The day started out not so early so the spot myself, my sister and her boyfriend got was
quite far back from the stage. We got in line at 10 am and got in to the grounds at about
11 am. We sent up camp, then the others (sister & boyfriend) left the grounds to go get
food for the day. I stayed behind and wandered and enjoyed any shade since there wasn't
going to be much of it that day, at least at mainstage. I went to meet Jenn and her
friends... that was great! We hung around at their spot, which was way better than
ours. I'm so glad that we got to meet... never did meet up with Tammy though. I couldn't
have gotten up as early as Jenn did. It didn't matter how bad my spot was since I was with
Jenn and Cathy for GBS.
I headed over to the sidestage where Alan was to play at about 215; it started at 230. I
think that all the people went to that show cause it was packed. Jann Arden and Alan on
the same stage... couldn't stop laughing. Jann started off ( can't remember what she sang)
then Alan ( can't remember what he started with either: Jenn feel free to fill in the
blanks), then Dan Bern who sang about his " big balls". Alan in the second round sang "
Boston & St. Johns " which he said he wrote between the last European tour and the start
of the US tour. He said that that was the only time he didn't want to go on tour and that it
was about leaving his girlfriend to go on tour. First time I ever heard any of the guys
mention girlfriends on stage. He then sang " Ordinary Day " and mentioned how it takes
him a really long time to write a song and it took Séan about 10 minutes to write the final
verse. The last song that he did wasn't one of GBS'(don't remember the name) and he
couldn't remember the words. heeheehee... It took him probably 10 minutes to get he last
verse. Of course Jann had to get in on this with her jokes. I guess Jann and GBS have
mutual friends and one them informed Jann that Alan had a crush on her... heehee... his
face when she said that. Séan brought it up again during the mainstage show and so did
Jann.
There was quite a bit of time until the guys went on at mainstage. I ran into Danny and he
was telling me that in NY the night before the guys had to do two songs so they decided to
do a cappella songs but chose to do ones that weren't theirs and messed up both songs big
time by forgetting the words.(Alan's stories became quite helpful)I tried and succeeded in
not spazzing when Bob walked by us and stopped to ask Danny something.
I ran into/ meet up with Jenn again who was headed to her seat, then we ran into Cathy
and chatted with her for quite awhile. Tried not to acknowledge Alan walking by a few
times. But you know I had to check him out... For the mainstage I crept up to join Jenn
and Cathy at the front of the stage. The guys came out starting with a couple lines of
Donkey Riding then jumped into Ordinary Day (I think). I would give the playlist but I
honestly don't remember it. The guys were amazing... had all 10,000 people up and
dancing right from the start. They also got an encore... played Excursion and Auntie
Mary.
I would have had some amazing photos of the guys since my sister loaned me her
telephoto/zoom camera. the only problem was ( I found out later) was that the film had
loaded properly so the film didn't wind at all. So my shots are non-existent... a figment of
my imagination. I wasn't happy with that.
Ended up with heat stroke and a sunburn but it was worth it. --Trish Duppereault
Well, I must say, my Sunday, July 26th was amazing.
My friend Vanda and I arrived at Folk Fest in Calgary to find that the day had been sold
out. (It's a good thing I had bought my tix the day after they went on sale in May!--way to
go b'ys! I'm sure you had something to do with it!) We got our program, and looked a the
schedule of events. We saw the names of the various bands that would be playing
throughout the day, and noticed Alan would be doing a workshop with Jann Arden and Dan
Bern called Influences. We didn't know what it was going to be about, but it didn't matter!
(after all - we were there to see GBS, and where Alan was going to be, we went!)hehehe...
The workshop involved the artists playing songs they had written, explaining the various
influences in their lives that lead to songwriting. Alan was his usual charming self, cracking
jokes and being humble as ever - he followed Jann Arden, saying he wasn't that good of a
songwriter, and he could never compare to Jann. I'd just like to point out that the songs
Alan writes (ex. Someday Soon, Fast as I Can, How Did We Get From Saying I Love You...,
etc...) have a tendency to hit a person right in the heart, nearly bringing tears to one's eyes.
These songs were no exception. None of them were on the albums currently released.
They were a refreshing plethora of talent, let me say! His song "Boston and St. John's"
really did make me cry! Alan was determined to play for us a song never before heard, and
though he forgot the last verse, he finally remembered it ten minutes later. It was great fun,
and the crowd loved him.
I must also say that Jann Arden was in top form, as always, playing before "her people"
(being a Calgarian herself).
Alan was very generous in signing autographs afterwards, and I made sure I was there!
*smile* Walking away from the venue, my friend and I ran into Sean, who was also very
good about being interrupted for an autograph. The b'ys are to be commended for the way
they handle their crazy fans.
The day wasn't over yet! The four day event was to end Sunday night, and the b'ys were the
second to last act to complete the finale at the mainstage that evening. They had a limited
amount of time, so they wasted none of it, belting out a high-energy, Celtic-pumped show
(as always...) for nearly 10,000 sun-drenched fans.
Calgary's own Jann Arden finished the festival with a wonderful concert for her hometown,
commenting that it was weird that she'd be leaving the park to go to sleep in her own bed.
Congratulations are in order for the organizers of the festival, who kept it running smoothly
with many great events and shows for us Calgarians.
So that's my report... wish you guys coulda been there! Thanx, guys for yet another great
GBS encounter! Keep it up! Western Canada Loves ya! --Raelyn Cyr
