Alan Doyle...My Favourites For 2015 Are…

The winners and runners up of my favourite fan and professional photographs, videos and reviews as voted entirely by me…the fan.

Many thanks to Alan, all the professionals and fans who generously share their words, stories, photographs and videos online.

My favourite Alan Doyle tweet from his official Twitter account this year is…

In response to a fan’s question today…

How do you not let negative things get to you? I can’t seem to let go of my ex and how bad he made me feel? Any advice?

Alan’s response…

Hmm…I have been very lucky and been treated well so I don’t know for sure. But I have lots of negative thoughts just like anyone, I suppose. The best day has something bad init. The worst day has something good. I also think happiness is not something we should wait on…I don’t think it comes to anyone, rather it comes from us. We make it, ourselves? Not sure honestly, but that’s what I think lately. Hope this helps. Cheers.

My favourite Alan Doyle official social media account…

My favourite Alan Doyle official social media account goes to Instagram. Every photograph he posts on there is a gem. I of course love the selfies, but also love all the photographs he takes of Newfoundland. He can do no wrong.

The winner of my favourite Alan Doyle fan photograph is…

Alan Doyle at a public appearance (21 November, 2015)

Alan Doyle performing with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson at an appearance at Sunrise Records, Carlingwood Shopping Centre and generously shared on the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page published on 22 November, 2015. The photograph and a bunch of others were taken by Nancy Kelly of Ottawa, Canada. No copyright infringement intended.



(No copyright infringement intended)

The winner of my favourite Alan Doyle fan videos are…

‘Sonny’s Dream’…Alan Doyle’s tribute (21 November, 2015)

Alan Doyle performing with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson at an appearance at Sunrise Records, Carlingwood Shopping Centre published on the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page published on 22 November, 2015. The video was taken by Nancy Kelly of Ottawa, Canada.

‘Never Had’… New York City (Alan Doyle and Oscar Issac) (30 April, 2015)

‘Never Had’ was performed at the New York City Winery show. The video was recorded by concert goer dagalagas and shared on YouTube.

The winner of my favourite Alan Doyle professional photographs are…

Alan Doyle at the Hagersville Rocks Music Festival (25 July, 2015) by Dwight Edwards.

There was a review of the festival and a large inclusive collection of photographs published in the Hamilton Rock and Country Magazine online. The photographs were taken by the brilliant Dwight Edwards and generously shared via social media. This is probably the best photograph of Alan Doyle on stage I have ever seen. As always no copyright infringement intended.



(no copyright infringement intended)

The winner of my favourite professional Alan Doyle videos are...

1, 2, 3, 4 (Alan Doyle with Ed Robertson and The Beautiful Gypsies) (3 October, 2015)

Paper and Fire (Alan Doyle with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson) (26 January, 2015) for the National Post

The runners up of my favourite professional Alan Doyle video is...

The Night Loves Us (Alan Doyle with Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson) (19 May, 2015)

Forest Festival (Alan Doyle, Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson)

The video was taken by newspaper staffers Matthew Desrosiers and attached to the newspaper article “Forest Festival experience a hit despite rain” by Mark Arike. The video was taken of Alan Doyle, Cory Tetford and Kendel Carson on a platform on a lake against the sun setting using a Great Big Sea classic and a new Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies song.

The winner of my favourite professional concert review is…

The Barenaked Ladies + Alan Doyle & The Beautiful Gypsies at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 26, 2015 by Andy Scheffler for the Concert Addicts webpage. I thought this review and photographs were really well done.  

A Community In Their Own Words (And Images)…revisit.

I really should say thank you to all the people who visit my site and read my blog. Just when I think I am all out of something to write about someone checks out an article written long ago that inspires an idea still relevant today. The post “A community in their own words and images” was posted on March 6, 2013 nearly two years ago, about boundaries and community voyeurism. The post is about who should share stories and how outsiders (foreigners) intrude on a community and the lives and the activities of its citizens and share it without asking and without any consideration for ALL those involved.

This paragraph is from the post published on March 6, 2012,

"...As much as fans like me love hearing about what our favourite guys have been up to during their hiatus from Great Big Sea, when do we over step the boundaries and become invasive and voyeuristic? Basically I believe I had no right to be there even though it was bootlegged by @lyndahere at a respectful distance. It was an American determining what the world should see about this community. And although the bootleg was primarily about Alan Doyle performing it was also about the community as well. The bootleg allowed people who did not attend and who were not part of this community to make comments about the community. Lots of images were also copied of this video and circulated. I believe those involved in a fundraising community event should determine what they want to share and how it should be shared whether via the traditional means of newspapers, radio or television and through social media. There are some things that should remain private and within the community. Because the person doing the performing is well known doesn't mean it should be circulated. And if they choose not to share events with the world then that is their choice and it should be respected."

It has been a very sad yet interesting story following the celebration and mourning of the life, music, illness, death and funeral of a man that had so much influence on musicians and artists in the Newfoundland community Ron Hynes. The story I have been following has been one mainly told by news outlets and some social media posts from many perspectives including the family, community members, music fans, and the Newfoundland musicians and artists whose work he influenced. The articles created by news outlets have been really inclusive of all and have most generously, kindly and respectfully shared their stories through words, music and photographs.

It was the Newfoundland community sharing and telling a story how they wanted to tell it, reaching people like me thousands of miles away on a different continent. While I am one of the first to admit I am not familiar with Ron’s music, I am familiar with its legacy on some of the musicians and artists from a place I know. Like a lot of others it has inspired me to go and research this Newfoundlander's contribution to music on the world. And these actions of fans have attracted a lot of criticism from those in the music industry in that it should be done during the life rather than the death of the musician and artist. A fair enough comment too.

One of the most interesting and wonderful stories was how the family of Ron Hynes and the local community chose to share the celebration of his life and music with the world. They most kindly invited all of those interested in attending the funeral service to join them. This event was covered by the local media including television, live streaming, social media and newspapers. The program, words, stories and songs were shared so beautifully and respectfully on social media around the word. As someone on social media pointed out this was very gracious of the local church conducting the service to break all the rules and let this happen. And this is where it should have ended.

One of the things that struck me most about the Newfoundland community in my journey through this fandom is that they are in all people who are very proud and love to celebrate and share their history, their culture and their stories when and how they wish. However, they also love their privacy as much as the next person. They don’t often share a lot of what happens in their community via the usual means of social media that I have been able to see. Maybe it is the age group of the people I am interested in and their use of social media. I respect their choice whether or not to invite people in through whatever means they want.

However, not all people understand and respect that choice about who determines the sharing. Lynda Elstad or Lynda Here as she is known on social media (and her friend Dr Christina Templeton) attended the funeral and a post funeral reception allegedly for the community. Lynda Here took photographs and bootlegs of the performances and later shared them on social media even though the service was broadcast by the local media. She wrote on her Facebook page “The closing song of Ron Hynes’ funeral service – which so fittingly and not one bit surprisingly turned into a group sing-a-long – from my own vantage point in the Bascilia…” Lynda Elstad failed to mention in the description that she and her friend Christina Templeton were in the front row of the service where they are most concerts they attend. They were not family members or Newfoundlanders and to the best of my knowledge did not know him.

Lynda Elstad and I am assuming Christina Templeton then attended a post-funeral reception in which members of the Newfoundland music community paid tribute at a local hotel. I didn’t hear anything or read anything about this event until Lynda Elstad started peddling the bootlegs she took on her social media accounts. Lynda Elstad stated this event was open to the public (after the event). While she advertised the funeral service on all the media outlets she never advertised the post-funeral reception. She then had the nerve to attend and take some bootlegs of all the performances. They were peddled via her own social media pages (including Twitter and Facebook) and the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party on Facebook. Surely musicians and artists can have a get together without her bootlegging and distributing them via social media.

Again it is kind of patronising not to advertise things to community members and then take photographs and bootlegs and peddle them via social media. There was more than enough information shared through social media and the traditional means and that is where is should have stopped unless it was arranged by those involved.
The post I wrote “A community in their own words” post on March 6, 2013 is copied below. I have not included two newspaper articles and some photographs from the original post about community choice in sharing what happens in a community.




Lynda Elstad and her friend Dr Christina Templeton front row at the church service. The photo was taken by a local media outlet.

A community in their own words and images… March , 2013

Our beloved Great Big Sea is taking a hiatus and its members Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett, Kris McFarlane and Murray Foster are busy with their individual projects. For those of us who follow Alan Doyle on social media know he has been writing and producing music for his next album and has been doing his community work for great causes. Causes close to his heart and home and sharing them on social media and in the traditional media along with other members of the community. These included the Bannerman Park skating loop, a school fundraiser, raising awareness and funds for the Shorefast Foundation at Fogo Inn on Fogo Island Newfoundland and a speaking engagement at the Newfoundland Hospitality Conference in Gander.

Alan Doyle, The Bannerman Park Official Facebook page, the schools involved social media pages and community have shared some beautiful photographs and words from the events. Alan Doyle shared some photographs and words on his official webpage Alandoyle.ca, and via Twitter. Other participants in the Shorefast Foundation event on Fogo Island including photographer BrianRicks@BrianRicksPhotos shared some amazing images on Twitter and on his official photography site of a working kitchen in black and white. There was also an article in the local media about Alan’s attendance at the hospitality conference copied below. Together the community created and share the stories in a way they wished to share.

@lyndahere was also there at the Bannerman Park skating loop opening and at a school fundraiser bootlegging and taking photographs which she loaded up onto her YouTube site and shared links to via Twitter and social media. Although I did not pay to go to the school fundraising event, I did watch a 15 minute video of Alan Doyle performing some people’s favourite songs including Thunderstruck by ACDC and Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield. It was I must say Alan Doyle with Stickman Tak (his guitar) at his best, informal and funny in front of his home crowd and among friends and family. Alan Doyle was totally brilliant.

As much as fans like me love hearing about what our favourite guys have been up to during their hiatus from Great Big Sea, when do we over step the boundaries and become invasive and voyeuristic? Basically I believe I had no right to be there even though it was bootlegged by @lyndahere at a respectful distance. It was an American determining what the world should see about this community. And although the bootleg was primarily about Alan Doyle performing it was also about the community as well. The bootleg allowed the world in fact, and people who did not attend and who were not part of this community to make comments about the community. Lots of images were also copied of this video and circulated. I believe those involved in a fundraising community event should determine what they want to share and how it should be shared whether via the traditional means of newspapers, radio or television and through social media. There are some things that should remain private and with the community. Because the person doing the performing is well known doesn't mean it should be circulated. And if they choose not to share events with the world then that is their choice and it should be respected.

Between The Rock, The Telegram And A Response...

From The Telegram Newspaper in St. John's posted on November 21 2015...

A response to the following article...

YouTube user BetweenTheRock has posted a video of Alan Doyle and the Barenaked Ladies giving an onstage tribute to the late Ron Hynes.

The concert was at Peterborough Memorial Centre Friday night, the day after Hynes died.

"Sending the late, great Ron Hynes off with a song: Alan and fellow Newfoundlanders Cory Tetford & Paul Kinsman (the latter a longtime member of Ron's own band), along with the rest of Alan's Beautiful Gypsies, are joined by members of Barenaked Ladies to honour the memory of Newfoundland's own dearly loved and recently departed Poet Laureate with this heartfelt, moving rendition of the Master Songsmith's most famous song," wrote Between The Rock

"Cheers to Ron, and Godspeed."


More on this later…

This is not the original post I wrote. It was edited after sleeping on it. So here we go and as I have said before bugger the consequences. As a fan of anything I really don’t like the nagging feeling I am being conned. There are times on this journey where I have really felt like I have been conned as a fan into buying something that really isn’t genuine, honest and right up front. And today that feeling came back. It was a little thing really and not really important in the scheme of life I guess. Lynda Here on Twitter…

Lyndahere  1/2 Oddest convo at recent gig (well, odd…”oddest” sets a high bar). Gal next to me feels the need to show me every @alanthomasdoyle tweet… 20 November, 2015

Lyndahere 2/2…response she’s gotten, back to 2011. Saved ‘em all she has. Proof of how special she is to him, they are. Smile, nod, sip the drink. 20 November, 2015

Christina Townie to LyndaHere Were there a lot of them? :p 20 November, 2015

Lyndahere to Christine Townie There were a pile of them ! Granted, many were “Wicked” or “Cheers”, but it took some time to get through each & every one. 20 November, 2015 

Other fans and I have noticed Alan Doyle hasn’t responded to LyndaHere’s endless tweets on Twitter for over a year. Which I gather resulted in the above tweets describing her interactions with the fan above that is tweeted. Although after this post I suspect she will be acknowledged.

LyndaHere in the past has attacked fans on Twitter (under her real name which were later deleted and under I would like to allege fake accounts) for the way they use Twitter to interact with Alan Doyle. It is kind of sad really that two mature aged women like LyndaHere and Christina Townie (Christina Templeton a doctor and surgeon from St. John’s) who have more than most seem upset by a couple of tweets from Twitter.  It didn’t show a lot of respect for another fan and something that had made her really happy.

I believe that if we find something really dreadful then we don’t engage with it full stop. No ifs, buts or maybes. I gather Alan Doyle doesn’t like her constant in his face photographing and bootlegging regardless of the circumstances. I don’t like it either. Neither do other fans. However, he has on occasions shared on his official Twitter account and Facebook account over the past year her bootlegs and responded to fans who share them to him especially of material he doesn’t have copyright too. His friends share them on Twitter too. 

Again yesterday Alan and some of The Beautiful Gypsies shared on their official social media accounts a bootlegged video of Sonny’s Dream, a tribute bootlegged by LyndaHere loaded up on her YouTube account Between The Rock. The bootlegged video has attracted thousands of hits. Interestingly enough while acknowledging the greatness of the Newfoundland musician who wrote and played the original song LyndaHere did not share a bootlegged or pirated video or any article that was not her own. Sad and disappointing as Newfoundland music has been recorded and shared significantly on YouTube and in other places.

The tragic loss of a beloved creative artist will be felt by the community in which they lived and worked long after their death. While tributes in death are all well and good, perhaps the greatest honour a music fan can give a beloved singer and musician who has died under tragic circumstances is to let their music speak for themselves in the way they intended. Not someone’s interpretation or an interpretation shared through a bootlegged video of an interpretation. The singer and musician’s own interpretation of their music that will live on long after their death more than any interpretation.

Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies sharing bootlegs and pirated material via another person and not acknowledging the author LyndaHere sends mixed messages about criminal stalking, pirating and bootlegging to the fan community. Putting a different cover on a bad book doesn’t make a bad bootleg video look like a better video to watch. 

From reading the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page there is a big section of the fan community who doesn’t like this behaviour and that of LyndaHere either. The likes on this Facebook page generally state that material both photographs and video recordings need to be collected under the right ethical and legal conditions for fans to watch it, like it and share it. Those fans should be proud of their actions and participation in the fandom. And while her bootlegs seem to attract thousands of hits via YouTube this is not generally reflected in the acknowledgement on the fan page.

I certainly understand the reasons why Alan does this and shares some of LyndaHere’s bootlegs even if he really doesn’t like it. He explains this in his book ‘Where I Belong’ about learning to work with tough guys and bullies from an early age. “It was a lesson I never forgot: don’t be afraid of tough guys. You need them and they need you” page 114. One of the aims of my blog recently has been to show there is enough professional and fan generated material around in that Alan doesn’t have to work with tough guys and bullies. 

Recently Alan Doyle retweeted on his official Twitter account one of LyndaHere’s illegally recorded pirated videos (from the television and recording facilities of her friend Christina Templeton in St. John’s) of him singing the Canadian anthem at a hockey game in St. John’s, Newfoundland just before the beginning of this tour with the Barenaked Ladies. The pirated video had a different tweet cover on it and was not the original sent by LyndaHere. I noticed after that incident then next time Alan sang the official anthem at a hockey game in Edmonton the telecast of the anthem was cut from the official broadcast for whatever reason. Perhaps this reason is that broadcasters of hockey games don’t like their material being pirated and distributed either. And LyndaHere told us she was not close enough to bootleg it.   

As readers of my blog know I find LyndaHere’s methods of bootlegging and illegal pirating totally immoral and unethical. She seems to have thousands of dollars at her disposal (for which there is no explanation of how she gets access to this money, whether it is legal and who exactly pays for it). This tour of Alan Doyle and BNL would have set her back and those paying for it thousands of dollars. And there seems to be very little output.  

However, she manages to attend nearly every performance of Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies no matter where in the world they are playing. There seems to be few fans interested in raising questions about the legal, ethical and moral obligations of this behaviour. It seems totally acceptable to criminally stalk someone everywhere they go publically and to take videos and photographs and share them on social media. And anyone who does raise issues is called a troll. There is no concept of asking permission or paying for a license as they are suppose to under the law.

As the readers of my blog know I don’t like the bootlegs distributed by LyndaHere because they are in my opinion not genuine concert bootlegged videos of genuine concerts goers but an amateur plant in the audience whose position has never been clearly explained. I don’t like the quality, the quantity and the way they are collected. But that is nothing new.

I also believe Alan Doyle doesn’t like them either, in particular those of material that is his own and copyrighted owned by others. However, under specific circumstances he does like and circulate bootlegged material he performs that is not his own copyrighted material including that of LyndaHere. Unfortunately. 

In 2012, I wrote on this blog “@lyndahere Music Marketing, Bootlegging and Hypocrisy (revised) published on 9 October 2012 where LyndaHere had bootlegged an entire charity event for Ron Hynes when he was diagnosed with cancer. She put up her videos in competition to an album that was going to be made to support the musician and his family during his recovery. This in my opinion was the lowest of the low. It just wasn’t one or two videos but the entire concert. I found them totally offensive that she would film at such events and without the permission for those who held the event and then peddle them to the artists involved. What got lost to her was that the concerts were for very sick people. Not one of the artists responded to her about the videos. She wants to get the video at all costs and to me if that is the case then it really isn’t good enough for me and for a lot of fans. 

Alan Doyle On The BNL Tour 2015...Some great reviews in Eastern Canada.

"There was a kitchen party in downtown London on Thursday night, thanks to Great Big Sea's long-haired and huge-hearted fella and his band of Gypsies".

“ My favorite performance was “If I Had $1,000,000”, collaborating with Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Gypsies. There was an extreme sense of unity, with such a large amount of people on the stage playing at once, and it was so heartfelt and beautiful"….

I do love professional reviews, photographs and occasionally a bootlegged video... some reviews I found off Alan Doyle’s official Twitter account, Barenaked Ladies fan sites and my own research. Where possible I have circulated the reviews on my Google + page but keep a copy of the Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies comments here too.

Although technically not on the eastern section of the BNL Silverball with Alan Doyle tour I found this review from the Medicine Hat concert on Halloween. This review contains a special gem I think, in the form of a bootlegged video of the Barenaked Ladies and Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies performing the song If I Had A Million Dollars.

If you are a fan and follow Alan and The Beautiful Gypsies on social media you will know they dressed up in their costumes to celebrate Halloween. I have included a photograph from Alan Doyle’s official Twitter account of him and The Beautiful Gypsies in their costumes. So much fun.

Finding this article and bootleg is one of the reasons why I find researching so exciting. I love looking for and finding something outside the usual source of professional and fan supplied words, photographs and bootlegged videos that fits in with my personal philosophy on how information should be gained and shared.

Many thanks to all the reviewers, music lovers and concert goers who shared their words, thoughts, photographs and even an occasional bootleg with us the fans. As always no copyright infringement intended.


Medicine Hat at the Canalta Centre

“The Barenaked Ladies and Alan Doyle Delight Hatters At The Medicine Hat Canalta Centre” is by The Hatting Blogger for the webpage Medicine Hat Zine. I have copied the comments about Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies here. This article does not seem to be able to be shared via any other means other than Facebook so it hasn’t been circulated.

…“It was easily one of the most nostalgic and fun concerts that I have been to. The Barenaked Ladies and Alan Doyle are veteran Canadian musicians. Despite their many years as entertainers they do not cut corners when it comes to making sure that their audience feels as if the show is just for them. Personally I think that these little extras really made for a one of a kind music experience!

Overall just another fantastic concert at Medicine Hat’s new Canalta Centre!”…




From the Alan Doyle official Twitter account Alan Doyle @alanthomasdoyle Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies. 30 October, 2015 (no copyright infringement intended)


Toronto at Massey Hall

This article "Alan Doyle with Barenaked Ladies at Massey Hall" by Gemma Mastroianni was circulated by Alan Doyle on his official Twitter site. I have copied the comments about Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies here and circulated the full article on my Google + page.

There are some great photographs of Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies along with the Barenaked Ladies attached to this article.

I also really liked the mention of The Big Bang Theory song which the Barenaked Ladies wrote. The Big Bang Theory is one of my favourite television shows. "A great additive to the show was the playing of “The Big Bang Theory” theme song. Robertson said he was aware that some fans were offended by the theme song due to beliefs, so he said he made a different version to fit their beliefs, and simply said “God Did It”, then went on to sing the actual song".

"Alan Doyle with Barenaked Ladies at Massey Hall" by Gemma Mastronianni Gemma Mastroianni. 15 November, 2015 for LiveinLimbo.com

…"When “Lovers In A Dangerous Time” came on, the band brought opener Alan Doyle back out to join them for the song, and it was a breathtaking performance with cool blue lighting. The emotion and passion you could sense during the performance was amazing, and it touched my heart. There was also a great unity between Doyle and the band...

My favorite performance was “If I Had $1,000,000”, collaborating with Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Gypsies. There was an extreme sense of unity, with such a large amount of people on the stage playing at once, and it was so heartfelt and beautiful"….

London Budweiser Gardens

"Alan Doyle's kitchen party warms up Budweiser Gardens for Barenaked Ladies" by James Reaney. The London Free Press. 12 November, 2015.

There was a kitchen party in downtown London on Thursday night, thanks to Great Big Sea's long-haired and huge-hearted fella and his band of Gypsies.

Alan Doyle, best known as the singer for the N.L. rockers, brought his new band The Beautiful Gypsies and hits from the Sea songbook and his own career to the party.

Toronto's Barenaked Ladies followed as headliners at the RBC Theatre at Budweiser Gardens show.

Doyle also brought plenty of London lore to the gig.

“I've never had a bad night in London,” said Doyle who figured he first played here in 1994.

“Maybe some bad mornings,” he added after a pause.

The party had plenty of singalongs to Great Big Sea hits including Ordinary Day and When I'm Up, with many of the 2,000 fans in the crowd on their feet by the end.

Songs from Doyle's solo career such as So Let's Go – that title was also spelled out on the drummer's bass drum – and The Night Loves Us also showed well. Doyle's mime in demonstrating how he finally located The Night Loves Us, his first U.S. chart hit, by scrolling down and down the online Top 40 was a great bit of physical comedy and career pride.

Also great fun was his recollection of the iconic London club, Call The Office. Doyle said he drove by the 216 York St. rockspot on his way to the downtown London arena on Thursday.

“I think my coat is probably still in there, along with some other things,” he said to laughs. “Like my innocence” was the punchline.

Doyle admitted he was “stifled” (speechless) for only the fourth time in “26 years” on stage after that jest.

Helping out with the finale was BNL's frontman Ed Robertson who co-wrote that new hit 1,2,3,4 with Doyle. Robertson rapped with amusing speed and helped lead the “one-two” “three-four” shouts and responses.

He also reminded Doyle he had forgotten to introduce one member of the party on stage – Alan Doyle. Barenaked Ladies were to hit the stage about 8:50 p.m., half an hour after Doyle & Beautiful Gypsies' 50-minute set.

Great Big Sea And Fandom Fracturing…

“I loved the dance so much that I didn’t want to stick around and watch it completely fall apart, which it ultimately did.” Sean McCann on Great Big Sea.

This post is a response to the interview with Sean McCann “Emerging from the darkness” by Sean Daniel Katz on November 5, 2015. Bow Valley Crag and Cannon. The interview has been circulated on my Google + page for those interested.

Lynda Here continues to circulate Sean McCann interviews on her own Facebook page and the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page and the fans keep responding. There are times when I am glad I am not an active participant in the fandom, on the GBS Online Kitchen Party on Facebook and I don’t have an active Facebook account. This is one of them.

Alan Doyle and Bob Hallett have put forward their positions on Sean McCann leaving the band and I absolutely believe and support them. This is the time to let sleeping dogs lie but on and on Lynda Here goes.

“I just hope he can get past this need to try to turn GBS into much less than it actually was, perhaps in an attempt to feel better about having walked away from it. It does no one any good at all and it causes genuine hurt to some” Lynda Here 8 November, 2015 on Facebook.

I don’t understand why some fans give Sean McCann (and ultimately Lynda Here) so much power in determining how they feel and negatively respond to something they got so much pleasure out of. The more negative discussions fans have of their experiences the more negative they will become. And the fans shouldn’t give their validation of their positive experiences away to other people’s negativity.

What Sean McCann says or doesn’t say doesn’t make my experiences that I had travelling to see Great Big Sea perform in Canada, Newfoundland and Australia any less valid. They are still one of the best times of my life. What Sean McCann does or doesn’t say doesn' t make the time I have spent writing my blog or interacting with other fans in person and on social media any less valid to me.

As I have said before on a previous post I thought Lynda Here would be happy following Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies around but obviously she is not. Yet she seems to spend a lot of her time research and initiating negative discussions on Facebook about Sean McCann and his days in Great Big Sea. She has never really been a Sean McCann fan. To the best of my knowledge she has only attended one Sean McCann show this year in St. John’s. So why such a keen interest in what Sean McCann says or doesn’t say? Her interest is getting her attention on Facebook. Bullying someone into silence or acceptance and validation doesn’t work and there is no one who knows this better than her.

Lynda Here’s attempt to fracture the fandom and create negativity is nothing new. At every major event in the Great Big Sea career over the past couple of years she has tried to stir up trouble in the fandom on her blog Between The Rock and A Hard Place attacking not only in the Great Big Sea fandom but other fandoms including the Indoor Garden Party fandom as well. I have written posts about her interactions with the fandom at the Republic of Doyle premier, at the beginning of the Great Big Sea XX tour and the Indoor Garden Parties in St. John’s and Australia over the past three years to name a few.

The constant negative discussion initiated by Lynda Here and her research will fracture and undermine the fandom. Fans will do one of three things, they will take Alan Doyle’s side, they will take Sean McCann’s side or they will leave the fandom altogether because they are sick of all the negativity. And that is not good for anyone including the musicians and the fandom. Perhaps the best way for the fandom to move forward is to ignore negative articles and interviews and refrain from negative comments that keep providing fuel for the fire. Many of the big name Great Big Sea fans refrain from entering into this type of  discussion and just attend concerts and enjoy the music.

All the genuine Great Big Sea fans know the real reason why Great Big Sea are unable to move forward and that is Sean McCann has refused to let go at least legally anyhow. Why is someone so determined to make a full recovery from something so soul destroying in the past that he is refusing to let go of all his contact with it? I am no psychologist but I thought the obvious way to heal from something so soul destroying is one, to put physical space between the person suffering and the cause (which he has done) and the second is for the person to cut all emotional and other ties including legal from the source (which he hasn’t).

If Great Big Sea were really doomed as Sean McCann says then wouldn’t he like to be proven right by giving the remaining band members the opportunity to move forward without him, fail and receive the ultimate I told you so? But he obviously doesn’t believe in their demise so he will prevent them legally from doing so. Then come to think of it neither do I believe in the demise of the remaining members of Great Big Sea.

Bob Hallett And A Few Words On A “Happily Retired Great Big Sea.”

Yesterday Bob Hallett from Great Big Sea entered into a discussion on the Great Big Sea Online Kitchen Party Facebook page in response to the article shared ‘Doyle’s loving life as a solo act’ by Christopher Tessmer, from the Regina Leader-Post, published on November 5, 2015.

The article stated Great Big Sea were for “lack of a better word happily retired”. I have responded to this article and fan comments via a previous post titled “Alan Doyle and a “happily retired Great Big Sea”. Just for the record the article was shared by LyndaHere.

Bob Hallett …“I think you are assuming a level of communication and organisation that does not really exist in Camp GBS. Sean has definitively quit, kind of, Alan is sick of talking about it, but at the end of the day no one has decided anything really – we can’t, because the consensus structure of the band does not allow it…

In Newfoundland parlance, let’s just say GBS has taken to it’s bed for a while…

To put it more simply, for Sean to prosper, in his mind GBS needs to be seen as a thing in the past. He has convinced himself that our demise is a necessary part of his recovery, and has tied us in legal and business knots in an attempt to do so. Alan is fed up; I am not so easily dissuaded.”

I will let Bob Hallett’s words speak for themselves and hopefully this will put the issue of the future to Great Big Sea to rest until they resolve it in the best way they see fit.

For fans there is no shortage of concerts to go to in a venue near you, old and new music to be experienced and a variety of different experiences to be had. Whether it is reading a newly published book by one of the band members, watching a movie or eating some great food and having a drink at a local pub with your family, old friends or new friends you have met in the fandom. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

A lovely Bobber selfie...from the official Twitter account of Bob Hallett (no copyright infringement intended)



Bob Hallett@bobhallett On O'Connell Street, in between meetings, on an uncharacteristically sunny Dublin morning. Oct 16, 2015.



Bob Hallett @ Bobhallet Brisk day in Winterton, Trinty Bay. Sept 17 2015.

Alan Doyle And A ‘Happily Retired’ Great Big Sea…

“…For the lack of a better term, the band is now happily retired.” Alan Doyle

Yesterday a Canadian newspaper interview with Alan Doyle was circulated via social media and in particular on the GBS Online Kitchen Party Facebook page. The interview with Alan Doyle stated Great Big Sea were for “lack of a better word happily retired.” The fans took to social media yet again (as they did two years ago when Sean McCann announced he was leaving the band) to write about how much Great Big Sea meant to them as a fan, what this meant for the fandom and their future as fans. Some were upset they may never see the band together again and fans comforted each other as they had done when Sean McCann first announced he was quitting and left. Other fans wrote how grateful one of the band members of the group had finally said it and they knew where they stood.

As I skimmed through the posts it occurred to me many of the fans had failed to read Bob Hallett’s tweet via Twitter today “It was news to him” they were “happily retired”.

So where does this leave the fandom? Some fans are still upset they may never see the band that brought so much happiness, good times and memories to their lives again. Other fans like me have moved on from Great Big Sea along with the musicians themselves. While we are grateful in how their music and personalities have changed our lives I personally am enjoying the Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies ride on the So Let’s Go Tour and now the Barenaked Ladies Tour. 

There is no shortage of music specials, videos, interviews, articles and fan material to consume in that I am finding it difficult to keep up. Other fans travel through the fandoms going to concerts, shows and movies of Great Big Sea members and their friends. I gather for them the focus is on the friendships they have made and the new music being produced.

I believe the fans will see Great Big Sea again sooner rather than later. The music industry is a hard business. For fans it doesn’t matter whether you go to an Alan Doyle or a Sean McCann show you will always get a little bit of Great Big Sea in the mix of their new music. Fans should not forget most of all to be happy the boys of Great Big Sea are happy in their new solo careers in life after Great Big Sea. 

    

The article is copied below and circulated on my Google + page.

‘Doyle’s loving life as a solo act’ by Christopher Tessmer, for Regina Leader-Post, Regina Leader~Post November 5, 2015 (no copyright infringement intended)

Alan Doyle, best known as frontman for the beloved folk pop-rock group Great Big Sea, knows all too well how vast a country Canada is.

Touring in support of his second solo album So Let’s Go, which includes a stop tonight at the Casino Regina Show Lounge, the Newfoundlander travelled 11 hours by plane to the tour’s first gig in Prince George.

“Everything is a little harder as you get older,” he chuckles, describing the flights. “I still think it’s a privilege to get to do what I do but the flights and all that stuff tend to kick your butt. You sort of get used to it and it all works out and I’m just grateful to get the gig.”

Although Doyle and his backing band, The Beautiful Gypsies, have been making their way back to the East Coast as the opening act for the Barenaked Ladies cross-Canada tour, the genial musician will take advantage of tour day off with a headlining show here tonight.

Not that being an opener for BNL has really required a day off.

“I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to be the opening act,” laughs Doyle, “because most of the nuts and bolts of the touring is already handled. All of the stresses and energy that requires is looked after by the headline act typically. It’s the Barenaked Ladies tour and I’m just a guest and a support guy. We really don’t have to do a real lot except show up and get the audience going.

“There’s a lot of interplay between the two bands, and we’re jamming together and whatnot, but when you’re touring as the opening band you tend to get all of the good parts and none of the worst parts.”

Ask Doyle to play and chances are he’ll find a way to show up.

“My heart and soul has always been in playing concerts. I’m happy to be No. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 8 on a festival bill. I’m always grateful just to be there, to be honest with you. It’s kind of nice to have a bit of variety where sometimes you headline and other times you’re supporting someone else, much like sometimes you play festivals and other times you may be performing in a theatre. I really enjoy the variety of it all.”

Variety has been something the 46-year old entertainer has gotten accustomed to since Great Big Sea performed their last show nearly two years ago.

“We’re all struggling to define what the status of Great Big Sea is right now. As most people know, at the end of 2013 — after our 20th Anniversary tour — Sean (McCann) quit and left the band. We spent a length of time — a year or so — to find an amicable way that Bob (Hallett) and I could continue without him. We couldn’t, so we came to the realization that we didn’t want to go on like that. We don’t want to fight for the spoils of it. For the lack of a better term, the band is now happily retired.”

Without the commitment of Great Big Sea, Doyle will not be lacking for things to do as Doyle enjoys being able to set his own schedule giving him more time to be a father and husband, when he’s not busy as an author, actor, music producer, and anything else people throw his way.

“I’ve always had kind of a full plate,” he acknowledges. “I have this new band that I’m touring with, The Beautiful Gypsies, and I’m really, really loving playing with them and I look forward to whatever comes next with those guys. It’s a great band, it’s great fun, and it’s very versatile and I’m really enjoying it. People have been really thrilled with this new band at concerts so it’s working out well I think.

“They’re such good players in their own right. I’ve known Corey Tetford for over 20 years in Newfoundland and he’s one of the best guitarists and singers the province has ever produced. The other players, Kendel (Carson), Kris (Macfarlane), Shehab (Illyas), and Todd (Lumley) are equally great. It’s really fun to be surrounded by a freight train of sound. It’s the kind that goes on without me and it’s something that I never really had before being part of a pop-based band.

“Great Big Sea,” Doyle continues, “was very intentionally melody-based between the singing and the acoustic guitar. That was always the driving force, even after adding drums and other instrumentation. It was always about Sean or myself on the acoustic guitars and vocals. With this group that kind of structure can come from any of the six of us onstage.”

Promising to play a set of songs from his solo records, Great Big Sea catalogue, and Newfoundland traditional music, Doyle likens it to “a real kitchen party night out.”

“We’re doing a full 90-minute set in Regina, which I’m looking forward to as we haven’t played a lot since we left for this tour. I’m looking forward to that, and I’ve never been to (the Casino Regina Show Lounge) in all the times I’ve been to Regina. The last I heard tickets were almost sold out for the show so people should gobble them up. I’m also excited to be back there because I didn’t get to play there on the last run. I’m so glad we get to come and it’s great that people are coming out in such big numbers. It’s going to be awesome.

Lynda Here, Sean McCann And Honourable Stances…A fan's response to a Facebook post.

“I wish former band members could resist the urge to talk negatively about their erstwhile band. Doing so isn’t particularly kind either to their former band mates or to the fans of that band. And it is particularly troublesome when that former band member is still getting PR assistance from the very band “machine” that’s being talked badly about. Add blocking people on social media when they ask questions about any of this and it’s not the prettiest picture. Hope it changes for the better soon” Lynda Here Facebook 1 November 2015

Recently on her Facebook page Lynda Here initiated a post that criticized Sean McCann, his alleged negative comments on his time with Great Big Sea in interviews and articles and the Great Big Sea publicity machine still promoting Sean’s concerts and work on their site. Some fans responded to join in the public bashing of Sean McCann while others did not think his comments were negative. I did not read all the posts due to their length.

I am wondering why Lynda Here is really concerned with Sean McCann’s comments in recent articles and interviews about his years with Great Big Sea, the publicity machine promoting his shows and whether fans are blocked for disagreeing and questioning this use. To be honest I don’t really care as Sean has the right to say what he wants and fans the right to respond. Most fans I assume are intelligent human beings and can make up their own minds and validate their own experiences with Great Big Sea. Why is there a need by Lynda Here to control and interfere in everything Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle do? Why can't the professionals who manage Great Big Sea be left alone to do what they think is best for those they are managing without fan interference?

My blog for one part evolved out of the Lynda Here amateur publicity machine, it’s biased interpretations of the Great Big Sea concerts she attended, the lack of inclusion of other members of Great Big Sea in photographs and her bootlegged videos on her posts, and her constant attempts to cause trouble and undermine Great Big Sea on nearly every major event in their careers and in particular on social media. I have written about this in great detail in the early years of my blog writing. And the posts are still there if anybody wishes to visit. 

I certainly can understand why Lynda doesn’t like Sean McCann. He has never acknowledged her while a member of Great Big Sea or shown any kind of appreciation for the kind of fan generated publicity she does at least on social media. Yet, since Sean McCann left Great Big Sea he seems to be rolling along nicely with the assistance of the fan generate publicity machine. Sean McCann has been supported by a number of fans who cross the fandoms to attend concerts from Canada, the US and England. They have taken some great photographs, amazing bootlegs and shared some wonderful stories via social media. Sean has been sharing them via his own social media accounts as well as the fan sites. I have written some stories and shared a few here which I have thought were really brilliant even the bootlegs. 

I thought Lynda Here would be as happy as a pig in mud following Alan Doyle around and who is now star of his own show. Perhaps before criticising Sean's PR methods and comments she should look at her own. Firstly her PR on social media. On social media and in particular Twitter Lynda Here is only interested in promoting her own photographs and bootlegs. She definitely doesn’t acknowledge or share any professional or fan stuff such as photographs that may be in competition to her own or if she does it is only vary rarely. She doesn’t even retweet or share anything including articles and interviews about Alan Doyle and his own tweets on Twitter without her own face and name on it. This has on many occasions got her credit where the original tweet hasn’t in people’s timelines.

I love Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Gypsies photographs and think their social media usage is brilliant. Alan Doyle and his photographs shared on Instagram attract hundreds of hits and seemed to be really enjoyed and appreciated by the fans much more than any fan generate material. So he is better off doing his own.

Lynda Here wrote on another Facebook post as part of the same original post “…he’s (Sean) accepting PR backing from GBS. That’s not the most honourable stance. And it’s not a kind path to take either to those band members who are being heroically discreet about him, not to all the GBS fans who have years of loving their music and shows. He is now dismissing them as insincere and most of all not kind to himself…”

An interesting comment from someone who bases her idea of a good PR on derivative works, deliberate pirating and bootlegging which are in most circumstances illegal and breach basic copyright. In the past Lynda Here has also pirated and bootlegged their music to death by putting up multiple copies of songs and not all of them great quality. She has bootlegged and pirated music specials in competition to their own. Then there are hundreds of poor quality photographs in particular of Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea on the Internet.   

Before criticising Sean McCann about his PR methods she should really look at herself and her own fandom generated publicity. There is a need by Lynda Here to control and interfere in everything Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle do. The professionals who manage Great Big Sea cannot be left alone to do what they think is best for those they are managing. There is no question some of these musicians can not say no to her and she will respect their wishes. She has always done exactly what wants, whether or not in most circumstances it is in their best interests and regardless of the law. Those actions in my opinion is not an honourable stance.