Alan
Doyle@alanthomasdoyle One of the finest nights of my life in NYC tonight.
Thanks so much. 17 March, 2017.
Bob Hallett@bobhallett Great fun playing with my friend @alanthomasdoyle in NYC last night. Headed to @Erinspub now via many airports…17 March, 2017.
B.B. King Bar and Grill was definitely the place to be in New York City on the 16 March, 2017. Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies with their guest bass guitarist and former Great Big Sea member Murray Foster were going to take the stage that night. The night before Great Big Sea member Bob Hallett was also in New York City to attend a special performance of the Newfoundland hit musical ‘Come From Away’. So with Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett, Murray Foster and Kris MacFarlane (four fifths of Great Big Sea) within three blocks of each other, they wasted no time in organising a mini reunion that included some Newfoundlanders performing in ‘Come From Away’.
There wasn’t a lot shared on social media by the fans that were lucky enough to be there. These fans just preferred to be in the moment enjoying the music. A couple of great photographs, videos and a copy of the set list were shared by fans on the On-Line Kitchen Party, A Great Big Sea Community Forum on Facebook. Alan Doyle and The Beautiful Gypsies rocked the house with some old favourites from the ‘Boy on Bridge’ album and the ‘So Let’s Go’ album like “I’ve Seen A Little’, ‘Testify’, ‘1, 2,3, 4’ and ‘Shine On’ . There were also some new songs including ‘Ready To Go’, ‘Row Me Bully Boys’ and ‘Forever Light Will Shine’. Then there were some Great Big Sea favourites including ‘When I’m Up’, ‘Old Black Rum’, ‘Run, Run Away’ and ‘Sea Of No Cares’ which the fans danced and sang along too.
The fans erupted when Bob Hallett walked on stage to perform with Alan and The Gypsies for four songs. He opened with ‘Come And I Will Sing You’. Despite the Great Big Sea hiatus rolling on to four years since the last concert, Bob and his accordion were right where he belonged. Bob looked liked he enjoyed every minute of being on stage and Alan and the band loved having him there. Together they went on to perform ‘Ordinary Day’ and ‘Lukey’s Boat’. For the final number they were joined on stage by two members of the ‘Come From Away’ cast Petrina Bromley and Romano Di Nillo and sang the Newfoundland classic ‘Sonny’s Dream’. From the videos it looked like the artists and musicians as well as the fans loved every minute it.
I have included a copy of some photographs of the artists and musicians on stage that were kindly shared on social media. I have also included a copy of the set list. Videos including Bob Hallett singing ‘Come And I Will Sing You’, ‘Ordinary Day’ and ‘Sonny’s Dream’ are available on the On-Line Kitchen Party, A Great Big Sea Community Forum or by searching YouTube. No copyright infringement intended.
