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Later on we were joined by Fran and Carol from Boston and Chris from Philly to make the trek to Washington DC. Before we went, though, we had a nice jam session at the picnic table on the front lawn.Vic has these nifty little "family radios" that work for about 1-2 miles. Since we were a 3-car caravan and only Jane knew where we were going, each car was provisioned with one and did we have fun! Carol was quite the performer on the radio! Got to DC uneventfully, thank goodness, and checked into the hotel in Greenbelt.
While we waited for time to pass so we could head out for the 9:30 Club, we got some goodies for the band. Carol found these cute Teddy Bear Dimetapp lollipops, we had some crispy M&Ms, and we had found a parking sign in a pet store near my house that said. "Newfoundland Barking Only". So we wrote Alan a note on the back that said, "Glad we'll hear your bark in DC. Missed you in Philly. Hope you feel better." When we got to the venue, where a certain un-named chatter told us people NEVER line up early, there was a line already a block long. Of course, the un-named chatter was first in line! Hmm.
When we finally did get to go in, they confiscated our lollipops and M&Ms even though we told them the stuff was for the band and they could deliver it. Grrrr.
So there were Ali, Kelly, Fran, Carol, Jane, me, Vic, Karen, Howard, Kimsan, Sue, Rick from Newfoundland, Colleen and Dave from PA, Kinley and roomie, and I know I'm forgetting people. We didn't see some we knew were there, like Kristin (K from PA). We went to the Swag table on the way in and got a couple sweatshirts and a Road Rage CD. Good thing, too, 'cause they ran out of them (CDs) later in the evening. It's not on SIRE and it wasn't the Canadian edition. It says Tidemark, distributed by Rounder Records. Surprise!
At any rate, Vic had purchased this moose hat in Gander on our vacation. We bought it a pair of sunglasses and a red baseball cap on which we printed "road rage" on the front and Great Big Sea on the back. Here's the pesky thing.
He was quite popular. Vic met more people at the club because of that moose. We heard that the bartender had a bounty out on the hat, but he didn't get it off Vic's head. Everybody thought we were Canadian. It was funny. Actually, there were so many East Coast Canadians there, it could have been a province in DC. What was so funny was the fact that these lovely Nova Scotians and Newfoundlanders would come up to us, ask where we were from and then act incredulous that someone from Virginia or Boston or Philly would be in DC to see the concert. Well, duh! It makes more sense that we're there than someone from Newfoundland! LOL! More about those Newfoundlanders later.
The opening act, Howie Day, was quite good and well received by the crowd. I think he was a little surprised that the audience reacted so well to his set. Lots of people bought his demo CD. Go see him if you get the chance. He's cute, too! We let his girlfriend up front to see him and later on in the show Howie sent the "guy in the moose hat" a free CD! LOL! Listened to it on the way home - very good!
Waited for the b'ys about 15 minutes after he finished and the crowd just exploded when the opening strains of "Donkey Ridin'" were heard. That was the beginning of the best GBS show I have attended yet and this was number 11.

The Show

The wardrobe was well worth lookin' at. Darrell in his light green T-shirt and gray pants, Alan in the pleather pants (ooh ladies, they were nice!) and a short-sleeved sweatshirt, S�an in a nice black button-down shirt with jeans, Bob in his new Flaming Bob shirt and jeans (I liked that shirt too!)
Here's the set but they didn't play End of the World, which was on the setlist. I really don't know how Alan could have done that one at all. They added Ferryland Sealer, Rant and Roar and Hanging' Johnny. Can you believe it? 26 songs! Making up for a missed concert in Philly, I guess. Surprised the heck out of us! We thought because Alan's voice wasn't up to snuff that it'd be shorter, but they ADDED a few!