarely easy.
Probably why I invariably bury it down here at the very end of it all...if you are still here, still reading, then you are choosing to hear what's being said.
Kindness, love, discretion. Honesty.
You are one of the most - if not the most - adaptable and versatile people I have ever known, in terms of your professional life (personal might be a bit more of a challenge...still and always a Bayman at heart, though even the most change-resistant Bayman has to adapt to those things he may have never expected), having diligently developed these traits that have served you exceedingly well in achieving whatever it was your heart most desired. Whether it was GBS or your own band, or being an Actor or a Producer or an Author, you have always willingly done whatever needed to be done and determinedly been whomever you needed to be for the endeavour to succeed. Given the current drastic state of flux in your chosen career industry (each of your chosen career industries), your adaptability and versatility are priceless skills.
All strengths possess an innate potential to be weaknesses, if for no other reason than that the greater the strength, the greater the likelihood this strength will be relied upon in any and all circumstances, including those circumstances in which a different approach could be of greater positive effect, whether that positive effect be measured in terms of success or in terms of happiness, often but not necessarily the same thing. While many, likely most, challenges are best met with a ready willingness to adapt with your characteristic deftly flexible versatility, there will surely be those times when the better answer is a firm stance, an unflinching answer (be that answer "Yea" or "Nay") and a steady hand that holds fast to the course already plotted by both heart and mind.
Not for one minute do I believe you need so much as a whisper of advice whatsoever in determining which circumstances - be they professional or personal, as blurry a distinction as that can at times be - are best adapted to and which are best stood firmly for or against or simply on. You're far too intelligent, too thoughtful, too perceptive not to know such truths. No, my advice to you is to trust yourself in that knowledge and to act on that knowledge. Because that seems the most likely path to get you where you most want to be, to that place where you are the happiest and most content.
Right where you belong.
Happy Birthday, Alan. Now and forever, with much love.
