Ahhhhhhhh, what an incredible experience! I arrived at Mama Kin with my husband Bob and three
friends just before the doors opened at 9:00. The Front Room is *very* small, and it's long and
narrow, with the bar running down the left side and no more than ten tables along the right side.
Though we weren't the first people in the door, we were still able to get the front table, a good thing
because GBS wasn't due to play until 11:00. The club was calling the evening's lineup "College
Fest", so the place was packed with college kids, and it was obvious from the start that a lot of
them there specifically to see GBS. I got very excited when I realized that all of GBS's instruments
were lined up at the left side of the stage, and I took a couple of pictures of them. (Yes, I brought a
camera, and if the pictures come out I have some wicked photos of the evening!)
The first band came on at 10:00, and they were ok, but much too loud. We had to stuff bits of
napkin in our ears to avoid permanent hearing loss. As soon as they were done, I left me seat to
stand up front. I ended up directly in front of Séan with only one person between me and the edge
of the stage, which was an excellent spot to get pictures of Alan. See, it's better to not take photos
of singers head on because the mic will always be in the way.
Shortly after 11:00, GBS came on stage to an excited, *packed* house. Here's the set list, exactly
as written on the original copy (more about that later!): ORD, DNKY, GOIN, BLACK, FAST,
PADDY, CONS, LUKEY, GENER, END, MARI, WHEN. They played two more songs as an
encore, so keeping in same style, they were: BAY, AUNTIE.
GBS took the stage at Mama Kin as the familiar be-be-beep's of "Ordinary Day" played on a tape
- do these guys know how to make an entrance or what? :-) Right away you could tell that the hall
was packed with GBS fans, cheering loudly before a single chord was strummed, then singing along
quite well. For "Donkey Riding", you could tell how many serious fans were there, since this song
isn't on "Rant and Roar". This was the first time I had heard it live, and the audience sang along
heartily in the chorus. When Séan sang the "Miramichi" verse, for "where the girls sit on your knee",
Alan raised one leg and pointed to its knee, *sigh*.... Séan changed "London town" to Boston
town, a thoughtful touch indeed.
In "Goin' Up", they barely had to teach us our "oh-oh-oh" part because we began singing it with
Alan immediately. Same thing with "Old Black Rum" - this audience was primed! "Fast as I Can"
was absolutely dreamy - I felt like I could melt from the tenderness in Alan's voice. Bob's whistle
solos were incredibly soulful and I was mesmerized by the movement of his fingers as he played.
Of course, Séan acted serious as he was introducing "Paddy Murphy", but as soon as he said it
was a serious song, we knew which song it was and began to cheer. Alan's facial expression during
that song were priceless, and at one point he stuck his tongue out at Séan and sort of wiggled it. I
assume that most of us were hearing "Consequence Free" for the first time, and we loved it. The
sing-a-long part was fun and very melodic. The song has a happy, rollicking beat along the style of
"Goin' Up", and I can't wait to hear it again!
"Lukey" was another song where we really didn't need to be taught our part, and Alan smiled at our
enthusiasm. We sang along with all the verses, too. Séan was typically intense for "General Taylor",
which I find thrilling performed live. Alan tried to fool us in the beginning of "End of the World", but
we caught on quickly. I was completely awed by the speed of his vocals - how does he do that???
He also tacked on a tiny bit of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" at the end. Sometimes I get so caught up
in his singing and stage antics that it's easy to forget how well he plays the guitar.
"Mari Mac" was loaded with manic energy, and once more we knew our part better that the b'ys
could have hoped for. I swear that they speed this up even more when they play it live, so while
Séan was rivaling Alan for the title of Fastest Vocalist, Bob was keeping up with all the craziness
on his fiddle. Then they played "When I'm Up", and it was clear that they had made us all feel UP
too! There was no way we could let them leave without coming back for an encore. They left the
stage for a brief moment, then came back and played "Excursion Around the Bay", which Darrell
looked too happy to be singing considering the subject matter, ;-) and "Auntie Mary", where we
loved that "up the leg of her drawers" line.
Throughout the entire show, the b'ys were definitely feeling UP and in the mood to PLAY. At one
point Alan said that Boston was their favorite American city, and I bet that he doesn't say that in
every American city that they play. Just about everything made him smile, he was in a very happy
and goofy mood. Séan seemed a wee bit reserved, but when a girl yelled out, "I love you Sean", he
said, "Thanks". His hair was combed in an almost Elvis like style, still streaked with blonde, and he
had nice sideburns. Bob was his usual cool and intense, and blew us all away with his amazing
solos. Darrell had a permanent grin on his face, no question how he was feeling!
There wasn't an excessive amount of stage banter, I think because the b'ys were trying to give us as
many songs as possible in a 50 minute set. Sometimes they ended one song and began the next
with little more that a pause. Alan was looking at the audience a lot, and I'm certain that I made eye
contact with him several times. I'll bet the guys noticed my NFLD flag t-shirt, too, because I was so
close to the front. A surprise advantage of being that close: Alan sometimes "sprays" a bit as he's
singing (especially during "End of the World"!), so it's likely that at least a drop of his saliva landed
on me. ;-) Of course there were many hilarious moments - one was while they were doing
"Excursion Around the Bay". It was quite warm in the club, and the b'ys faces glistened with
perspiration. As Darrell sang the line, "I rubbed pure oil on her face," Alan went over and rubbed
the sweat on Séan's cheek! Man, I wish I had gotten a picture of that.
After the set was over, I looked over after Danny had begun his teardown, and realized that the
original setlist was still on the stage where it had been at Séan's feet, so I grabbed it! I'm sure that it
was handwritten by Alan, after comparing it to the writing in his Smoked Cod Paté recipe. :-)
I waited for a few minutes to see if GBS would come back out for autographs, but one of my
friends had to be up early the next morning and I didn't want to inconvenience her. The club wasn't
set up well for autographs anyway, so I doubt that it happened, and they'll be back in the area in
less than two weeks.... But, while I was waiting, I noticed GBS's instrument cases lined up against
the left wall of the club, so I snapped some pictures of them. I could see some tags clearly on their
sides which said GBS 5 and so on. --Fran Egan
