"Weak In The Knees For You" Part Two - GBS Plays A Show With Anne Murray And Nelly Furtado For Gilda's Club, & Trying Not To Regret "This Damned Decision"

Great Big Sea played a really cool gig this past Monday evening: the Sixth Annual It's Always Something fundraiser for Gilda's Club, singing a few tunes during a star-studded variety show that also included such luminaries as Anne Murray, Nelly Furtado, Eric McCormack, and Russell Peters. It was an important show for an excellent cause, and it took place on a day I was in Toronto (on the slightly-bleary Day After the festivities of Grey Cup Weekend) at a theatre that was less than two blocks from my hotel.

In spite of such seemingly fortuitous convenience, I was not present at this show, for reasons I'll get into in a bit. For now, it's far more interesting and important to get a glimpse of the ones who were there, since - in direct oppostiion to The Way It's Done in the World of GBS Fandom (maybe in most fandom worlds) - it really isn't All About Me. This is All About GBS; that is, what matters the most is all about them.

When I made the "damned decision" not to go, I was left fervently hoping that somebody would write about and/or take photographs of the show, thinking there was a good chance of at the very least getting the latter, given the magnitude of star-power that would be taking the Elgin stage. The following are pro photos, all of them from the WireImage site and taken by George Pimental.

These are, I do believe, two shots of GBS performing River Driver.

And these four photos are almost certainly from an off-mic, stage-edge Old Brown's Daughter, complete with a lovely view of a gorgeously bearded Alan. I was so glad the beard made it to this show; here's hoping it is still around to admire at the Delta Christmas show.

Then a group number - unless Alan or someone else writes about the show, there's no way to tell what song these are from, though Snowbird might be a decent guess - led by Anne Murray and including, among others, a currently-blonde Nelly Furtado directly to the right of a still-gorgeously-bearded Alan Doyle.

This might possibly have been Alan's favourite moment of the evening; it's sure the moment I most regret not having been there to see in the flesh.

There are more photos of this show to be found by following the WireImage link above, and if you opt for a paid membership to WireImage (I've gone with the free option), you can get higher-quality versions of each photo.

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Now for the less interesting and not-so important; now for an explanation of my Damned Decision.

I really wanted to go to this show, even when I was thinking in terms of it being a matter of GBS performing only one or two songs. When I let myself think about the possibility of what I enjoy most of all at any show occurring - seeing the delight Alan always shows when he finds himself on stage alongside the best and brightest of his peers - skipping this show was not at all an easy decision to make and an even harder decision to stick with. Even after arriving at the airport Monday morning, I was still arguing with myself about leaving or staying. And as my plane left the ground, I may have felt like I'd chosen the right option, but I was still not a bit happy about that choice.

As originally planned, Grey Cup Weekend wrapped up on Monday, with early-morning flights home for all. Weeks after making those plans, I found out about GBS's taking part in the Gilda's Club fundraiser and was considering staying the extra day in TO to attend the show, even though hotel room, airline-ticket changes. and show ticket were going to inflict some serious damage. Then the word came out about the Great Big Christmas Show next month, and that was what created the necessity for the making of a Damned Decision.

Yes, it was possible to go to both the fundraiser and the GB Christmas sbow, possible and very desirable. But there was no way in hell even I could call going to the Grey Cup show, the fundraiser, and the Christmas show any kind of attempt at Middle Ground - particularly in light of that seriously damaging price tag for the fundraiser - even by my own admittedly idiosyncratic definition of what comprises Middle Ground.

I don't like having to make choices, but sometimes no matter what you do, you're making a choice. Try as I might, there was no escaping the realisation that if I went ahead and did all of what I really wanted to do, I would be choosing to shrug off a promise I made to someone who matters a great  deal to me. I promised an honest attempt at Middle Ground, albeit my own version of such.  Doing what I really wanted to do was not going to be what I had promised to this important person.

So I made my decision: I did what I said I would try to do and I obediently, if still reluctantly, boarded my flight as scheduled. This means that by my own choice I missed out on being there to see how delighted Alan was to find himself on stage with Anne Murray and Nelly Furtado, a sight that surely would have delighted me nearly as much in turn. That's hard to handle, really frigging hard to handle, an entirely different kind of seriously damaging price tag. But I suppose that if it were something easy to give up for the sake of someone special, the surrender wouldn't mean a great deal. Maybe the giving-up has to be hard and costly for it to matter much at all.

But what matters the most is still going to be what took place on the Elgin Theatre stage, during what looks to have been grand time for them all and what has to have been an especially wonderful moment for Alan, and there's much gratitude to be felt for the existence of these photos. Separate from difficulty with damned-decision acceptance, I have no trouble at all being glad for everything that was good for them last night. I do wish I could find a way to feel a bit more glad about having chosen to do what I did; maybe that will come in time. Maybe too I'll wind up with more assurance that it really was the "right" thing to do. I hope it was, but this road is dark and bumpy and sometimes it is very difficult to find the proper path that leads toward Middle Ground.

All I know for sure in the here and now is that right or wrong, my choice was based on a sincere desire to give someone I care about a small measure of what I said I would give, what I was told is wanted and needed. That's going to have to be good enough for now, that and the beautiful smiles to be seen on these photos. Though I am still hoping very much that Alan will see fit to write about this show. I would really like to know what that group song was, and even more, I would love to read how he writes the delight I was not there to witness firsthand. He gives such delight when writing about what delights him.

I should be back soon with more photos (and videos) of the Lovely Bearded Lion King and the Grey Cup show, that and doing some comment catch-up when I get a bit more time, which is in decidedly short supply at the moment. I just wanted to get this up as soon as I could because I think it was something that was really cool for them, and I will always believe that "really cool" should be shared as much as possible, especially when I've not a bit of doubt that this particular "really cool" put Alan right over the moon.

Comments

[Christina]

Hope they had fun doing that- it certainly looks like they did.

And with the beard, the jacket and the scarf, Alan looks like a university professor. An incredibly hot university professor that I would have been completely distracted by during his lectures, but for whom I would have crammed like mad both to impress him and to cover my daydreaming in his class. :-) (I did exactly that in an undergraduate biochemistry class, and for exactly that reason. Turned out to be one of my best grades that year.)

[AJ]

I like Alan's new look a lot. I can't say the same for Nellie though. Sheesh! I hope Alan writes about the Grey Cup weekend too.

Off topic, you were right about those who hate their lives obsessing on other people to keep from facing up to themselves. Too bad they can't limit their obsessions to each other and leave the rest of us alone.

Hey maybe Sean will grow a beard and Bob too. They can be the East Coast ZZ Top! :-D

[Kath]

I hope you got full credit for sticking to your flight plan when you got home. LOL! This looks like a big deal for GBS. Good on them but how come nobody is mentioning it anywhere? It wasn't even on their tour schedule.

What did you think of Emerson Palmer? My partner really likes them but I cant see the attraction.

Happy Holidays!

Katherine

[Kris]

With his new look, Alan could play the lead in "Jesus Christ Superstar" - put him in a robe and sandals, and you're good to go! Touch me, touch me Jesus, indeed!

[lynda]

Hello, Kris. Yes, Alan does look more than a bit Biblical at times now. In some of the photos, especially the ones where he is emphatically raising a fist or shaking a finger, he looks downright Prophetic. He's got all the command and demand and the presence of some Old Testament King, and it looks wonderful on him. Next time he calls out for a "Hallelujah" or an "Amen," I bet he gets just what he's asking for, with alacrity and enthusiasm.

Katherine, happy holiday wishes to you and yours too. I operate on the Brownie Point system, accumulating and expending, usually more of the latter than the former. I hope I accumulated a decent amount of those points by sticking to the original schedule and skipping this show, because I still wish I had stayed and seen it. But I will be needing those points for future expenditure, I am sure. And there will definitely be more wonderful things to see in days to come.

I'm not sure why no one wants to talk about this show. You're right, it is a big deal - that's pretty good company GBS was on stage with, and the cause is such a good one that I wish more knew about their taking part in it. It goes very well with their own support of Daffodil Place too.

I think a sole person each posted on a couple of message boards about this, but I don't think anyone even responded, which does seem kind of weird. Maybe no one is paying attention partly because few if any of the online group went to this show. Tickets were expensive and notice was short. The more people who go to any one show, the more that show gets talked about - plans before, then recaps and reviews, photos, etc.

Still, no talk at all seems extreme, especially with photos of Alan on stage with Nelly Furtado and Anne Murray. It's not like the WireImage photos are hard to find online, so even those who want to pretend they never read here could claim to have found them independently.

One reason for the silence could also be because GBS themselves never said a word about this; maybe that makes some fans reluctant to talk about it. When in doubt, be silent...that could be a GBS World motto these days. Or epitaph.

It makes perfect sense to me why they didn't say anything. If they did know early on they were doing this - a big "if" - and if they announced it, that little theatre might have been filled with GBS fans, the same people who don't pay a lot of attention to the other acts on the bill. Not a great formula for an audience at a variety-show fundraiser. And those who couldn't afford the tickets would have just bitched to high heaven. Anyway, tooting your own horn publicly about performing for a charity gig is kind of awkward in general; that's only acceptable if there's a need to sell tickets and that wasn't the case with this show.

Whatever GBS's reason was for not putting this up on their web site, I know that Alan Doyle wants it known that he was on stage performing with Anne Murray and Nelly Furtado. Not a bit of doubt in my mind about that, and rightly so that it be known. I just wish I could have seen it with my own eyes.

When we saw the mass evacuation of GBS fans at the end of their Grey Cup set, we were resolved to stick around for Emerson Drive, but then a pack of rather perturbing, totally shitfaced large young men moved in right behind us. They were clearly going to raise hell and, frankly, they scared me. They scared all three of us. So we made a strategic retreat to the pub. I still feel bad about that too. Next chance I get, for sure I am going to see Emerson Drive. I have guilt to relieve.

AJ, is somebody giving you trouble? If so, I'm really sorry to hear that. If you want to go into more detail privately, you can always do that, you know, here or in my email. If it's an offline problem, I hope you find a way to resolve it to your satisfaction. If it's online, my best (unsolicited) advice to you is to ignore the person. The ones who obsess and harass online thrive on getting a response; it's best to simply stop paying any attention and leave them alone with their own nastiness. Lessons learned the hard way. I hope things get better for you.

I can see Bob with a beard. Can't say I like the mental image, but I can see it. Not Sean - though I can see him with really long hair, tied back in a ponytail.

Nelly isn't the best of blondes, is she? But she sure looks good in that dress. I wonder if Alan even noticed the blonde hair, but I am sure he noticed the dress.

Oh, I so wish Alan would write about the weekend. I doubt he will though, which is such a shame. He needs to keep his wee laptop happy by writing on it. He sure would make all of his devoted readers happy too.

I had two professors like that, Christina, one for Philosophy in undergrad and the other for Literary Criticism in grad school. I got very good grades too, and then some, from Dr. Lit Crit. Damn he was hot, in my eyes at least. But not as hot as Alan, with or without beard. He did have some great stubble though.

[C.J.]

Hi Lynda. Don't worry, I'll play nice. It still doesn't add up, no one talking about the Gilda show. I don't have theories of my own beyond GBS fans are nuts and I think they're sulking because of too many shows they can't go to. You're silly for not going to this show if you could. Carpe diem, baby.

I'm not sure yet about the beard. I like Alan's face and now I can't see part of it. It makes him look forceful though and artistic too. He looks like he's about to growl. I think I like it, it just takes some getting used to.

I'm still being good BUT.........have you seen Bob's new facebook page? Now he has FANS instead of friends. Tonnes of them!! LOLOL!!

Happy Christmas! I'm going to Cuba!

Carole

[Lynda]

Hello, Carole. Nice to hear from you, nice to be able to put your comment up too. I hope you have a wonderful holiday in Cuba; I really do envy Canadians for being able to travel there. One of these days I hope this country ceases and desists from the idiocy about that country.

Forceful, artistic, growling Alan sounds absolutely delightful to me - he really would sound delightful growling, wouldn't he? He's looking absolutely delightful to me too. It took me maybe two seconds to get used to him this way, the two seconds where I nearly fell off my stool when he walked out onto the stage for sound check. After that, it was all very, very good.

I've been working on photos off and on the past few days, and what I started out liking a whole lot is looking even better to me as I go along. And I've discovered that the closer the view, the more gorgeous the view.

I really do like that idea of growling. He's a proper Lion King now with that full mane, and growling is eminently suitable for him. I think I'll steal his "Sexy, sexy, sexy!" and give it right back to him.

Yes and no about shows. Sure some shows have been or will be difficult to get to for various reasons - Europe, expensive Vancouver casino shows, Great Big Christmas - but others have been easy enough for many to make it to in the past months.

There were the Spring Tour shows in the States, then festival shows in the Canadian West (and US, in Seattle) then more shows in the US Northeast this fall. The Grey Cup show in TO was wide open, and really so was the fundraiser, though tickets were costly.

And while the cruise is indeed expensive, they are practically putting themselves at the mercy of God knows who or what for nearly a week. That should be enough to satisfy some of the hungriest ones, at least the ones who can afford to be there; I guess it's the less well-off ones, the ones who can't or won't travel at all to see shows, who are suffering the most.

There really are some areas that have gone quite some time without shows, even nearby ones (the Southwestern US comes to mind), but with a big tour coming up next year to promote the new CD, you'd think that would be good enough to at least prevent too much sourness. I keep thinking about David's having to wait 10 years to see Peter Gabriel again; if ever a fan were going to get sullen, you'd think 10 years of waiting would do it. But not the Gabriel fans; they were just thrilled when their wait came to its end. Different worlds, I suppose.

I still regret skipping the fundraiser, but it was probably the best thing to do. Even if not, still, it was done with the intention to give something to someone I care about. Though we all know what road is paved with good intentions.

My Facebook tolerance is about 10 minutes per session. I know some folks get a lot of enjoyment out of it and I'm sure it serves a functional purpose of some sort for others, but the unrelenting banality that runs rampant on the site gives me a splitting headache after about nine and a half minutes. I didn't have all that much patience with high school back when I was actually in high school.

I created a Facebook account for the express purpose of being able to see a friend's videos there, though I have to admit it has also come in handy several times with people who needed to get in touch with me and did not have my email address or blog url. So I'll have to acknowledge some functional purpose for myself too. Along with the unrelenting banality and resultant headaches.

I checked out Bob's "fan" page. I didn't know you could have "fans" on Facebook. I thought it was supposed to be all about collecting "friends". Interesting - there's an intriguing history of the fans vs. friends terminology with GBS. I wonder if this is his "once more into the breach"; if so, it doesn't seem like all that much of an Agincourt for the winning. I doubt he's going to find much intelligent conversation on Facebook, either, more's the pity. But he could get lots of food thrown at him.

That photo of himself he put up is even more interesting. It speaks volumes, though I have to wonder if any of his "fans" are listening.

I hope you and the family have a wonderful Christmas, Carole. It really is nice to hear from you.