Lyndahere wrote “There
were two Calgary GBS XX shows, following immediately on the heels of the two
Edmonton shows, all of those shows taking place in the pair of mirror-image
Jubilee Auditoriums - North and South, respectively. All four shows were very
good, which is to say that each of them rose to the consistently high standard
of the XX Tour overall, but, as I said in here in an earlier blog, the first
night in Calgary was the most memorable. And, yes, I was smiling as I typed the
word "memorable".
There are the endless words and photographs of Alan Doyle.
Even the Great Big Sea reviews of concerts have turned into tributes to Alan
Doyle. They are flooded with photos of him only and videos declaring her love
and admiration for him and his music with little reference to other musicians
or music. There were less than 5 photographs of the band and over 30 of Alan
Doyle in two posts. @lyndahere “The best part of each XX show I saw was when Alan
went into his earnest, purely Petty Harbour Boy intro for What Are You At,
talking about how this song led to the TV commercial (which was then shown at
each show, to much amused delight) that was GBS's first Big Break. What I loved
most each night was watching Alan's ever-expressive face as he talked”.
As I have read other reviews of the Edmonton and Calgary
concerts I read nothing of the honest criticisms recorded elsewhere re the
quality of the sound. “Both Jubilees have gorgeous acoustics. It seemed an excellent
opportunity to video the encore song that was growing more powerful each time
out”. But I guess a person wouldn’t
experience the problems with the sound sitting eternally in the first row or
have any empathy with other fans sitting in the crowd. Or she may not be
willing to be honest or as not honed in on the quality of music as one would
expect with her experience.
This combined with her endless bias towards Alan Doyle
undermine her own credibility and professionalism as a reviewer. After spending
years and decades in the front row of hundreds concerts taking photos I would
expect a half decent shot which is not always the case. She seems oblivious to
their body language or perhaps maybe she isn’t and puts up particular photos to
take a little dig rather than the endless declaration of love she possesses in
the accompanying information. Her blog is difficult to load due to large amount
of photographs and videos and difficult to follow.
After all @lyndahere knows what to expect. It is not like she is a first time
bootlegger of this band. It is years and hundreds of shows. Yet as I venture
around the world of bootlegging and the photography of fans I find that is not
the case. Other than a video that seems remarkably clear of any extras such as
the back of someone’s head or shoulder there is not that much difference that
other concert goers. I am still wondering how these videos will improve my
understanding and appreciation of the music.
When I put in a CD to listen to music there are songs I like
more than others and play more than others. I would expect that on Youtube for
any artist or musician. If I look at the hits of the recent Great Big Sea CBC
music videos some songs are more popular than others in the number of hits they
have. However, all of the bootlegged
music put up by @lyndahere in the last couple of months have had approximately
the same number of hits so it makes me wonder if people are watching them or
she is actually spending her free hotel internet creating revenue for herself to
cover the costs of the tour.
The copyright act is clear and people can claim a copyright disclaimer under “Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976,
allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use
permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing”. There
are hundreds of bloggers and reviewers who review concerts without bootlegging
videos.
Finally @lyndahere
don’t beat yourself up over it promising to return to it in the future. “What follows after is in no way meant to be any
sort of comprehensive review or report or recap of these shows; I hope I can
eventually find/make the time to do just that for these and other XX shows,
including all of the photos /videos of everyone who made those shows so
special. But for now, this will be only a partial view of the shows themselves,
with the current focus still on sharing a few of the (multitudinous) magnificent
moments of Alan's past birthday year”. With the number of shows you attend it would be
difficult to distinguish one from the other. If it was special as you state
then you would have written about but what ever was special and our need to
know about it was not as important as your need to put photos of Alan Doyle.
@lyndahere move on as the professionals have it on the record both in writing
and photographs looking at it through fresh eyes even though on the surface the
reviewer from Calgary has had his fair share of booze rather than a large
overdose of infatuation. I was interested in the comments made by the reviewer for
the Edmonton show“For a band that’s seen their platinum records long
behind them, Great Big Sea still come across as a group of friends who get a
kick out of what they do”. Great Big Sea XX went gold within a couple of
weeks.
Review: Great Big Sea brings anniversary
party to Calgary by Mike Bell, Calgary
Herald March 15, 2013
Supping from the sea will only increase your thirst.
You don’t need to be a windburned fisherman to know that particular
truth. You don’t even need to be Maritimer who’s tasted the salt with every one
of your breaths since birth.
You just need to spend some time with those who can conjure the ocean,
can bring the tides to the landlocked with their stories and their songs, raise
the waves with their energy and their ability to entertain, and, more
importantly, make you want to drink.
Good thing, then, that the veteran East Coast Collective were in a
particularly celebratory mood on Thursday night, marking their 20th anniversary
with the first of two shows at the Jubilee Auditorium, generously ladling out
the musical memories from two decades of defying the odds and expectations in
mainstream pop.
They served, we drank, we got drunk on their free pours.
And even two excellent, high-energy sets from the touring five-piece —
built around the core of Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett and Sean McCann — weren’t enough
to slake the thirst of the sold-out soft-seater, turned, for this night, and
presumably the next, into a community hall where everyone was in the mood to
stand, sing and clap along to the songs that have, despite their regional bent,
become part of the collective Canadian consciousness.
(It should be noted and lauded that it was one of the few Jube shows
that nary a complaint was heard when the crowd chose to stand in unison for
most of the concert.)
From the very first strains of Ordinary Day, the party was on, with the
minimalism of the stage show allowing for band and audience to connect on the
most basic and fundamental level: With their enduring charm and their music,
and how much a part of our lives both have become without us even knowing it.
It was all about that, from their lengthy song introductions and
interactions with the audience — particularly entertaining was McCann’s lead-in
to the rather salty shanty The Mermaid and promises of an entire evening’s
tribute to the music of Michael Jackson — to the hits and forgotten which kept
coming unabated, including a raucous reading of Billy Peddle, The Night Pat
Murphy Died, Goin’ Up and What Are You At.
Even when they slowed things down, as with the lovely England, the crowd
sat, but did so rapt, soaking up the music and its unassuming, unpretentious
performance. There were no bells or whistles or foghorns to distract.
In fact, the stage, empty except for a drum riser and microphones, and
the backdrop, a large screen showing two large Xs — to commemorate their 20
years and to nod to their current greatest hits collection XX — and the odd old
photo, album cover and other visuals such as a flickering candle and even a
telecom commercial they filmed in their early days, barely even registered.
What did, though, again, was a show by an act that has an effortless and
easygoing aura.
Perhaps it’s because they’re remarkably familiar with their
surroundings, no matter where they play across this land — something alluded to
by the million mentions of Calgary and the fond reference to their first show
in the city at the Republik, which they lovingly called a “cement block ... a
bunker.”
Or, more likely, they and their audience know exactly what to expect
from one another.
That could also explain the need for an intermission, which allowed
their fans to, as Doyle suggested “refresh” themselves, which many, many did
several times over.
When all parties returned, the energy was indicative of that, with the
second half being even more amped up than the first, and the songs taking the
celebration to the next level, with swigging and swinging versions of The
Scolding Wife, When I’m Up (I Can’t Get Down), Consequence Free, an extra-proof
Mari-Mac and, of course, their trademark Celtic cover of Slade’s Run Runaway
only a taste of the bar service Great Big Sea offered on this intoxicating
night.
Who’s ready for another round?
"Great Big
Sea surge into Edmonton with good-time party music" by Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal March 13, 2013.'
EDMONTON - The band is twenty years old and touring around with a greatest hits collection, but it’s not as though Great Big Sea need an excuse for a party.
That’s already built into the folk-pop and
traditional Celtic fare these Newfoundlanders have been pumping out since 1993.
Good-time music, free of worry, with a tinge of old-world melancholy shimmering
around those sea shanties and East Coast folk songs. As pop savvy as they’ve
been through ten albums, they’ve always maintained a foothold in that world,
and it calls to mind noisy taverns, all-night living room jams, shots of
whisky.
Even a high-class joint like the Jube can’t destroy
the mood when they get down to a stomper like Heart of Hearts or Concerning
Charlie Horse. There’s little propriety to be found in an audience of nearly
2,500, full of Newfoundlanders and fellow travellers clapping away and surging
toward the stage. That’s one of the fine things about Great Big Sea, whether
you like them, hate them or are completely indifferent — they’re
quintessentially Canadian, almost to the point where they don’t make a lot of
sense outside of our borders.
That means a lot mere days after the death of
Stompin’ Tom. You can take issue with the vapidity of radio hits like Ordinary
Day, which they burst onto the stage with, but the band can really lay it down
when it comes to a gorgeous a cappella number like Safe Upon the Shore. England
and The Night Pat Murphy Died were also highlights, and excellent vocal
showcases as well; in comparison The Mermaid suffered from goofy stage interplay
while When I Am King teetered into cheesiness, highlighted by Alan Doyle
hamming it up on the electric guitar.
It’s probably unfair to slam their performance of
The Mermaid for being goofy, since goofiness is part of the band’s charm, at
least when it’s not overdone. The brief apocalyptic fusion of fishing song I’se
the B’y with a Goth/glam radio hit of the ’90s (I won’t reveal which) was
fairly inspired, nicely underlining the story they told of their first gig here
at the old Sidetrack Café. They also played an old Newfoundland television
commercial that featured them performing one of their early “hits,” which was
then presented in full. A nice piece of nostalgia, it’s possible they’ve done
better work since.
Going Up was another harmless folk-pop trifle, the
part of the band that always sounded like they were aiming to be a little
brother to the Barenaked Ladies. This is the sound that got them to where they
were, radio-friendly fluff that sounds fine in the background but can become
tedious when heard too many times. Still, immaculately played; Great Big Sea by
now have developed the kind of telepathy that only a long-term band can, one
that depends as much on personal empathy as musicians’ chops.
Two decades equals two sets for this tour, and they
certainly gave the audience their money’s worth, even in their choice of
covers, which were as enjoyable as they were unexpected. Set two opened with a
version of Pete Townshend’s Let My Love Open the Door, played fairly close to
the original but played with verve. If anything, these guys have the instincts
of a bar band in them, knowing the line between pleasing the audience and
themselves and shamelessly pandering to them. Actually, strike that — there’s
pandering, but it’s done in such a loose-limbed fashion that you can’t take
offence, unlike at many Rexall country shows, where you can feel your soul
leaving your body in response to the patent insincerity.
For a band that’s seen their platinum records long
behind them, Great Big Sea still come across as a group of friends who get a
kick out of what they do. They could probably knock out another When I’m Up (I
Can’t Get Down) or Ordinary Day into the Canadian charts if they put their
minds to it, but somehow they seem at their best when they quiet down and let
the minimum instrumentation and five-part vocals do the work. At least to these
ears, anyway. Maybe they’ll get another twenty years out of it.
