Great Big Sea Jamming at the Metro, Chicago - 17.Mar.02Mar 19 '02 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line If you get a chance to attend a GBS concert - go! The music is high-energy, the boys are goofy on stage and having fun. You will too. PROS of the show: Fantastic GBS energy and overwhelming communal happy energy, beautiful and rich harmony from the boys CONS of the show: Drunk patrons, instrument mics turned up too high in relation to voice mics ------------- [Originally written on 18.Mar.02] It's 1:02am and I'm still on this buzz. I've had no caffeine, no alcohol, no nicotine - but I've just experienced one of the most energetic concerts I've ever been to. Not that I've been to a lot, but this is probably the only concert I've gone to where folks break into step-dancing instead of slam-dancing and the general atmosphere is one of insane happiness. It's just unnatural - but oh-so-much fun!!! My throat's a wee bit raw, though.... Great Big Sea is a Celtic rock band out of Newfoundland, Canada. They've been together for a little over 10 years and are slowly working their way into the United States. (Keep requesting songs on your favourite radio stations, folks!) They play a mix of old traditional songs they grew up listening to from their families, to original pieces - but all have the distinct stamp of GBS. Old songs like Mari-Mac and Scolding Wife take on a harder, more frenetic edge coming out of the mouths of Darell Power, Alan Doyle, Séan McCann and Bob Hallett. Of course, they have their softer sides, too - but onto the concert details! The date: 17 March 2002, Sunday The time: 7:10pm-ish My friends and I (all six of us) got ourselves in line at the Metro in Chicago, IL. It is just about a block or so north of Wrigley Field, and surrounding sports bars - in short, we had major human traffic going on. Being that it was "St. Paddy's Day weekend", the general mood was festive and a mite tipsy - but all in all, folks were kind. A few times, various snippets of GBS songs popped up while in line and we chimed in as best we could (almost all in our group were singing geeks - so you know we just had to try for the harmonies) and awaited for them to let us in. IDs were checked and tickets were ripped and then into the music hall we went to scout out a spot as close to the front as possible. We were about four rows of bodies back - but that's good enough. The Metro is relatively small when you're on the ground level (the back of the theatre is about 25 feet from the stage). If you're up in the balcony, well that's your choice. I prefer to be deafened and mauled by the music and enthusiastic audience members - but that's just me. Then...came the drunken patron who was about this [-] close to getting his family jewels kicked and/or mutilated because he refused to (a)put his bag down to keep it from hitting people and (b)stop knocking people over - oh, and (c)stop rubbing up against everybody. He was an equal-opportunity jerk: he irritated everyone and on several occasions we talked to one of the servers to get security. The drunken boy's pals shielded him for most of the night, but my fellow abused (he would just hit anyone around him, basically) plotted his demise.... Although, I digress. Opening for Great Big Sea was a band I never heard of - but I'm very interested in getting an album, or at least some more information: Carbon Leaf. They are a rock band from Richmond, VA and have won the Cocoa-Cola New Music Award at the AMAs. Go figure. I feel like I've not been doing my duty, being so musically-obsessed. In any case, they definitely warmed up the crowd with a small set of songs, all upbeat and moving. No soppy slow stuff, here! The two songs I do remember them playing were Shine and Torn to Tattered and I really enjoyed them both - but I was, naturally, saving my energy for my boys. With the audience screaming for GBS and after the few stories Carbon Leaf told of their touring with GBS (The Newfoundland boys can drink the VA guys under the table and then some - but who thought otherwise, eh?), and the smoke-machine on stage working at double-speed...we were finally blessed with the fabulous men known as Great Big Sea. I am still a bit surprised I'm not deaf from all the screaming. Then again, my throat is still a wee bit raw. Opening song was the beepity-beep-beep intro (think Morse code) of Ordinary Day - a song that tells you to keep some perspective on your life and to remember, "...at the end of the day / you just got to say / it's alright." This is one song that - no matter how dark my mood is - lifts my spirits up and makes me smile, really feeling better. This tour was to promote their Sea of No Cares album that came out in mid-February, although, out of the 20+ songs they did, only 5 of them were from the Sea of No Cares album. No difference - the audience wanted the classics and that's exactly what we got! Just like in the live album Road Rage, we sang the chorus of The Old Black Rum, Excursion Around the Bay and When I'm Up. It was certainly a communal effect that worked for GBS fans - but I don't think newbies took to it as readily. As a friend of mine said once we were going home, the GBS experience is kind of like a folk-sing-along. The audience isn't just an audience - but a part of the group as a whole. We sing along (sometimes a bit too loudly and off-key than necessary) to all of the songs and then Alan Doyle eggs us on to sing some more! It's a great thing Alan does - regardless of his motives - that brings that energy to be more personal. Normally, I'm not very social at concerts. I could give a flying whale about who's standing beside me and they just had better not invade my personal space. At a GBS concert - the attitude changes and we're all...friends, in a way. (minus drunken jerks, of course) We all want a good time and enjoy everyone's enthusiasm. The guys dressed down this time. Normally, I see them in button-down shirts and some slacks. Nothing too fancy, but a nice casual look. Tonight, we had them in t-shirts and jeans. It wasn't bad! Truth be told, they could be wearing garbage bags and they're still cute! It was just very relaxed and so informal. I was digging the whole feel of it. Since I didn't bring a pad and pen with me at the concert (I was having too much fun jumping up and down and dancing like a fool, besides) - this is the list of songs I remembered them playing, just not in the playing order: Ordinary Day (this one I know was their first song) Sea of No Cares Chemical Worker's Song (This is my favourite and, until tonight, I've never heard them perform it live before - fantastic surprise!!!) Mari-Mac Old Black Rum Goin Up Hangin Johnny (The lyrics of this one were changed tonight by Séan to poke fun at his band-mates - best lyric: Then next I hung Alan Doyle! Away, boys, away! I hung him until his pants got soiled! And it's hang, boys, hang! You should have seen Alan wince! Priceless.) Clearest Indication A Boat Like Gideon Brown When I'm Up The Night Pat Murphy Died (Again, Séan changed the lyrics to include "all the Chicago ladies" - although the band laughed at him when he couldn't make the lyrics rhyme!) Lukey Everything Shines (This song is actually by The Push Stars, a NY/Boston band that has worked and toured with GBS for some time and has worked with them on the Sea of No Cares album.) I'm a Rover Scolding Wife End of the World (This is actually the GBS version of REM's "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - and I think I like the GBS version better!) Stumblin In Consequence Free Danny Boy (Séan, again - although he sang this sweetly with the boys filling in the harmony every so often. I've seen Séan be talkative - but this time, he was almost taking attention away from Alan!) Once the boys did their multiple thank-yous to the crowd and all of their road-crew, they disappeared back stage. Well, we weren't going to allow them to go so easily. We started chanting, "Great Big Sea! Great Big Sea! Great Big Sea!" until they came back out. Twice. 2 Encores: Excursion Around the Bay General Taylor (This was the most beautiful and calming song to end with - incredible harmony with no instrumental accompaniment and a solemn tale about burying General Taylor.) After leaping about - literally - and scream-singing nearly every song GBS did, sweaty and jazzed up - it was one of the best concerts I've been to in a long time. It was a 21 and over show - but it wasn't just the 20-somethings. It was a range of folks - old and young and in-between. (my friends and I were the "in-betweens") There's something about that moment of sharing something as emotional as music...makes you feel....amazing. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. If you enjoy rocking Irish/Scottish music that's upbeat or, at the very least, energetic regardless of subject matter - I implore you to check out Great Big Sea, either in concert or on their albums. They have incredible amounts of energy in concert and they exude this stuff through their music...and they really know how to sing! It's not just instruments. It's not just really good editing. It's them. Thanks for reading this rambling tale of my concert experience. I know I went on for far too long - but I hope you'll forgive me. Now I'm off to bed, finally! ...sibhreach - the silly lil' changeling woman Want more Great Big Sea? Read my album reviews: It's Called Celtic ROCK, babeh! http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-110F-1D8BE4E5-39769435-prod5 Great Big Sea - Calmer But Still Beautiful http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-33C4-3BAF2C6-397F899D-prod6 Want Great Big Sea Live in Your Living Room? http://www.epinions.com/content_11109502596 Great Big Sea Bravely Sails the Sea of No Cares http://www.epinions.com/content_57752784516 Want to know more about Carbon Leaf? Check out their official website: http://www.carbonleaf.com/ ------------- Many thanks to kristinafh for helping me find a spot to post this review. According to Epinions, the Great Big Sea concert reviews category has been eliminated. Well, pooh on that. Let's hear more from the fans, I say!  |
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