"The Dreams Are All The Same" Part Three - The Shantyman & The Songwriter, Music Of First Choice & GBS Grey Cup Show Photos & Videos

All done now.

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Beauty has its own double-edged blade.

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The first time I saw Great Big Sea live, I went to that show not all sure what to expect. Six months had passed since Alan had caught my full attention with his songs on the CBC Songwriters' Circle television broadcast, and during those months I had discovered that there were no "Alan Doyle" CDs to be found anywhere at all (a truly unfortunate circumstance which is still awaiting a much-needed correction), and that the only recorded GBS music available in my area - and precious little of it at that - was to be found at the library. I'd listened to Lukaloney off Fire In The Kitchen, and had been less than thrilled; it was very good for what it was, but it was not the songs I had heard on that CBC program. Those songs were my music of first choice, and this was not.

Then we found the local library's sole copy of Rant & Roar, and I handed it off to David to listen to in the car because, frankly, I was reluctant to listen to it, afraid that it would be full of more songs that were not at all like those four songs of Alan's that had so impressed me. So I let someone who knows very well what kind of music I choose first "pre-listen" to the R&R CD for me, and I waited to see what he thought about it all.

He loved it, all of it. He went on and on about the REM cover that turned the prententious tune upside down and inside out on itself and also about another cover by some other band (we'd never heard of Oysterband at that time) that had interesting lyrics, all of which sounded promising,; it sounded even more promising when he said there were several original tunes on R&R by "that new songwriter guy you like so much" that he was sure I was going to love (he was quite right about that) and an original by another songwriter in the band that he was sure I'd like too (right again). He told me there was lots of accordion on the CD, knowing how much I've always liked that instrument. He was working quite hard to sell me on the CD, which told me for sure there was also something on the CD he was pretty sure I wasn't going to like all that much.

So what's there that I won't like?, I asked him outright. He hemmed and hawed a bit and then said he wasn't sure because the music was so different from much of anything else either of us had heard. He came out with descriptions of a couple of "Irish-sounding drinking songs" that told funny stories and what he called "a really cool a cappella tune about burying some guy who sounds like he'd been an asshole" and then a song about some fellow who has to marry a girl he fooled around with and who might have been doing the same with the girl's mother. Oh yeah, a  folk song about some guy with a green boat and a dead wife. He was pretty sure I'd like that one. By now he was very keen to go see this band live.

By now I'd also discovered the GBS website, as well as the GBS message board. This was my first time bothering with a fan board, and while I wasn't particularly impressed with what read like the bickering and posturing of a pack of self-absorbed adolescents, one fundamental message I was able to discern from the fans posting there was how powerful and impressive this band was live. I really, really wanted to like GBS - most of all, I wanted for there to be much more of those same wonderful songs from "that new songwriter guy I liked so much" -  so I decided to wait before listening to any more of their music, to wait and hear it done live, the way most people were saying was the best way to hear it for the first time. Which was at the Bumbershoot show.

In the long run, it was a smart decision. There were some songs they did at that show - Fast As I Can in particular...Goin' Up, Boston, Feel It Turn, and Sea Of No Cares too (as highly as I have come to think of some of the trad songs, it has always been and will always be Great Big Sea's original tunes that I love best of all) - that I would have loved anywhere I heard them for the first time, no differences at all between live or recorded. And I did hear two of the four songs that had first caught my attention on television performed live at Bumbershoot too, though it would be a very long wait before hearing the other two again. And I fell in love with Lukey right on the spot, at th exact moment I first realised what was actually going on in the song that was being sung so sweetly by that new songwriter guy I liked so much. But for some of the other songs - the ones that were furthest removed from the kind of music I most often chose to listen to - having the first time be live was a good call because they are songs which derive so much of their life and energy from that live performance.

I think if I had heard Paddy Murphy for the first time on CD or on the radio, I'd have thought it a clever and amusing tune that was not particularly suited to my own personal musical tastes; seeing and hearing it instead for the first time live - and now that I think about it, nearly every time I have ever seen/heard this song (which is quite a few times), it has been live - gave me a chance to "meet" the song in its most natural (and powerful) form, a bit like when you first meet a person while that person is doing something he or she is really good and and confident about doing...you are seeing them for the first time at their very best. I have a distinct and lasting memory of watching Sean grinning at the crowd while people sang along to Paddy Murphy and thinking that while this was not what I usually thought of as "my music," it certainly had a lot going for it.

The fellow who was next to us at the Bumbershoot show had been going on and on about how much he wanted them to do General Taylor, which was, David explained to me, the a cappella song he'd told me about. You're going to love it, the fellow kept telling me. When Sean began to sing GT, the hush began with that tightly packed little clump of fans right up at the edge of the stage and it gradually swept back through the larger crowd like a tide, an awed hush that passed over and beyond us as their combined voices soared up into a star-filled Seattle summer night. I did love it - what I loved was that feeling of awe in the crowd all around me, the sudden intake of breath and the subesquent hush; to this day, even with as many times as I have seen GT done live, being in the midst of the awestruck response that spreads steadily through a crowd, feeling the power of the song and its performance moving inexorably through that crowd, hearing Sean and the rest of them perform General Taylor for the first time is still a thrill.

But the number of times I have seen General Taylor (or Paddy Murphy, or Lukey, or so many others) performed isn't even a blip on the screen compared to how many times he and they have performed it. Not too long ago, a local fellow was telling me about how he saw Sean McCann singing General Taylor at the Sundance back when Sean was barely out of high school, and it made me wonder just how many thousands of times he's performed that song for how many thousands of audiences. Since the majority of GBS's trad tunes - in particular the trad tunes that are most likely to be expected, at times even demanded, by GBS's audiences - are performed by Sean, I wonder sometimes if he's getting the chance to perform the songs he most wants to perform. I hope so. Sean has so many of his own original tunes that are so good - songs I really miss hearing him do or would love to hear him do (such as Widow In The Window and Love and Something To It and My Apology and Somedays and of course Summer, and I am never going to forget the sole and single time I got to hear him do Marguarita), probably even more tunes that have never had their public chance yet, much the same as is true for Alan. I hope he gets to be as much of the Songwriter as the Shantyman as he prefers, in whatever measures suit him best.

What Sean does is done so well - and in the following batch of photos it can be seen just how well he once again did with his customary turns at Paddy Murphy and General Taylor - that it makes me hope all the more that he has the same chance I am always hoping that Alan gets: The chance to do exactly and all of the things he wants the most to be doing. If he is doing that - if they are all doing that - then beyond a bit of doubt, I will be listening the music of my first choice.

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An excellent and expressive Paddy Murphy by Sean.

There are times Sean's expressions fascinate me, a whole story told in a heartbeat with one fleeting glance. Here, I wish I knew just who was on the receiving end of this look, and what it is that person was doing at this particular moment.

Murray watching his hands almost as closely as I was.

A view so gorgeous that I could not choose between the two edit options. Twice is better than once; if I had a third edit option, that would be here too...because three times is better than twice.  And so on. This photo is one of several from this show that would have made spectacular Sheilagh O'Leary-style pictures, minus the pesky, interfering garments, of course.

There is so much that is right (and lovely) in this photo - the final "...Died!" at the end of Paddy Murphy - that it seems a shame to waste any more time at all with words when that time could be better spent admiring. Although I could  once again whisper with quiet insistence, "Sheilagh O'Leary."

Next up was a sizzling When I Am King, which got quite the crowd singalong too. Alan played his lead solo right into the camera for the big screens on either side of the stage; I could only manage a few peeks while still trying to hold my own camera steady, but what I saw looked marvellous.

When I Am King, Alan Doyle/Great Big Sea, Grey Cup Festival Show, Nov. 2007     (145 MB)

Many thanks to Lisa for lett ing me use these three WIAK photos she took, since my hands were full with the video,

Yet another Sheilagh-style candidate, this one perhaps for that Newfoundland Electric Lead-Guitarists Calendar.

Two versions of that delightfully brassy Penelope, from pretty much the same viewpoint (Patrick Boyle was behind Alan's mic for both of us, unfortunately). But it was all so cute and so much fun, it's worth multiple videos.

Penelope, Great Big Sea & Pat Boyle, Grey Cup Festival Show, Nov. 2007     (150 MB)

Penelope Again (Lisa's version), Great Big Sea & Pat Boyle, Grey Cup Festival Show, Nov. 2007    (335 MB)

And a few video frames (not photo quality, of course) from my Penelope video for those who can't/don't download for the full effect.

As much as I did miss Alan's usual Penelope lead solos, I thought it was so sweet the way he backed all the way off and left centre stage all to Pat. Though I am still hoping they do it again, the next time as a trumpet/electric guitar lead duet.

Alan has so many lovable faces, ranging all across the wide expanse of his infinite variety of expressiveness; his "This is fun!" face is one of his sweetest.

While Alan is singing away, Pat's tossing a ball back into the crowd.

Pat looks like he's having a good laugh with the crowd, but now that Alan's got his Adorably Cute Rock Star Guitar Lip going, I wasn't really noticing much else besides that pouty lip.  

All of the rest of these are from what was a remarkable General Taylor, one that was large enough to fill that cavern of a room and command the attention of those thousands of people. It was a General Taylor  that both hushed the crowd during the verses and also one that marked the final end of the embattled VIP-area floor, as people in the crowd began to stomp their feet in time as they sang along on the choruses.

I love getting shots of Sean and Alan side by side during General Taylor: Alan is such a perfectly ambivalent picture of taking genuine pleasure in Sean's spotlight time while still finagling to get a bit of that same spotlight back on himself, all of which Sean is, of course, completely aware of. Watching these two longtime, perpetually competitve, dear friends dance this familiar dance is something I take genuine pleasure in. Sometimes, when the light is just right and my imagination is in a wandering mood, I can see the two of them years from now, dancing these same steps together, and that mental image never fails to  put both a lump in my throat and a smile on my face.

Slightly blurry with this one, but Sean's cocksure stance makes this a keeper anyway.

Sean offering his mic to the crowd for the GT chorus.

I've been sitting here for 5 minutes trying to come up with a proper caption for this photo, but every time I give it another look, all my brain seems capable of coming up with is My God, he's gorgeous. It's either sit here all night looking - not the worst of all possible alternatives for how to spend an evening - or simply let go with what comes naturally...My God, he's gorgeous.

Captioning this one is as easy as it comes: There are times when a man is his own spotlight, times when he commands his own attention. The crowd all around me is singing with beauty and power; I am looking up with admiration at beauty and power.

In one gracefully flamboyant gesture, Sean calls for more from the crowd, and he receives it.

Here Alan leans out over the stage as he listens to the crowd singing.  Just a bit closer and I don't think I could have possibly managed to resist the overwhelming urge to reach up and give that gorgeous beard a gently approving tug.

Finishing up with two men who are each putting on a superb performance, during this song and during the rest of the evening.

I'd like to be able to say I know what comes next, but I really am not at all sure. The Great Big Christmas Show is tomorrow night, so maybe a  video clip or two from that, especially if they wind up doing something special for Christmas. I know some people are hoping they might go with the Mummers Song this year, which would certainly be cool, as would a reprise of Seven Joys Of Mary or perhaps some other Christmas tunes. As for me, I'll keep right on hoping for Where I Belong, however long I have to hope. I waited a very long time before I heard Walk On The Moon a second time; I will wait as long as need be for a second date with another great Alan Doyle song.

Though with how egregiously shitty the weather is today, perhaps the song of greatest hope that could be done would be for Sean to come out and sing a defiant version of Summer.

Comments

[Laura]

Thank you thank you thank you thank you!! :D These are so good they're worth the looonng wait. You're going to write about Seannie too? Oh boy, more waiting. :P

I do like the Alan pic you said I would. You'd like a whole Naked Alan Calendar wouldn't you? One for every month of the year. :D

Muchas gracias for the late present!

[Michael]

Hope Your Holiday was good!

Chris Trapper has a new Holiday CD out... interesting originals as always from him...

January is looking like a shut down for me... I still want to make Florida, and am hoping to hit NYC on the 13th, but again doubtful with the job situation (no more overtime :( )

As usual I hope everything is going well on your end... I miss you and David and Jennifer and hope to see you all soon!

[Honey]

As the memories and images from the last double shows in Halifax slowly leave my memory; not something I want to happen; but time does pass. I try to remember the facial expressions of Sean. Yes, I was mostly watching him, except for those times when I got carried away singing and was almost in a world of my own. I would come to and realize just where I was; it was one of these times that I remember Sean watching me sing along.. well he could have been watching just about anyone over my shoulder ;) Maybe not as intently as I had been watching him. Well, I thought it was just beautiful. Another of my favorite expressions from Sean, and most definately the one most etched in my memory is from Lukey; the first song we stood up to dance to; was the look of appreciation from Sean's face that we had gotten up to dance. That expression was priceless and was well appreciated from me.

[lynda]

Laura, no more waiting since it's all done and up now. I am sorry for that wait and glad you like what you're seeing.

Actually, if I could choose, I think I'd rather a Naked Alan desk calendar - 365 days of the year with a very beautiful man. There could even be mulitple pages on weekends; I would not mind that one bit.

Hello, Mike. Yes, a good if busy holiday. I hope yours was good too, as well as less busy. I'd love to hear Chris's new CD. I am still hoping to work out seeing him somewhere come this spring. It's been way too long.

I really hope January works out for you how you want it to. I'd love to see you again too; I know David and Jennifer would like the same. You were such a sweetheart keeping me from wandering off and getting lost in NYC last time. I'm still just a little intimidated by that city, one of the few that I feel that way about.

Honey, thank you for this. You expressed it all beautifully; I love hearing from the people who read the story on Sean's face with the same interest and attention I always have for the story on Alan's. I really hope you get a chance to go to a show soon and have a chance to store up a fresh supply of sweet memories.