The last blog was getting a bit long and there are still quite a few Winnipeg photos to add in, so I decided to start a brand new one. A choice that goes perfectly with The Next Chapter.
Alan, arms wide open, ready to reach for and to grasp "More". What a heaven's truly for.
Great Big Sea's Winnipeg shows have been among the best of all their shows I've seen, especially the MTS Centre gigs. Always a great show, always for a great crowd, the kind of crowd that's glad for anything and everything the band has to offer - The Hits, the Old Standards, the Brand-New Tunes, the Newfoundland Folk and the Rink Rock. Chances are good that they'd pass the Buying Time test too. As the band has grown, their Winnipeg crowd has come right along with them, accepting and embracing, singing along with and cheering for and applauding Today's Music as much as they do Yesterday's...as much as they will Tomorrow's.
The last MTS gig (October 2010) was characteristically spectacular. The sound was a bit rough, as to be expected for a rink gig, but the lighting was blissful (Note to GBS: If you could find a way to have this level of lighting skill at all of your shows, the payoff would justify the money/effort expended. Trust me.) The crowd was as delightful as always, and the band rose once again to the occasion. Alan always blazes at the Rink Rock shows; on this night, he was dazzling. He was irresistible and irrefuseable. He was wonderful.
After the show, I was in the venue's restaurant, chatting with a local couple sitting across from me while waiting for someone to join me. They'd seen GBS before, at that same venue before, but this show was, they both agreed, the best they'd ever seen. Not just the best GBS show ever, but the Best Show Ever. The fellow kept saying "It was fucking amazing!" over and over again. His lady was considerably more articulate; she said it was the show she'd been waiting for all of her life.
They knew I'd seen a pile of GBS shows - though likely not the full measure of that pile - and she asked me out of all the shows I'd seen which show had made me feel that same way, like I had just seen what I'd been waiting for my all of my life.
I answered her without a moment's hesitation. I told her I was still waiting.
I am still wating. But not for much longer.
I am so excited about Alan's solo music - his albums and his shows - that it's really hard (in the good way) to stay calm enough and sit still long enough to write about it thoughtfully.
I have immense respect for what GBS has accomplished over nearly twenty years, learning how to go about being the best at what they do, becoming more than most anyone expected they could be and being the best at that. Then becoming more than most anyone expected yet again.
They've been smart, they've worked hard, and anyone who doesn't believe that along the way they've contended with and triumphed over a shitload of cultural predjudice and stereotyping is either ill-informed or less than honest.
I respect Sean for how he's gone about striking out on his own solo path, especially how much time and energy he's invested (though I still think 13 shows in 13 days was a bit cracked) in touring his music. I admire the determination he's shown in putting together a new band, comprised not of his closest buddies or his most fun friends but instead of the best and most suitable players of his music.
Most of all I admire Sean's courage in stepping away from much of the familarity of the GBS World, steps necessary not only for his solo music to come alive and reach its full potential, but also for himself to be free to establish and develop his own Solo Artist identity, something far less likely to happen while he was still surrounded by those whose long and close contact with him in the Great Big Sea context would cause them to expect his actions to remain consistent even when he steps beyond that context. Once a Great Big Seaman...
It was a wise choice, though a completely clean break with the GBS World might have been an even better choice for the flourishing of both solo music and solo artist, an even better choice for persuading those in attendance at his solo shows that this new music has a uniquely separate life and a distinct reality all its own. As does its Creator.
It's damnably difficult to do Something New, to become Something More, while still in the midst of those who know what you'll say, what you'll do, what you'll think, what you'll create in most any given instance that occurs when you're with them. It's also the scariest time of all to be venturing out on your own away from the security of established patterns and the safety of old acquaintances - which is why I so admire the bravery required to do just that. It reminds me of an earlier act of courage, of the time when four terrified but ambitious boys set sail into The Unknown, pitching and heaving their way across the Cabot Strait on the ferry to Nova Scotia.
And now it's Alan's turn, finally. His own album, the very first of all that are yet to come; his own shows, as many as he can possibly squeeze into the schedule. His own set list and his own performance dynamic, both of his own choosing. His own crowds, who will come to accept and embrace, to sing along with and to cheer and to applaud, to be glad and grateful for, the deep wealth and the rich variety of songs he will offer to them. His own band, performing his own music.
His own music: Three absolutely and unapologetically perfect little words. As much as I've enjoyed, respected, admired and supported all that's gone before, this is what I've been waiting for. This is my Wonderful.
It will be wonderful for so many others too, but what really matters, the true point and purpose of it all, is how wonderful it's going to be for Alan - new music, new growth, new challenges and new triumphs. A new chapter: a new opportunity to be his best, to become more than most anyone expected.
To play the shows he's been waiting for all of his life.
I love those three little words.
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The rest of the Winnipeg photos:
Alan's Helmethead-introducing "Congratulations" to the US Olympic Hockey Team (You're Number Two, You're Number Two!)
Wonderful. Absolutely and unapologetically so.
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