cdreviews3

: Back to our regularly scheduled review.

: Old Black Rum: It is with this song that I realize how very ritualized our behavior at GBS concerts is...and theirs as well. I hear this song and I have such a vivid mental picture! I can see all the nearby chatters leaning in to scream the second round of "on her hair!" (which is conspicuously absent from this track...where was this show, anyway???); I can picture Alan doing this little side-to-side dance and flipping his hair; I can soooo see the gesture Bob makes on the last line, "for the price of ooooone." I�m stunned, really, to realize the degree to which each show is distinct, while at the same time we, as chatters, have developed such an automatic familiarity with the process of the show that it seems habitual. Of course we�re going to point at Bob when Alan sings "we�ve got Bobby on the squeezebox" in "Goin� Up"...of course we�re going to jump straight up and down during the chorus of "Ordinary Day"...of course we know what to sing back when Sean sings "Mari Mac�s mother�s making Mari Mac marry me." It�s almost like a degree of intimacy, the extent to which the show feels like a mutually agreed upon shared experience, a process that we all know the procedure for.
: True, some of this is because I attend lots of shows with the same people...of course Spinne is going to look at me and yell and try to make me crack up during "Boston and St. John�s"...of course Hap is going to cut off the circulation in my arm with her deathgrip whenever Sean hits a particularly stunning note...but I was fortunate enough to attend concerts with a variety of different people at a variety of different locales this summer, and there was never any question that we were going to yell our guts out after Alan sings, "Wouldn�t it be great if the band just never ended?" It�s a given. We will do it as a matter of course. And that�s one of my greatest fondnesses for this album...it makes me suddenly aware of the ritual of the Great Big Sea show, and my involvement in it. I like that.
: It�s here that I realize I really don�t mind that they haven�t told us which songs are from where. This is AnyConcert, this is EveryConcert. This isn�t tracks from 15 different shows at all...this is one show. The Great Big Sea Show.
: General Taylor: Wow! I�m so glad they chose a flourishy version of this one. And that sounds like a wimpy word for it, but I�m grappling for a better one. Whatever you call it...I swear there�s a word for it. Miasma?...I like this song best when you can hear Sean experimenting vocally, weaving in, out, around the notes, negotiating them. This is one of the finest versions of this song I�ve heard and they couldn�t have chosen better, in my mind.
: For the people who like the "ripping" quality Sean sometimes gives the vocal, you have that and then some in the "long dead and goooone" line. But for those of us who like the weaving, experimental vocal quality, you have the lines that immediately precede and follow. Everyone�s Happy!
: And as much as this song is clearly and rightly a Sean vocal showpiece, I also treasure the places where Sean dips his vocal out and you hear the others in the background, alone or in full harmonies. They�re impressive moments--and voices--in their own right.
: Lukey: Excellent bass intro. The "rapping" still cracks me up. It has all the moments it should have..."Have a dance!", "Get Up!", "Vertical Movement!"...and is an excellent music choice as well. Those verbal moments are so quintessentially part of the song live that it�s easy to take them for granted, but I�m so pleased that they�re here, so pleased they found a version that puts them at the fore and reminds us what the live "experience" is about. The dueling bass/bodrhan solos sound especially fine, and the addition of the "great big sea hove in long beach" verse is just candy!
: Feel it Turn: Such a transcendental song! I�m entranced by how Sean�s voice goes all high and wafty on "below me," as if he were indeed airborne, and am equally fond of Alan�s little scale descension in the background on "I can see...." The elaborate and prominent whistle line is just marvelous. (Whoever yelled "Whoo!" had it right!). My one concern is that the low voices could have a richer sound. I�m often knocked over by how full and round the low voices sound on the unison notes in concert, and that doesn�t quite come across here. Still lovely, though.
: I�m a Rover: This is my favorite track on the album. To begin with, it�s a song that is consistently better live than in the studio...and even the album version is a fave of mine. Maybe it�s the hopped up rhythm of it, like a game of double-dutch jumprope on caffeine, but whatever the reason I just adore it. In this version in particular, I like how Sean�s voice takes on an almost formal rhetorical quality on the line "now my love I must go and leave you." It�s a nice touch, since the language of that line itself has an air of a rehearsed speech delivered. There�s also a nice...motion?...to the sound of the a cappella voices here. Do I hear McCann vocal experimentation at work again? At any rate, it just rocks.

: Whew! I�m losing stamina here...how do they do it when they�re performing?

: Many of you know that Fast As I Can has never been my fave GBS tune, but there�s a sweetness to this performance...a winsomeness...that gets a small smile regardless of my objections. I think part of my sentiment shift lies in the high guitar notes here. Either they�re doing something they don�t normally do, or I�m hearing something that isn�t often discernable in the concert setting. Whatever it is, I like it. I also like how you can pick out each voice, how they both separate and blend in the chorus. Very nice.
: Jack Hinks: Part of me wishes we�d had "Ferryland Sealer" instead of "Jack Hinks," though I think that�s because I haven�t heard the former in awhile. My guess is if I didn�t hear "Jack Hinks" for awhile I�d lament it just as sorely. I do remember how excited I was the first time I heard this song live! So as long as we continue to get each periodically in concert I shan�t complain.
: This is a great piece. Up-tempo, fun, a real accordion showcase. Permit me to quote Hap: "If you�d have told me five years ago that I�d be jumping up and down and cheering a band with an accordion, I�d have laughed in your face." Life takes strange turns, yes? But I am truly fond of the fancy accordion sound in this track.
: Mari Mac: Ahhhhh, the song that was most demanding a live version. This one doesn�t disappoint, fast and furious, with a sharp-sounding fiddle. Yet with as fast as this version is, I�m amazed at how distinct Alan and Sean sound on the "we�ll all be feeling merry when I marry Mari Mac"...their voices blend beautifully and every word is clear and shining. Plus, doesn�t Alan�s voice have a lovely growling quality here? I�d say so.
: Ordinary Day: Words fail me. I just love this song.

: And the award for best use of crowd noise goes to:

: Excursion Around the Bay: Simply fantastic use of the crowd sound, as if we/they are actually clapping and singing WITH the band, as part of it. We make big whoop-de-doos about "crowd participation," but this track really demonstrates how the crowd interacts with the band in a way that makes every GBS show a special thing. You get the sensation of being a part of the band, the show, the music, the whole charged atmosphere that is Great Big Sea in performance.
: Does anyone else just get tickled pink when you hear Darrell sing? I swear every time I get this little burst of excitement, like "Ooooooo, Darrell�s singing!" Does Bob know we�d feel that way about him, too, if he�d try it once in awhile?
: Speaking of crowd participation, it was a brilliant stroke to conclude the album with the "Great Big Sea" chant. Because all the best concerts end like that...with a feel of utter satisfaction and joy, but still wanting a little bit more. That�s why we go back, right? As I said before, it was smartsmartsmart of them to construct it like a concert itself, and the sense of the lingering crowd is the perfect way to close it without really ending. Marvelously done.