Okay, for anyone who follows this blog
regularly, you’ll know that on Sunday past (June 10th), I attended
Alan Doyle’s show at Club One. But it was not just the show that was fantastic,
the whole day was. So, if you’ll permit me, dear readers, I’d like to tell you
about the whole day.
It all started around 9 in the morning in
my hometown of Garden Cove. My sister-of-the-heart Sile (pronounced Sheila) and
I had gone up there the night before as we were going to be getting a ride in
with my mother and stepfather. We got up, got ready, and then we left Garden
Cove around quarter after 11. We made it into St. John’s a little after 1,
where we met up with my cousin Donna. She had agreed to drop us off at the
hostel so we could pay for our accommodations for the night.
So, we get to the hostel and pay for said
accommodations for the night (Hi-City Hostel, St. John’s- fabulous place by the
way. Great staff and wonderful service) and then drop off our things. Wouldn’t
you know it that the overflow house (where our room was) for the hostel is
right across the street from the house the Doyles live in on the hit CBC show Republic of Doyle? What luck, and what a
view! Anyways, I digress. We left the hostel and then headed to Leo’s Fish and
Chips because she and I both wanted it. Too bad that I forgot it’s closed on
Sundays. Oh well, we’ll hit it up next time for sure.
Seeing as how Leo’s was closed, we decided
to start walking back. We had time to kill, so we decided to pop into the Duke
of Duckworth pub to eat. As we were nearing the Duke, who would my eyes spot
but the opener for the show that night- Dustin Bentall, with his
girlfriend/band mate and also fiddle player for the Alan Doyle band- Kendel
Carson! I didn’t say hi though, as I was too nervous to. They left the Duke, as
it was busy as all get out, and after a few minutes, Sile and I left as well.
On the way back to the hostel, we got lost
(oops!) and had to use Sile’s phone to get Google Maps and find out where the
hell we were going. We eventually did, and although we got back there later
than we had planned to, it didn’t bother us all that much. It was then that we
decided to start getting ready for the show (it was only nearing 4 in the
afternoon!) as we had planned to meet up with a friend before the show for a
meal and a drink. As we got ready, and I was charging my phone, a tweet came
through from Kendel, who I had tweeted earlier in the day “ya should have said
hi! See you tonight at club one! :) ”, she said.
I squealed, not believing my luck!
By 5 minutes after 5 we were ready and made
our way back down to the Duke of Duckworth pub. It was still busy, but not as
bad as before, so Sile and I sat in a booth and waited for my friend, and
another sister-of-the-heart, Amelia, to arrive. That was around 5:30 or so. Amelia
and a friend of hers, Sara (not sure if that’s the correct spelling or not)
showed up just a few minutes later. We sat and chatted for a while, had something to eat, and then about 6:30 we
left the Duke and headed towards Club One, the venue for Alan’s show that
night. We got there a little before 7, and then the waiting started. By quarter
to eight, there was a pretty decent lineup for the show, and you can only guess
who was at the very front of the line. If you guessed me, you’re right. Yours
truly was the very first person in through the doors of Club One that night,
with Sile hot on my heels (literally). As soon as I got inside, I made a
beeline straight for the stage. I looked at the set-up of the mikes- there were
three of them, and quickly determined that Alan was in the middle. I took my
spot there, and it was there I stayed for the rest of the night.
As the staff at the show were a little late
in opening the doors, the show was a little late in starting. The opener for
the night, Dustin Bentall, came on around 25 minutes to 9. He did several songs
on his own- Emmy Lou and several
others that escape me right now if anyone is reading this and knows the titles,
please tell me) and then brought on his girlfriend Kendel to do a few songs
with him! It was during this time that I was truly impressed with the youngest
of the Bentalls! For those of you who don’t know, Dustin’s father is Barney
Bentall; a very well-known musician! I think with songs like Sharpshooter and Emmy Lou, Dustin is well on his way to following in his father’s
footsteps and have a wonderful career in music!
At about 20 minutes after 9, the man we had
all been waiting to see took the stage. Alan was in fine form this night;
dressed in a dark shirt and vest, and a very nice pair of jeans (the view from
where I was standing was quite pleasant). The crowd, including myself, was at
fever pitch, and we were more than ready to rock by this point. The set list
for the night looked like this:
With the crowd ready to rock, Alan and his
band (Cory Tetford- guitar and keys,
Kendel Carson- fiddle and tambourine, Kris MacFarlane- drums, and Shehab
Iliyas- bass) launched into the first song. From the outset, anyone present
could tell that this was going to be one hell of a show, and certainly Alan
could too. At one point he remarked that it was the last night of the tour and
that he was going to leave it all on the stage. And leave it there he did, but
that part of our story is later to come, dear readers.
The next song was Break It Slow. Since I first bought the album on release day, this
song had quickly become a favourite. Seeing it live has only strengthened my
opinion of the song. I love it even more now than I did the first time I heard
it! The crowd was already bouncing by this time, and showed no signs of letting
up! My Day, perhaps a very fitting
song for this night, as it was truly Alan’s day, and nothing was going to ruin
it, not on this, the most important night of the tour. Alan was beaming from
ear-to-ear, and if he was tired at all (which I think he was) he never let on
for a moment.
The next song was Where The Nightingales Sing or as it was titled on the set list, Nightingale. Alan told the story of how
he wanted to write a song that his mother could be proud of, and that since
nobody wrote waltzes anymore, that he would write a waltz. And with his parents
in the crowd, there was no more fitting a song to do that night.
He talked about being on the Newfoundland
Herald, and me, knowing that I had the perfect reason to hold it up, did so.
Alan came over, and with my camera rolling and capturing the moment, plucked
said Newfoundland Herald from my hands. It was then that he gleefully held it up
on stage for everyone to see, because as everyone in Newfoundland knows, you’ve
truly made it when you get your picture on the cover of the Newfoundland
Herald! He returned the Herald to my
hands, and then proceeded to launch into the song.
Nightingale
was one song that I had wanted to get video of, but
because of the stumbling drunk, screaming-not singing lady (and I use the term
rather lightly) behind me, there was no way that the video would have been any
kind of decent. This particular person was a thorn in the sides of a lot of
people this night, what with her call of “I love you Alan” every five seconds.
Uh honey, I think he got the message the first dozen times you were calling his
name. Anyways, I’m not going to waste my breath ranting about her; she’s not
worth it. Instead I’ll smile at the picture in my head of the two dancing
lovers behind me. No prettier sight to see than that (and perhaps the smile on
Alan’s face).
The next two songs were songs that were
familiar to anybody who is a fan of Great Big Sea. Alan said that he had
thought that since these were songs that GBS does not often do, that it would
be cool to slip them into his own show so that fans could get a chance to hear
them. First up was Dance Dance, a fun
song that this writer has loved since its release on the 2008 Great Big Sea
record, Fortune’s Favour. The crowd
was especially bouncing along with this one, and my friends and I couldn’t help
but beam from ear-to-ear as we danced along and sang every word.
Hit
the Ground and Run was next and had a very
delightful intro. Mr. Doyle was saying that if you look on the package (of a
condom) that it says on there that it’s 99.9 percent effective. And he supposed
that if you beat those odds, and were that 0.1 percent, that you were likened
to Superman. This got no shortage of giggles from band mate and fellow guitar
player Cory, and master of the drums, Kris MacFarlane. Kendel was snickering
too, come to think of it. Not surprising from the man that Russell Crowe
(co-writer of the song) refers to as doubly funny; both ha-ha and peculiar. Towards
the middle of the song, Alan launched into intros. First Cory, who he
supposedly met in Clarenville in 1917, all the way from Central Newfoundland.
He thought he had a great voice then, and still thinks so now. Next was Kendel,
hailing all the way from Vancouver Island, BC. She did a wicked fiddle solo;
methinks Bob better watch out- he might have some competition). The whole song
in total lasted over 7 minutes, and I promise that as soon as I get the chance,
I will be uploading video of this spectacular song to YouTube.
Northern
Plains was
next, and I have to admit that when I first heard a clip of the song on Amazon,
I was a bit iffy about it. I was not sure if it was my cup of tea. But when I
got the CD and heard the whole song, it fast became a song that I fell in love
with. It was especially lovely on this night, and Kendel’s fiddle made the song
just that little bit more haunting. It was a treat for the ears on this night.
Even I was swaying back and forth with this one.
Next up was the part of the show that I was
looking forward to the most; the twitter requests section. The first request on
this night was Something Beautiful, a
song that Alan said many people had requested, and that he was more than happy
to do, but that he also had a personal reason for performing the song. I’m not
sure if you all know who Dr. Jack Hand is, but he passed away earlier in the
week, and as Alan had admired the man for all that he had done, Something Beautiful was the perfect way to honour him.
When it came time to do the second twitter
request, Alan asked us if it was okay if he could be selfish and do his own
request. Of course we didn’t mind. Alan called his father to the stage, that
gleam in his eyes. “I know what he’s thinking,” Alan proclaimed gleefully.
“He’s thinking ‘that bastard is gonna pay me for this!” Well that certainly got
the crowd laughing. A spotlight went out on the crowd, searching for the older
of the Doyles, and Alan grinned and proudly said, “You can call him Tom, but I
call him Dad.”
Tom got to the stage then, and tested the
mikes to see which one was working best. He chose his son’s mike (not a bad one
to choose, in my opinion) and laughed, “We’re gonna do Three Dog Night.” Alan
laughed at his father, as did several people in the audience (Sile would have
loved to have heard it), and then said “Say something amusing while I tune my
guitar.” Tom grinned, obviously loving the idea, “He still can’t tune a
guitar,” and “What happened to all your roadies; they all gone?” And with that
all-too familiar gleam in his eyes (methinks it’s where Alan gets it from)
turned and looked at the crowd and said, “He’s broke.” Alan hung his head,
laughing, clearly embarrassed by his dear ol Dad. He finished tuning his
guitar, and then started playing Berry
Picking Time. I don’t think either of them could have smiled bigger if they
had tried. The crowd was absolutely loving this, and you could hear people
singing along. My camera was on them the whole time, not wanting to miss a
thing. At the end of the song, there was an embrace between father and son, and
Alan proudly declared “70 years old and he still commands the stage.”
This was followed by an absolutely lovely The Rules Will All Be Broken, simply
called The Rules on this night. Cory
played keys on this one, and Alan poured his heart and soul into it. I fell in
love with this song at first listen, but it was far more impressive live. It’s
a moment that I won’t soon forget. Then came Paper In Fire, a song I had only seen on video, never live. The
band was on fire for this one, and I’m sure that it was clear to everyone
present that the band was absolutely enjoying themselves on stage, as well they
should.
The electric came out again, and my eyes
were on that lovely Gibson 335 and the man holding it. As I could see the set
list the whole night, I knew that he was going to do Light the Way. “Let’s have a sing along” Alan declared, and started
singing the chorus. The crowd sang along with every word, and there was no way
to wipe the smile off the face of a man who was truly in his element.
As he introduced Testify, the next song of the evening, Alan joked that he wrote the
next two songs and the last one with a struggling actor named Russell Crowe.
The crowd, including myself busted out into a fit of laughter. He went on to
say how he thinks he had his big break on Republic
of Doyle and that he has a bright future. Poor Russell, not even there to
defend himself from his buddy’s teasing. Oh well, I’m sure he gives as good as
he gets. The song, on which Alan played acoustic guitar this night, was
haunting. Kris’s drums made it even more so, and it was a treat for the eyes
and the ears to see all hands so into what they were doing. Sile and I waved
our arms at the word “Down” (watch the video for Russell’s version) only adding
to our fun.
Not long after he left the stage, the crowd
started chanting his name, “Alan, Alan, Alan, Alan!” Well, let me tell you now,
it didn’t take him long to respond to that. Not two minutes after he had left
the stage, he came back out a smile spreading from one ear to the other. Cory
went back over to the keys and they started Lovers
Hands. This song done live is far more impressive than on the CD, and had
me nearly melted into a puddle by the time Alan had finished performing it. I
don’t think I’ll ever hear it quite the same way again.
Our opener, Dustin, came back out for the
next song, 3000 Miles, a song I had
not heard (despite the fact that there was video of it). I am glad that I had never
seen it before that night, because it gave me the chance to listen to the song
with fresh ears, and to have no outside opinion. It was a delight to watch, as
the whole band frolicked and played up on that stage like they had done it a
million times.
Straight
to Hell; my beloved Straight to Hell; I can’t tell you how much I missed this song. For
all my proclamations about loving country music, and that Newfoundland music is
what I’m all about, I am truly a rock girl at heart. This was no different on Sunday
as I banged my head along with the music. Alan did a devilishly-wicked solo on
this night (also caught on my camera) and had the crowd eating out of his palms
(as well they should have). If he was aiming to please this concert goer on
Sunday night, he picked the perfect song to do it with. As the band left the
stage for Alan to do the night’s final song on his own, drummer and fellow GBS
band mate Kris was seen patting him on the back, a well-deserved “well done” on
this night. But the very best was about to come.
Alan sang Belong then, and I’d heard accounts from friends who had seen other
shows on the tour that there are usually tears in his eyes when he opens them.
Well this night was no different. He started into the song, his voice nearly
spent; his energy reserves nearly depleted. His eyes closed, Alan put his all
into the song, clearly not wanting to disappoint the home crowd. When he opened
his eyes, there were indeed tears in them, and you could feel your heart break
for him then. The passion and intensity he puts into the song isn’t there by
accident, and it’s plain to see how much the song means to him. He got a second
wind then as the crowd cheered him on, helping to bring him across the finish
line of the show. When he finished, he was beaming. He thanked the crowd for
coming (when it should have been us thanking him- and indeed many people did)
and then finally left the stage.
My feet were killing me by this point
(piece of advice: never wear 4” heels to a club show) but I was on a mission. There
were several people that I wanted to meet and get pictures with. So Sile and I
set out around to walk around the club floor and see who we could see. First up
was Dustin Bentall, with who I got both a picture and a chat. He was so sweet; I
sure hope that he comes back this way again.
I was talking to Amelia after that, saying
that I was looking for celebrities, and she pointed out to me that Mark Critch
(of 22 Minutes fame) was standing
over near the bar. I waited til he was finished talking to his friend, and then
politely asked for a picture, to which Mark agreed. As he was getting a picture
with Sile, I was telling him that she was a new Newfoundlander, had only been
here three months; moved here in March. He was impressed with me for getting
her to move here, and even more impressed with her for moving.
Next up was Cory, whom I had tweeted
earlier in the week asking for a picture. He had agreed over Twitter, and so a
picture was clearly in order. I waited until he was finished talking to who he
was talking to, and then he turned my way. “Hi there!” he exclaimed, giving me
a hug. I beamed. “My mother told me that I had to tell you to tell Alan that
it’s about time that he had a good Pentecost boy playing for him.” Cory
laughed, “I’m going to tell him that,” he said. I told him that I had tweeted
him earlier in the week asking for a picture. “That was you?” he grinned, and I
nodded. “Well are we going to get a picture?”
Of course I agreed, and we got a shot. After Sile got her shot with him,
I introduced them, and then Cory thanked us for coming. We smiled back, and
then headed across the room, to my main focus of the night.
Alan; there he was, dog-tired, but still
hanging around for his fans. I waited for him to turn my way, and when he
noticed me standing there, he came down the couple stairs that separated the
table area from the floor. He pulled me in for a hug (which shocked the hell
out of me as it was something I had always wanted) and said, “Thanks for coming
tonight love.” I grinned back, glowing from the hug, “Wouldn’t have missed it.”
He saw my Newfoundland Herald again and looked over at me, boyish delight
clearly showing in his green eyes, “Can I read that? I haven’t seen it yet.” I
nodded and passed the Herald to him, and he flicked through it to find the
article about himself. Now for anyone who hasn’t read it, right next to the
last page of the article about Alan is a short one page review of the recent
Chris Deburgh show in St. John’s. “Holy Shite,” Alan exclaimed, “It’s me and
Chris Deburgh! That’s friggin awesome!”
My CDs and his set list (which I had
managed to snag as it had been right within my reach) all got signed (Safe Upon
the Shore got a ‘Cheers’ as did the Newfoundland Herald, and the Boy on Bridge
CD with ‘Thanks’) at this point. As you can see by the picture of the list
posted above, he signed it with “Last night of the tour” along with his
signature smiley face. He had to confirm with Sile that it was indeed June 10th,
and once he had, wrote down the date on it as well. We got a picture together
(for the first time in over three years) and so did Sile (her first time
meeting him). Now I’m not normally a girl that likes photos of herself, but the
picture of me and Alan was the best one that we’ve ever had together (and we’ve
had three previous ones). We (Sile and I) got a photo with him in the middle,
one that we have both agreed gets blown up to an 8” by 10” and framed for our
new apartment.
As it’s a surprise, I can’t say who he
signed something for, but I’m pretty confident that when said friend gets said
item that I will be in the running for “friend of the year” and that I will
hear her scream all the way from her hometown! Also got a birthday autographed
for Carolyn (like we said we would), and then left Alan alone.
Kendel was next, and she was incredibly
sweet. She loved Sile’s dress and agreed that they were hair twins. We both got
pictures with her, and then chatted some more, and then after looking but
unsuccessfully locating Kris, I finished the last of my second drink at the
club, and we headed outside. Right outside the Club, someone spoke to me. At
first I couldn’t understand why he was or who he was, but then it hit me,
“Spencer!” He had noticed me in the crowd as he was recording the show for CBC,
and had to let me know by in-boxing me on FB; totally sweet.
All in all, Sunday June 10th
will go down as the most magical night of my life. I still can’t believe it all
happened, and it’s been almost a week. I even wrote a poem to sum up my
thoughts about the show, and if you’ll permit me, I’ll share it here with you
all:
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My day had been amazing
I'd hung out with my friends
But little did I know
The best was yet to begin
You left it all on the stage
On the last night of the tour
And if you could have given it
You would have given us more
After the show was over
And people had started to leave
I made my way over to where you stood
And then you noticed me
You smiled and pulled me in for a hug
Something I've always dreamed of
And then with that same smile on your face
You said "thanks for coming tonight love."
You'll never know what that meant to me
It's a feeling that can't be put into words
Your lyrics they rang true that night
You have to dream out loud to be heard
If I could relive that night again
I'd do it without hesitation
Six hours and heels and hurting legs
But you surpassed my expectations
If I could bottle up Sunday
And keep it for the ages
I would keep it close to my heart
And I would call it magic
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Krista
pictures from the concert can be viewed here
