We got to see one of our favorite bands, Great Big Sea, at the Rialto Theater in Tucson. The first set was made up of songs from the band's newest CD, The Hard and the Easy, an all-acoustic album of traditional songs from Newfoundland, the sort of music the b'ys grew up hearing and playing. After a break, they were back with a rocking set of GBS
favorites like "Beat the Drum," "General Taylor," and "Mari-Mac"
(possibly one of the fastest-sung songs in the history of singing!) The Rialto itself is a lovely old theater which first opened in 1920. Its site has a lot of information about the theater's long history.
Before the show, we met some
other fans, mostly folks on the Online Kitchen
Party, the band's official message board,
at the Hotel Congress across the street.
The Congress deserves its own page,
so here it is.
The Rialto
"Great Big Sea!"
Alan Doyle: guitar, bouzouki
S�an McCann: guitar, bodhran
Bob Hallett: fiddle, button accordion, tin and low whistles, bouzouki
Murray Foster: bass
Kris MacFarlane: percussion, button accordian
Alan (aka The Doyle) and S�an (aka The Shantyman)
Murray and Alan
Kris and Alan
S�an and Bob
Great Big Sea, the official site
"Sea of No Cares" -- free download of the studio and live versions at Amazon.com
The b'ys on Launch; watch videos and listen to some song clips
Several mp3s at CanEHdian, a great site about Canadian music
GBS songs (and albums) for downloading (nope, not a freebie, but you can listen to clips)
