Alan Doyle from Petty Harbour at the Danforth Music Hall

I really enjoyed this review of the Alan Doyle’s solo performance at the Danforth Music Hall from the Toronto Sun. The Danforth Music Hall has been the site of many brilliant Great Big Sea concerts over the years including the first concert of Great Big Sea XX.

I loved this concert as Alan Doyle has clearly come into his own as his plays more and more of his own music from Boy on Bridge and his latest album So Let’s Go.

A Music Blog, Yea? Concerts Photos: Alan Doyle @ The Danforth Music Hall – Toronto (February 5 2015) has some amazing black and white photographs by Angleo Archini of Alan Doyle and the band.

Solo Alan Doyle concert has a lot to offer by Jane Stevenson7 February 2015 Toronto Sun

In his mind, the sometime co-lead singer of Canadian folk rockers Great Big Sea, is still “Alan Doyle from Petty Harbour” despite a successful 20 year GBS career and now rising solo stardom. 

And always will be I think.

So when the 45-year-old Doyle was in front of a sold-out crowd at the Danforth Music hall on Friday night, in support of his just released second solo album, So Let’s Go, you could tell there were times when his mind was being blown.

Like when Blue rodeo co-lead singer Jim Cuddy walked onstage to sing and harmonize sweetly with him on Northern Plains from Doyle’s first solo album 2012’s Boy on Bridge.

“I don’t know what you were doing in high school, but I was in Petty harbour wishing I could sing on a record with Jim Cuddy.” he said afterwards genuinely in awe of the moment.

Or when actor Gordon Pinsent walked down the aisle to give him a friendly wave. 

You’d certainly be hard pressed to find a Canadian musician with a sweeter disposition.

He never seems to take any of his success for granted and is very likeable as a result.

To wit, Doyle wisely bookended his show singing alone a capella, beginning with Dream of Home and ending with Where I Belong, showing of his biggest strength- his big opened hearted presence.

Then he was joined by a five piece band – with special mention to MVP and west coaster Kendel Carson on fiddle, guitar and backing vocals “she all makes us stand up a little straighter,” said Doyle by way of band intros – and occasionally a dancer of two, starting with (appropriately), I Cant Dance Without You.

Doyle also has loads of passion that was on full display when he tackled I’m A Sailor with just him and keyboardist Todd Lumley kicking off the encore.

And while it was the more animated songs of both the GBS and solo variety When I’m Up, Dance, Dance, I’ve Seen A Little, Sins of A Saturday Night, old Black Rum, Run Runaway, Testify and Ordinary Day, that got the crowd up on their feet and singing and dancing for most of the evening – divided into two sets separated by a half-hour intermission – Doyle could handle a ballad too like When The Nightingales Sing or Laying Down To Perish.

He also covered John Mellencamp’s Paper In Fire and knew how to deliver a line, like recalling how he an actor Russell Crowe wrote Hit The Ground for a scene in a film about a shotgun wedding on the Australian actors farm, “We MAY have been drinking.

But he let the audience know by the end that “on a night like this, in a place like this, with people like you,” you meant a lot to him.

Alan Doyle and the So Let’s Go Tour hits St John’s…

Last Saturday night I was lucky enough to attend Alan Doyle’s concert at the Holy Heart Theatre in St. John’s, Newfoundland. There is always something special about attending an Alan Doyle or Great Big Sea concert in front of their home crowd in St. Johns, Newfoundland or where they belong to. And this concert did not disappoint.

There was a brilliant combination of songs from his Boy on Bridge (I Have Seen A Little, Where The Nightingale Sings, Testify, My Day) and the new So Let’s Go album (So Lets Go, Can’t Dance, My Kingdom, Shine On, Sins of Saturday Night, 1 2 3 4) and of course some favourite Great Big Sea songs (When I’m Up, Ordinary Day, Lukey’s Boat, Old Black Rum, Sea Of No Cares, ) all which got the crowd up and dancing on their feet. I really loved Alan Doyle’s cover of John Mellencamp’s Paper and Fire.

One of the highlights of the concerts was when Alan Doyle invited local Carol Anne Fowler up on stage to sing as Fast As I Can. Alan kindly stepped aside and let her take centre stage accompanying her beautifully with Stickman and on vocals. The performance brought the crowd to their feet. As social media was all abuzz with the performance Carol Anne did an interview with the local St. John’s radio where she stated the opportunity changed her life and was a dream come true. It was wonderful to see fans realising their dreams to sing their favourite songs with their favourite musicians in front of their family and friends and community.

The Holy Heart Theatre was the perfect venue for a home coming concert for the So Let’s Go tour, small and intimate. The concert attracted the Great Big Sea fans as well as the Alan Doyle fans. I really enjoyed this concert as was more about the music of Alan Doyle than Great Big Sea. This was also the first time I had heard the songs from the new album played live,  in particular So Let’s Go, Sins of Saturday Night and 1 2 3 4 which transferred beautifully from a recorded CD to a live concert. The band that supported Alan Doyle (Kendal Carson, Corey Tetford, Shehab Ilyas, Todd Lumley and Kris McFarlane were brilliant). Alan Doyle seems to have a wonderful time with with the band and home crowd sharing funny stories about his youth and gladly showed their appreciation.

After the show a number of fans waited patiently for Alan and were lucky enough to meet him. He generously gave his time to have a chat and sign things. Earlier that day I was lucky enough to meet Alan Doyle (as many fans do) at Pearson International Airport on a flight to St. John’s and he graciously signed my CD’s. Newfoundland has been place for many of my dreams to come true.

On the way out I was lucky enough to spot and say hello to the totally gorgeous Allan Hawco who was generous and gracious. What a thrill it was and a dream come true for me to meet him. I love my television and I truly admire anyone who can come up with an idea for a television series unique as the Republic of Doyle and turn it into a reality. This television series showcased St. John’s and Newfoundland and its people to mainland Canada and the world to see on the best days of the year.

The below article was circulated on social media about Carol Anne’s appearance on stage with Alan Doyle and an interview on VOCM radio. Fan videos were posted on YouTube and collected thousands of hits much to the excitement of Carol Anne and Alan Doyle.

“Local Fan Shares Impromptu Duet with Alan” in VOCM Local News Story Doyle February 9 2015

It was a dream come true for a local Alan Doyle fan: Carol Anne Fowler was invited to join Alan Doyle on stage on Saturday night for an impromptu duet. Doyle was home in St John’s as part of a tour for his new album “So Let’s Go.”

Fowler says “she got brave” and made a song request to Doyle via Twitter, asking if she could join him for “Fast As I Can. She didn’t think anything would come of the request, but to her surprise, Doyle invited her on stage at Holy Heart Theatre".

Saskatoon fans give Great Big Sea a great big response

I was researching some university archives for information about Great Big Sea and found this review about fan’s reactions to one of their concerts in Saskatoon in 2006. Nearly ten years and while the Great Big Sea hiatus is on nothing much has changed much for the fans.

Fans of all ages are up on their feet, screaming and clapping whether it is Alan Doyle or Sean McCann playing their own music or music from the Great Big Sea catalogue.

Saskatoon fans give Great Big Sea a great big response by the Star Pheonix (Saskatoon) February 6, 2006.

A Great Big Sea of fans were on their feet, screaming and clapping, even before the band from Newfoundland hit the stage Sunday night at TCU Place.

You know what they say. When those GBS fans are up, they can't get down.

Why would they, when confronted with a party atmosphere and some of the most rollicking traditional tunes ever to leave Newfoundland? Where is my pint of Guinness?

Now, you might expect such wild audience behaviour from rock 'n' rollers, but these fans were standing behind songs from GBS's new CD, The Hard and the Easy, a mixture of songs about sailing, pirates, horses and strange looking mermaids.

Alan Doyle, Sean McCann and Bob Hallett -- the core of GBS -- came out stomping and singing, with Doyle's gorgeous resonant baritone leading the way. Murray Foster on bass and Kris MacFarlane on percussion were right behind them.

They stormed acoustically through three songs before Doyle slowed the tempo to inform the crowd that Sunday was a very special night: the group had Monday off. It took a while to get the message out, because he could only get a few words in between more screams and applause.

McCann then launched into the lovely Sweet Forget Me Not, a song he said his grandfather sang to his grandmother before they were married. The pennywhistle played by Hallett could bring tears to your eyes.

Hallett had a veritable magic trunk of instruments beside him: accordions, whistles, fiddles, you name it.

Then it was the time of the horse. Doyle said he's sure the latest CD sets a record for having two songs about horses falling through the ice, which is funny. The one he sang, Tickle Cove Pond, wasn't entirely. Despite its uptempo style, it could make grown men cry, and apparently has.

Other rousing tunes included I'm A Rover; The Mermaid, a hilarious tune about an upside down, well, mermaid; and great seafaring songs A Boat like Gideon Brown and Old Polina.

The most beautiful song of the evening was The River Driver's Lament, sung a capella with just the bodhran drum keeping time. Lovely four-part harmonies make this heart-rending song even more intense; if this one doesn't get you, nothing will.

After a break, GBS returned electric, and howled through When I Am King, When I'm Up -- to even bigger cheers from the crowd -- and The Night Paddy Murphy Died.

The great thing about a Great Big Sea concert is that the band seems to be having as great a time as the audience. Relaxed on stage, with gently funny bantering between songs, they really do make you feel as if you're at a kitchen party (apart from just a touch too much bass).

Deadline came far too early for all of me Sunday night, except my ear drums. I hope GBS had a great, big party Sunday night in Saskatoon. I hope they had a pint for me. 

Getting by with a little help from your friends...

Getting by with a little help from our friends…

“What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm going to try with a little help from my friends”

Billy Shears

Recently I read a tweet from a person criticising the amount of Twitter retweets Russell Crowe did. I thought about this for a while and I had to disagree. There are a couple of things I really like about these musicians and artists whose fandoms I am interested in and their use of social media. Firstly, I am always learning something about the places and communities where they are all from, the story of the products they create and the inclusion of fans in their stories through retweets and replies. Yes, it is a nice thing to valid and share fan’s thoughts, creating a sense of belonging and a community by sharing their tweet. Fandoms and social media are a place which bring people together and they become life long friends.

However, one of the really interesting things the fans have noticed on Twitter over the years is the friendships and support between Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Allan Hawco have on a personal level and professional level. As many of the fans know Russell Crowe, Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand met on the set of Mystery Alaska, and became friends. Then Russell Crowe met Alan Doyle and they made Robin Hood and then did Winter’s Tale and a heap of Indoor Garden Parties in Canada, America and Australia. Russell and Alan made the album Crowe and Doyle Songbook 3. Then Russell, Scott, Kevin, Alan and Allan all came together for an episode of Republic of Doyle. Scott Grimes and Alan Doyle had a regular episode on the show. 

I have read some interesting stories about how they all became friends. Kevin Durand explains how he met Russell and Scott then Alan during an interview for Robin Hood just after they made Robin Hood together.  “Russell, Scotty and I met on a movie called Mystery, Alaska which started back in 1998. That was my first movie. It was my first audition for a movie actually. I was a theatre grad up to that point. Then Russell and I also did 3:10 to Yuma together. Scotty and I did a movie together. It was called Throwing Stars at the time and then they changed the title to Who's Your Monkey?, a small independent. So, we were all very familiar with each other.

And the connection with Alan was that I had been a huge, huge Great Big Sea [Alan Doyle's folk band] fan way back before Mystery, Alaska happened and I gave Russell and Scotty copies of his CD. And they all became big fans. Through the course of a decade of different things happening, we all ended up becoming good friends and becoming the Merry Men, so to speak. I'm grateful for the journey’. (From interviews in Sherwood. Kevin Durand Actor in 2010 film. Robin Hood Conducted and transcribed by Allen W. Wright)

In an interview with CBC in Newfoundland 2011Russell Crowe explained how they all became friends‘  in the interview (below) Russell explains that he met Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle at the NHL Awards. Hawco was ‘on the bones of his ass – a struggling actor doing Shakespeare in the park or something like that at the time” (Hawco and Doyle are both from St. John’s and Great Big Sea’s “Oh Yeah” is the theme song of Republic of Doyle).

But then there’s more to this story than that…here’s what a few hours of watching Youtube clips and studying Twitter feeds produced on the interesting relationship between this group of very talented an creative friends. (Russell Crowe – The Republic of Doyle connection by Jamie Ordolis 23 August 2011 CBC live). I also love this article as it is the beginning of news agencies using Twitter and social media as a source of news and searching timelines to find information out.

In an interview for American Songwriter Alan Doyle describes he came to meet and work with Russell Crowe in 2002. “I met Russell when we were both presenters at the NHL Hockey Awards almost a decade ago in Toronto. I had heard that he was a GBS (Great Big Sea) fan and had even performed one of the songs I had written. I made sure I was standing in the hall when he was passing through and casually introduced myself. He had first heard of GBS and my writing when he was filming a movie called Mystery Alaska in Canada in the late 90’s. After a few chats he asked if I ever passed through Toronto where he was living while filming Cinderella Man and if I would like to write a song or two. I totally jumped at the chance, of course, and the rest is history. (From ‘Meet Alan Doyle, Russell Crowe’s Musical Partner in Crime’, by Britta Dragicevic published on the 16 May 2012 for the American Songwriter)

In a recent interview with the National Post Sessions Alan Doyle talks about when his friendship with Russell Crowe and how his recent trip to Gander made headlines when he tweeted him from the Gander airport. He explains “I’ve known Russell for 12 years now. He was introduced to Great Big Sea while shooting Mystery, Alaska in Alberta and he was a big fan so he introduced himself to me at the NHL awards in Toronto in ’02 or ’03. We ended up writing a bunch of stuff together, I produced his album…it’s a great friendship. Anyways, he called me late one night just before Christmas and said, ‘I’m flying into Newfoundland tomorrow so our plane can refuel.’ I think he was flying from London to Atlanta. I said, ‘You’re flying into St. John’s?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I guess.’ So I was like, ‘Awesome, I’ll come up and see ya.’ About three in the morning I get a text saying, ‘We’re not flying into St. John’s we’re flying into Gander, where’s that?’ And I said, ‘it’s about four hours away.’ And so when he got there he started tweeting about how he expected us to be there, joking around, and the local media made a big deal about it and I was like, ‘Guys, he was on the other side of customs! I couldn’t have even seen him even if we had gone. It’s a gag.’ But you know what’s cool about it? it’s that, and maybe this is little brother complex but I still think it’s cool that there’s a guy that’s as worldly and as famous as him that takes a moment to acknowledge when he’s in Newfoundland he loves the place, that he’s got friends there and that it’s significant to him. I probably should be above that but I’m not. It feels like a bit of a pat on the back to be honest”. (Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle is looking for something true to sing on ‘So Let’s Go’” by Jon Dekel published on 21 January 2015).

Russell, Alan, Scott, Kevin and Allan have made movies and television episodes together, written songs and created albums together, and of course done concerts together.  When each person has created something new they seem to be always there with help and encourage each other and give their work a bit of a plug. Their friendships I am sure have it's ups and downs and creative differences over time, but is something we can all learn from and aspire to as a fandom. Fandoms are places where many people meet and become life-long friends through the activities and sharing stories about the things they love. This post is a tribute to the friendships between Russell Crowe, Alan Doyle, Scott Grimes, Kevin Durand and Allan Hawco and all the fans in these fandoms who have met and become real life friends.

from the dailytelgraph.com (no copyright infringement intended)