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highlyeccentricGUESS WHO SAW GREAT BIG SEA LAST NIGHT? IN THEIR FIRST-EVER SYDNEY SHOW?
YES ME. Alsokayloulee. And it was fucking amazing.
It was... ok, I'm terrible at talking about music, but there were songs in the set list which had never done much for me - pretty much everything off Fortune's Favour which were electric in a live house. I discovered that the voice I'd been swooning over for years is not Alan Doyle but Sean McCann, but that Alan Doyle's songs are the punchy, mad, devil-may-care sexy ones. The house was packed with expat Canadians, the audience knew every damn word from the first track to the last, the sheer glee in the house was stunning. Everyone in the show, except the drummer, played at least two different instruments over the course of the night, and Bob was switching back and forth between guitar, electric fiddle, accordion and some kind of wind instrument like a champion. The acapella sea shanties were particularly breathtaking live, though.
So K and I got there just in time to snag the last two seats at the rail above the dancefloor (which had been turned into a dinner-and-show area). We ended up on friendly terms with some people who joined us on our section of the rail - a Canadian woman and her Australian friend, and his friends, who were lesbian folk music enthusiasts. I SPENT THE NIGHT SURROUNDED BY LESBIANS WHO LIKE FOLK MUSIC, YOU GUYS. It was a trial. Someone passed us a Canadian flag and we hung it over the rail and made a fuss of waving it about at strategic moments.
One of the women behind us turned out to be a chiropractor in training, and she first complimented my posture, and then, when I said I was being good because my physio said to, she couldn't stand not knowing what was wrong with me. So I got examined and felt up in a scholarly way. This is probably good, because obviously I'd forgotten how my physio taught me to stand, although I'm doing ok with sitting, and W. gave me more mental tricks for standing posture. And apparently I have a slight rotation on L4.
W. also did her best to shelter me from the space-encroaching dude next to me. He wasn't doing it on purpose, he was just trying to keep the walkway clear while still having his arm around his wife. W's protection wasn't necessary but I was charmed anyway. D'awww.
OK LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT SEAN MCANN.
Sean McCann is tall and rangy and dark blonde and he's kind of quiet but has a sly sense of humour and promised to 'remove his blouse' when they visit Bondi tomorrow. PLEASE DO, SIR. He also sings sexy folk songs. And he writes touching ballads, too.
In fact, no! I cannot do Sean McCann justice. I must quote Alan Doyle, who summed him up in the encore as: The Shanty man.... A firm believer in the drop bear! And the sexiest bodhran player alive. I include the Corrs in that. You hear that Sean? You're sexier than the Corrs! (Cue Sean making "what can I say?" shrug)
There's also kayloulee's description: I would like a Sean McCann of my very own. To be my personal troubadour. I SECOND THIS WISH.
Sean McCann on Australia:
- "It's hard to conceive of Australia as a penal colony. A penal colony. People got sent here as a punishment. What did my ancestors do to end up in Newfoundland?"
NOW I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT ALAN DOYLE
Alan Doyle is a giant happy puppy and he bounces everywhere. His ego can be seen from space and he flirts with everything that moves (but especially the bassist, Murray). He dresses like a scruffy metal rocker - black jeans, tight black t-shirt, and what looked like either a leather vest or some kind of shiny synthetic waistcoat, with shoulder-length hair which he thrases about at every opportunity. His hairline is receding and he's getting tubby around the midsection but he's still bouncing about like an overgrown teenager.
If Sean McCann's voice is for swooning to, Alan's voice and general demeanour is for jumping at without preamble. He's just... he's ridiculous and he sings things like Straight to Hell and he's a goofball on stage and and and. Some lucky lady in the crowd got "Happy Birthday" sung to her by GBS and the entire crowd, lucky her, and then Alan proceeded to tell her how good looking she was today.
I present to you Alan Doyle, on the subject of Australia:
- "The women are gorgeous here! [rousing cheer] And if you don't mind my saying so - the men aren't bad either."
- "It'd be just like Australia to have a nationally agreed-upon joke for torturing foreigners. JUST YOU WAIT TIL YOU COME TO NEWFOUNDLAND. WAIT TILL YOU MEET THE LAND SEALS."
Ahaha yes. Apparently the entire band fell for the drop bear gag on Thursday, making their walk through the Botanic Gardens very alarming. Alan was skeptical but Sean insisted that two Australians who'd never met each other before corroborated the story. By the end of the night Sean was demanding to know if platypuses were real, or wombats, etc etc. Alan tried to pretend he didn't believe in kangaroos. <3<3<3
I GUESS I SHOULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE OTHERS
Murray the bassist was on the far side of the stage, so I couldn't see much of him - except when at one point he plastered himself up against Alan, apparently to "learn" a riff from him. Excuses, excuses. Kris the drummer was stoic and drummer-like. Bob the accordion-and-fiddle man, though, he was adorable! He had a spiffy goatee and adorable blonde hair, and he wore a black shirt with embroidery which looked like it belonged on a tablecloth. He grinned a lot. He lead-sang for one track, too, although I can't actually recall which one.
ANYWAY. They sang aaaaalll the things, or at least, most of the memorable things. "Charlie Horse" is remarkably good live, for all that it annoys me on CD. I was a little disappointed they didn't do Rant and Roar, though.
Aaaand Sean did a cover of "Land Down Under" as the second or third track. I think they planned it in case the audience couldn't sing along to anything else? Well, this audience knew all their tracks, but certainly we roared our throats out for Land Down Under, because that is What You Do.
Also also I have just found Alan's blog and discovered that no one warned them about Australian customs. Until they got to Melbourne and found out about it the hard way. *Cackles* But also, I love their attitude:
TL;DR I had a fantastic time and we sang and danced and it was fantastic.
YES ME. Also
kayloulee. And it was fucking amazing. It was... ok, I'm terrible at talking about music, but there were songs in the set list which had never done much for me - pretty much everything off Fortune's Favour which were electric in a live house. I discovered that the voice I'd been swooning over for years is not Alan Doyle but Sean McCann, but that Alan Doyle's songs are the punchy, mad, devil-may-care sexy ones. The house was packed with expat Canadians, the audience knew every damn word from the first track to the last, the sheer glee in the house was stunning. Everyone in the show, except the drummer, played at least two different instruments over the course of the night, and Bob was switching back and forth between guitar, electric fiddle, accordion and some kind of wind instrument like a champion. The acapella sea shanties were particularly breathtaking live, though.
So K and I got there just in time to snag the last two seats at the rail above the dancefloor (which had been turned into a dinner-and-show area). We ended up on friendly terms with some people who joined us on our section of the rail - a Canadian woman and her Australian friend, and his friends, who were lesbian folk music enthusiasts. I SPENT THE NIGHT SURROUNDED BY LESBIANS WHO LIKE FOLK MUSIC, YOU GUYS. It was a trial. Someone passed us a Canadian flag and we hung it over the rail and made a fuss of waving it about at strategic moments.
One of the women behind us turned out to be a chiropractor in training, and she first complimented my posture, and then, when I said I was being good because my physio said to, she couldn't stand not knowing what was wrong with me. So I got examined and felt up in a scholarly way. This is probably good, because obviously I'd forgotten how my physio taught me to stand, although I'm doing ok with sitting, and W. gave me more mental tricks for standing posture. And apparently I have a slight rotation on L4.
W. also did her best to shelter me from the space-encroaching dude next to me. He wasn't doing it on purpose, he was just trying to keep the walkway clear while still having his arm around his wife. W's protection wasn't necessary but I was charmed anyway. D'awww.
OK LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT SEAN MCANN.
Sean McCann is tall and rangy and dark blonde and he's kind of quiet but has a sly sense of humour and promised to 'remove his blouse' when they visit Bondi tomorrow. PLEASE DO, SIR. He also sings sexy folk songs. And he writes touching ballads, too.
In fact, no! I cannot do Sean McCann justice. I must quote Alan Doyle, who summed him up in the encore as: The Shanty man.... A firm believer in the drop bear! And the sexiest bodhran player alive. I include the Corrs in that. You hear that Sean? You're sexier than the Corrs! (Cue Sean making "what can I say?" shrug)
There's also kayloulee's description: I would like a Sean McCann of my very own. To be my personal troubadour. I SECOND THIS WISH.
Sean McCann on Australia:
- "It's hard to conceive of Australia as a penal colony. A penal colony. People got sent here as a punishment. What did my ancestors do to end up in Newfoundland?"
NOW I MUST TELL YOU ABOUT ALAN DOYLE
Alan Doyle is a giant happy puppy and he bounces everywhere. His ego can be seen from space and he flirts with everything that moves (but especially the bassist, Murray). He dresses like a scruffy metal rocker - black jeans, tight black t-shirt, and what looked like either a leather vest or some kind of shiny synthetic waistcoat, with shoulder-length hair which he thrases about at every opportunity. His hairline is receding and he's getting tubby around the midsection but he's still bouncing about like an overgrown teenager.
If Sean McCann's voice is for swooning to, Alan's voice and general demeanour is for jumping at without preamble. He's just... he's ridiculous and he sings things like Straight to Hell and he's a goofball on stage and and and. Some lucky lady in the crowd got "Happy Birthday" sung to her by GBS and the entire crowd, lucky her, and then Alan proceeded to tell her how good looking she was today.
I present to you Alan Doyle, on the subject of Australia:
- "The women are gorgeous here! [rousing cheer] And if you don't mind my saying so - the men aren't bad either."
- "It'd be just like Australia to have a nationally agreed-upon joke for torturing foreigners. JUST YOU WAIT TIL YOU COME TO NEWFOUNDLAND. WAIT TILL YOU MEET THE LAND SEALS."
Ahaha yes. Apparently the entire band fell for the drop bear gag on Thursday, making their walk through the Botanic Gardens very alarming. Alan was skeptical but Sean insisted that two Australians who'd never met each other before corroborated the story. By the end of the night Sean was demanding to know if platypuses were real, or wombats, etc etc. Alan tried to pretend he didn't believe in kangaroos. <3<3<3
I GUESS I SHOULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE OTHERS
Murray the bassist was on the far side of the stage, so I couldn't see much of him - except when at one point he plastered himself up against Alan, apparently to "learn" a riff from him. Excuses, excuses. Kris the drummer was stoic and drummer-like. Bob the accordion-and-fiddle man, though, he was adorable! He had a spiffy goatee and adorable blonde hair, and he wore a black shirt with embroidery which looked like it belonged on a tablecloth. He grinned a lot. He lead-sang for one track, too, although I can't actually recall which one.
ANYWAY. They sang aaaaalll the things, or at least, most of the memorable things. "Charlie Horse" is remarkably good live, for all that it annoys me on CD. I was a little disappointed they didn't do Rant and Roar, though.
Aaaand Sean did a cover of "Land Down Under" as the second or third track. I think they planned it in case the audience couldn't sing along to anything else? Well, this audience knew all their tracks, but certainly we roared our throats out for Land Down Under, because that is What You Do.
Also also I have just found Alan's blog and discovered that no one warned them about Australian customs. Until they got to Melbourne and found out about it the hard way. *Cackles* But also, I love their attitude:
The promoter wondered if we would cancel the show. I said, Sir, we played a gig 10 hours after our tour bus flipped over. There is no way we came all this way to not play. If we have to do 90 minutes of Shanties, that’s what we’ll do. The promoters and local folks were awesome. We begged borrowed and rented two acoustic gtrs, the only button accordion in Melbourne, I think, and I bought the last pair of whistles and harmonicas at the local music store. Sean was going to tip a bongo on its side and use it for a bodhran. We line checked some of the stuff just before doors and we were ready to dive in for better or for worse.
TL;DR I had a fantastic time and we sang and danced and it was fantastic.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-06 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-10 10:22 am (UTC)