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DARRELL
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Alan: "Of course, we translated the entire repertoire of Great Big Sea into the Polish language."
Séan: "They don't believe us. Not for a second."
Alan: "They didn't even find that funny."
Séan: "No, not even mildly amusing that."
---- Winnipeg, Manitoba
Alan: "Have I been drinking already, or did a train just go by?"
---- Buffalo, NY, trolley going by behind the stage.
Séan: "I wanted to call it 'Séan McCann and his buddies', but the guys didn't go for that at all."
----Oakville, Ontario
Bob: "We don't shower together now."
----@ music interview
Alan: "People say 'How do you often decide on your music?'. Well, we fight, actually. Arm wrestling is an age-old tradition that Great Big Sea has gone back. A lot of times, we'll do a two-on-two ball hockey game."
Bob: "Snakes and Ladders too."
----@ music interview
Séan: "Do we know any more songs Alan?"
Alan: "We know several million. And we intend to play them all."
---- Ottawa, Ontario
Séan: "We're going to have a sociable ladies and gentlemen. In order to have a sociable, all you have to do is raise your glasses into the air. If you don't have a glass, please raise your right arm into the air. If, for some reason, you have no right arm, raise your left leg into the air. And, if you've already been drinking, try raising both legs now."
---- Winnipeg, Manitoba
Alan: "To my right ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce to you a gentleman who most recently got back from the Eastern-States tour with the Chippendales. He's available for table and lap dancing immediately after the concert. From Outer Cove, Newfoundland, Darrell Power right here."
---- Winnipeg, Manitoba
Darrell: "We find it fun to juxtapose these morbid concepts and stuff, with the latest jigs, so people are actually whistling it the next day, and then they find out the real words, and they go 'Oh my god'."
---- BC Radio interview
Interviewer: "What kind of show do you put on?"
Alan: "It's a surprise to us every night."
---- BC Radio interview
Alan: "The best thing about this tour is, we got this cool tour bus and it's a pretty older one. You know the front of the buses where you roll down all the names or, like, the route numbers. Well, this is an old one from the 80s and it has all the different bands who once used it on there."
Darrell: "Aerosmith."
Alan: "Aerosmith is on there. So, one day we were Aerosmith, the next day we were Earth, Wind & Fire. But, our favourite one, and we've been them for a lot of weeks now. It's on the front of our bus. We're KC and the Sunshine Band."
---- BC Radio interview
Séan: "We were sleeping in our respective bunks, because we had to leave right after the show. And this customs lady at the US border forced us all to get up out of the bunks, against Bob's wishes. Bob warned her that we probably weren't gonna to look very good or very happy. And I came staggering out, like, you know, trying to get my clothes on, and, like, lookin' at her and she just burst out laughing and I said 'You got me up just to laugh at me this morning?' Like, what the hell was this about? 'Oh, you can go back now, sorry, you look kinda like your passport.' That's how I started my day."
---- Mix99.9 interview, June 15, 1998
Bob: "It's going to be a beautiful warm evening too, you know, there's no doubt in my mind that's it's going to be hot and sunny Friday evening. Sit down on the lakefront, a beautiful night, an amazing band, you know, I mean, what more could you want?"
---- Mix99.9 interview, June 15, 1998
Dini: "I want to talk about the origins of the group and the origins of your music. The four of you get together a little... You're pointing down here?"
Alan: "Yah, to Bob. He's a good one to ask."
Séan: "He's actually the smartest one in the band."
*nodding from Bob*
---- Dini Petty
Alan: "Oh, McCann, you are a girly man. You are nuttin' but a girly man."
---- Vinny's
Séan: "We're not that fast."
Alan: "Easily distracted."
*both get distracted by something in the background*
---- MuchEast 98
Alan: "Bryan Adams opened up for us on national television."
---- Snowjob 97
Séan and Bob discussing how Mari-Mac is a tongue-twister song, and how they speed it up to the extreme.
Séan: "So we win the race."
Bob: "We have the fastest tongues!"
---- Oakville Waterfront Festival interview on Studio 2, Summer 1997
Bob: "I will wait 2 months by the phone, if I can get on that stage for 90 minutes."
---- Oakville, Ontario
Alan: "The biggest instrument in the house is 14,000 screaming people who we're going to get to sing along with some Newfoundland traditional songs."
---- BC Interview April 1998
Séan: "We plugged it all in, and turned the volume on plus, and Alan blew his own shorts right off."
---- YTV, The Zone
Séan: "Is everybody having a good tiime tonight?"
*a great roar errupts*
Séan: "Oh, well. I guess I'll have to sing a sad song, then."
Alan: "Uh, why?"
Séan: "Well, this is a folk festival, Alan. We can't have people leaving here too happy."
Alan: "Makes sense."
Séan: "Okay, this is a song about a dear friend of ours who died. It has 17 verses. There's no chorus, so don't bother trying to sing along."
---- Devon, England, August 6, 1998 during intro to Paddy Murphy
Séan: "So, this is a song about how to bury a dead person. I'm great fun at parties, folks. Anytime."
---- Devon, England, August 6, 1998 during intro to General Taylor
Alan: "We have a vice in Newfoundland. It's called the old black rum. We'd like to have you sing along -- it goes like this. (singing slowly) And the old black rum's got a hold on me, like a dog wrapped 'round my leg... (stops suddenly) Do you know, I never thought of it that way?"
Séan: "If we don't stop drinking, we'll all have dogs hanging from our legs! Oh, the inhumanity! The poor dogs!"
*pause, Séan, Alan, Bob and Darrell exchange glances*
All: "But I know I'm gonna do it again!"
---- Devon, England, August 6, 1998
Alan: "Did anyone see the Newfoundland colours fly by here, or was that something I ate?"
Séan: "I thought MY clams were bad."
---- Devon, England, August 6, 1998
After a very large pause...
Séan: "Well, folks, we have gone completely off the song list."
Alan: "Oops."
Séan: "I have absolutely no idea what he's going to sing next."
Alan: "STOP RIGHT NOW, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I NEED SOMEBODY..."
Séan: (screaming) "Noooooooooo!"
---- Devon, England, August 6, 1998
Alan: "We have the benefit of divine intervention."
---- Halifax picnic interview, September 1998
Song ends,
Alan: "We're going to stop the show for a minute. Séan has to tie his shoe."
Séan kneels down and gives audience a sheepish look.
Alan: "We'll be back in 15."
---- Halifax Great Big Picnic, September 12, 1998
Alan: "Historical terms, it was actually used as an instrument to scare away British people. So if there's any British people driving home, don't be alarmed, this is just a demonstration."
---- CISS FM interview talking about the Bodhran
Interviewer: "You're playing tonight at Maple Leaf Gardens. That's a long way from your kitchen parties in the tiny fishing village of Petty Harbour, Alan."
Alan: "You can fit about 14 Petty Harbours on the ice surface of the Gardens."
---- CISS FM interview
Alan: "It's tough not to be excited. We're doing our best to try to be professionally cool, but it's tough not to be giddily excited."
---- CISS FM interview
Alan: "Rant and Roar just went Tinfoil in the US!"
---- New York City, NY, September 16, 1998
They were teaching the newest "Canadian craze" the "sociable" but they didn't have any drinks, so they made a comment between themselves:
"I guess we'll have to sing for it." and started doing Beggarman.
Someone had drinks sent up on stage. Darrell was at "known by the name of auld Johnny Dhu" not even to the first chorus. He stopped dead in the middle of his song and said:
"What was I thinking, that I was here to sing?"
So they all put down their instruments and started up with the sociable again.
----- Arlington, VA, September 17, 1998
Alan: "Shameless, self promotion is one of my fortes, actually."
---- Off The Record
Alan: "God bless alcohol!!"
---- Winnipeg, 1995
Alan: "Want to know how to make a Newfoundlander squirm? Put him on stage in front of his fans when he doesn't know what he's doing."
---- Calgary Folk Festival, summer 1998, forgetting words to Rung of the Ladder
Alan: "Personal note to self.....15 big rock beers before a concert is 15 too many!"
---- Calgary Folk Festival, same moment
Alan's introducing the band and indicating what instruments they play. He pauses when he gets to Darrell. Darrell gets a slighly agonized look on his face.
Alan: "He never knows what I'm going to say here." *pause* "Darrell Power, Master of the Art of Sensual Massage!"
---- Ann Arbor, MI, September 1997
Alan: "While in Germany, and struggling to speak Deutsch on stage, I introduced myself by saying "Ich bin ein Neufundlander", which I thought meant "I am a Newfoundlander". It actually means "I am a Newfoundland dog" - a popular breed in Germany."
---- October 16, 1998 Newsletter
Alan: "We actually opened once for Barney (the dinosaur) at a kids festival on a Saturday afternoon. I forgot who the audience was, and after the first song asked "Is everyone still hung-over from last night?". The children were puzzled, and the parents pissed off."
---- October 16, 1998 Newletter
Alan: "Oh, that I could forget this one. While on stage in Dublin, I announced that "it's great to be here in the U.K.". Angry booing and hissing filled the air. Even if I could forget this one, the boys will make sure that I don't."
---- October 16, 1998 Newsletter
"We have always suspected that some of our audience were animals, but that zoo show definitively proved it."
---- October 16, 1998 Newsletter
"Also, we are definitely fatter. Tour buses make poor places for slimming programs."
---- October 16, 1998 Newsleter
"Darrell is a bit of a mystery to us as well."
---- October 16, 1998 Newsletter
Alan: "I'd like to apologize in advance for the people sitting so close. God knows what might go flying out from the stage."
---- Ann Arbor, September 29, 1998
Alan: "The economy in small fishing villages in Newfoundland is so good that we just don't need the money."
---- Ann Arbor, September 29, 1998 talking about purchasing Rant & Roar
Alan: "Myself and Séan have admitted in the last few weeks to having an inappropriate relationship."
Séan: "I thought we weren't going to talk about that."
---- Ann Arbor, September 29, 1998
Séan: "Okay, it's my turn to sing again, so I'd ask you all to be unhappy again, for a few moments."
---- Ann Arbor, September 29, 1998
After an invitation to visit them in Newfoundland,
Alan: "You can all stay at Séan's place. He's got two bedrooms.
Séan: "And a futon."
---- New York, NY, November 21, 1998
Alan: "Would anybody like to buy a vowel?"
Response of 'A please'
Alan: "Sold! for 5 canadian dollars......which in american........50cents."
---- Providence, RI, November 19, 1998 during soundcheck
The top of Séan's mike stand gives way pointing towards the floor...
Alan: "Sean's mike stand needs some Viagra. I hear he has that problem a lot."
Séan: "I just need someone to cuddle and watch a video with me."
---- Providence, RI, November 19, 1998
Alan: "We're friendly and prone to getting lost."
---- Keene, NH, November 20, 1998
Séan: "Oh my god there's a fan in the audience!"
---- Keene, NH, November 20, 1998, after someone shouted out their part to Mari-Mac without prompting
Alan: "We are the only band in the world to do that song with more than two bouzoukis."
---- Keene, NH, November 20, 1998 talking about End Of The World
Alan: "We actually survived *two* (holding fingers UP) cab rides while here."
---- New York, NY, November 21, 1998
Alan: "Yeah (some hockey player named ed?) is a good friend of ours, and he's here tonight. Thanks for coming out (said name). And Madonna! Hey. And Lionel Richie.....Hall and Oates might be coming out later cause they're really good friends of Bobby's here."
---- Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 1998
Alan: "Blow me wasn't always a derogatory term....I guess the rest of the band didnt know this."
---- Philadelphia, PA, November 29, 1998
Alan: "I apologize now because this is our last show of the tour and we are off early so if you see us out and about and we look lost, please direct us to our hotel."
Séan: "We have our names and hotel written in our mittens so if we look lost, please help us out."
---- Portland, ME, December 5, 1998
Séan: "One....two....."
Alan: "Four, Five."
Séan: "What comes after two? One, two, three, four..."
---- Bielefeld, January, 1999 intro to Mari-Mac
Alan: "This is a song about a revenge against men, and we must make a disclaimer that since we are singing this we are immune to any revenge."
---- Louisville, KY, March 12, 1999 during intro to Jolly Butcher
Alan: "Well, in the small town of Petty Harbour, there is a street named after us called Doyle Lane."
Séan: "Yeah but in your town of 2,000 people there's 240 families named Doyle, aren't there."
---- Louisville, KY, March 12, 1999 after mentioning a street named after Mohammed Ali
"The Newfoundland & Labrador license plate’s slogan is: A World To Discover... (boooooorrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg)...."
---- March 22, 1999 Newsletter
Alan: "I missed you for the last half of that song." (Séan's bodhran was having sound problems)
Séan: "It was broken, eh?"
Alan: "*grunt* What kind of shirt is that, Purple?"
Séan: "It's an ultra violet ray dispensing shirt. Don't look too hard at it, you can burn your retinas."
Alan: "Give him a round of applause for that shirt!" *cheers*
Alan: "It's a real drag, eh?" (in reference to the bodhran malfunctions) "We're from Canada, eh." *cheers*
---- Buffalo, NY, March 23, 1999
Séan: "I have seven things to say to you. My mother's making me marry Mari-Mac!"
Alan counts the words on his fingers.
Séan: "You have eight things to say."
He realizes his mistake. Séan: "Wait, that's your part!" *turns to Alan* "I'm very distracted tonight. Ooonnnneeee, ttttwwwwooooo, thrrreeeeee,..."
Alan does a little dance.
---- Buffalo, NY, March 23, 1999
Giving the history of the band, answering the two most common questions:
How did the band get started? Alan: "Well. Bob and Darrell can actually play and Séan is gorgeous and I had a van.”
Their ethnic background: Are they Irish? Alan: "In truth, we are one half Scottish and one half Irish which means one half of us wants to get drunk all the time while the other half doesn’t want to pay for it!"
---- Alexandria,VA, March 25, 1999
Alan: "Do you like our shirts? We all went out and bought new shirts this time. We'll be trading shirts for the rest of the tour. Tomorrow, I plan to wear Darrell's shirt, Darrell and Bob will be trading the next night."
Séan: "You don't get to have my shirt though."
Alan: "Séan is most handsome and has the best taste in shirts."
Séan: pause, while he searches for words..."Well, I've never heard that one before!"
Alan: "You look a little down tonight, just wanted to cheer you up."
Séan: "Oh so I'm not funny enough tonight? Am I the 'not funny' guy, then?"
---- Alexandria, VA, March 25, 1999
(talking about visiting the swag table)
Alan: “What a bargain! I do believe 9 dollars US is getting to be worth more in Canadian dollars everytime! We’re selling t-shirts."
Séan: “Nice t-shirts for those who don’t want to dress like Alan.”
Alan: "Hats, even socks, really thick ones, a real bargain. Oh and inflatable dolls of the band... but Séan is sold out."
---- Alexandria, VA, March 25, 1999
Alan: “So we want to thank you for coming out tonight; It looks like we have a full house. It’s only the second time we’ve performed here at the Birchmere. When we were here for sound check earlier today, there were alot less people."
Séan: "As I recall it was just you and me Buddy."
---- Alexandria, VA, March 25, 1999
Someone gave Alan some palm leaves.
Alan: "It is indeed Palm Sunday, if you think this is cool, you should have been here when we played Ash Wednesday! It was really, really wild."
Sean: "Messy though."
Alan: "Yes, it was indeed messy. Séan and I gave up Scuba diving for lent, gave up chess as well, I gave up trying to resist drinking so much."
---- Portland, ME, March 28, 1999
Séan: "Tell them what we did today."
Alan: "We saw a movie."
Séan: "Life is Beautiful."
Alan: "We saw Life is Beautiful. Myself and Séan got a table for two. We shared some nachos and Séan pushed the last nacho over to me. It was like a scene from Lady and the Tramp. Honest to God. He gently pushed my hair back and said 'You know Alan, life is beautiful.'"
Séan: "The worst part was when Alan cried at the end."
Alan: "I bawled my face off. What can ya do?"
---- Portland, ME, March 28, 1999
Alan: "We're all in our early teens."
---- TV interview in Minnesota, April 28, 1999
Some people had put pictures of some buildings with the guys' names on them in front of their respective mikes.
Alan: "Did you guys look at the pictures?" (after picking his up) "Oh cool."
Séan: "This is Darrell naked in the bathtub." (the look from Darrell at this!)
Alan: "These are pictures of pubs with our names on them!"
Séan: "Mine is a picture of Darrell naked in the tub, yours is a pub."
Alan: "How come you got the nudie picture?"
---- Ann Arbor, MI, May 1, 1999
Alan: "We've been really busy lately. We're nearing the end of our busiest time ever, which started on January 7 with a tour of Germany and Denmark."
Séan: "You guys went to Denmark?" (pouty face) *laughter galore*
Alan: "There was no budget for the bodhran. We had a machine that did it. A laptop."
Séan: "Oh, I've been replaced by technology?"
Alan: "If it makes you feel any better, the spirit wasn't there. Anyway, you were there, you just don't remember." (Bob makes drinky drinky motion with his hand.)
Séan: "Let's see how well you do without the bodhran. Just try and play it without me then."
---- Ann Arbor, MI, May 1, 1999
Alan: "I'm sporting a hockey beard."
Séan: "You were warned before the show."
Alan: "I promised myself that I would get through the show without mentioning hockey and it took me three songs." [it was 5 songs, but I'll let that pass] "Isn't there a hockey team around here somewhere? OK, who here are fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs?" *small cheer* "And the Detroit Red Wings?" *big cheer* "What about the Montreal Canadiens? The Petty Harbour [somethings]? I'm growing this beard until The Habs win the Stanley Cup."
Darrell: "You'll be tripping over it then."
*he goes on to introduce Boston to St. John's*
Séan: "Is this song about hockey?"
Alan: "No, [sung] Actually I like the hawks but boy oh boy Wayne Gretsky rocks...."
---- Ann Arbor, MI, May 1, 1999
Alan's intro to Can't Stop Fallin'.
Alan: "This is the story of a fictional character. About a girl met in a pub and the conversation moved to the subway."
Séan: "It was you!!!!!!" *gales of laughter* "You've been foiled again!!"
---- Ann Arbor, MI, May 1, 1999
Alan: "We played this private gig at a pharmaceutical company. They were launching a new drug, Xenocal or something."
Séan: (with a dazed look on his face) "I've done that one...." (Alan looks at him like he's still on it, audience laughs)
Alan: "Anyways, we were playing for like 250 guys in suits..." (make a strange face) "but they were paying us!" (what the heck look) "But unbeknownst to us, there were flashpots lined up all along the front of the stage, like you have at a heavy metal concert. So were were counting off the first song, 1, 2, 1 2 3 4 *BOOM*!!!" (audience laughs hysterically at this) "Then we changed our clothes, and continued with the show..."
---- Pawling, NY, June 4, 1999
Alan: (looking at Sean, who's still acting spacey) "Are you ready?"
Séan: "I'm hungry!" (notices the truffle on someone's plate) "Are you going to eat that?" Bob (audience member): "No, you can have it!" (hands truffle to Séan, who proceeds to eat it with great relish)
Séan: "Mmmmmm, that's the best chocolate I've ever had!"
Alan: "Are you ready now?"
Séan: "No, I can't sing now!"
Alan makes a face, makes a "show must go on" sort of comment, then he and Darrell launch into an extremely bravado version of "Side by Side"
Alan: "Welcome to the Ford Theater!"
---- Pawling, NY, June 4, 1999
Alan is telling the general story of the song I'm a Rover….
Alan: "Not surprisingly, this is sung by Séan. The McCann clan is well-known in Newfoundland for their window tapping."
Séan: "Also for falling out of windows."
---- Buffalo, NY, June 24, 1999
Alan: "…our release in the states called Rant & Roar. It's a must-have cd. Your cd player will actually refuse to play if you do not buy this cd! And we have shirts."
Séan: "and socks."
Then something was said about underwear, I'm not sure what.
Alan: "And we have had inflatable dolls of the four of us for the last little while. For myself, Bob and Séan, there are lots, but Darrell has sold out. All of his ex-girlfriends have bought one. They turned them into voodoo dolls, so if he should start twitching (demonstates by twitching his upper body) then you know why."
---- Buffalo, NY, June 24, 1999
Séan: "We were playing in Victoria, BC and Alan and Danny had this thing set up where right near the end of the song, Danny would toss Alan his guitar, Alan would catch it and strum that last chord. Well, this time, Danny must have had too many pepsis to drink that day, because he threw it past Darrell. Let's just say that Alan wept openly for 3 days."
---- Buffalo, NY, June 24, 1999
Alan, introducing his new 12-string: "There are lots more strings. I'll get paid twice as much as his guitar." (referring to Séan's guitar) "I think I'm going to call it Séan. I will curl up with it in my bunk."
Séan: "Then you can beat on me all night long."
---- Buffalo, NY, June 24, 1999
Fan comes up to Darrell with all 4 cds to get signed.
Darrell: "Ah, I see you have the 4 pack."
---- Buffalo, NY, June 24, 1999
Séan: "Danny, I think I love you."
---- Guelph, ON, June 27, 1999 after Danny had been fiddling with the headset pickup at the back of Séan's belt.
Darrell: "She goes out of her way to buy the album and brings it down here to get signed and Mr. Dropsy here just throws it on the ground without apologizing"
---- Calgary, AB, July 2, 1999, Alan attempting to sign someone's cd cover.
Alan: beginning of dancing tune.."For the dancers!!!"
Séan comes over and starts doing that hip bump thing with him. Alan reciprocates.
Alan:"For the bumpers!!!"
---- Toronto, ON, July 10, 1999
*Alan mentions Turn and says that it's for sale tonight*
Alan: "And I promise that with the exception of about 10 or 12 other things that will be the only piece of shameless self-promotion in the Great Big Sea set."
Darrell: "I doubt it."
*a couple songs later* Alan: "That was Trois Naivres de Ble from our new record called Turn. Did I mention that we have a new album out? *laughter* And unlike most records.."
Séan: *slightly reproachful* "You promised not to mention it again."
Alan: *undaunted* "...unlike most records this is a must have. You must have this record."
Séan: "Voted most popular record by Now magazine."
Alan: *laughter* "We've got one in so we'll keep going. Hold on now. Hold everything. I gotta read this from Now magazine. Hold everything."
Séan: "This is our a.."
Alan: "Yeah, this is our advertisement. Hold on. Umm... "We have an album of Great Big Sea's corny interchangeable Celt-folk regurgitations *Séan pumps fist in the air and emits a "YAH!!"* about seafaring maids and perilous levees." And apparently they're maddeningly one-dimensional. We're going to come to you with a few more of those. Ha ha!"
Séan: "You gotta like a review like that."
---- Toronto, ON, July 10, 1999
*after General Taylor*
Alan: "Séan McCann! He plays the drum as well. The Sexiest Bodhran player on the planet, Séan McCann! Everybody, everybody in the house put your hands in the air. Put your hands in the air. Oh yeah! Everybody in the house give it up 'cause we got Séan McCann in the house. He's playing the bodhran in the house. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Everybody, everybody, everybody in the house say Way Oh! Word up in the house. How 'bout a Newfoundland traditional song? *while laughing* A staggeringly one-dimensional Newfoundland traditional song."
---- Toronto, ON, July 10, 1999
Alan: “We’re going to be playing for an extra 3½ hours this evening.” Cue enormous cheer from the crowd. “That’s frisbee. We’re going to be playing frisbee for 3½ hours. After the show, if everybody would just line up by that brick building over there, we’ll have ourselves a game. I believe Darrell is the reigning frisbee champion after the Guelph Picnic. And he, uh, he apologizes to the twelve-year-olds he, uh, well that he violently assaulted with the frisbee. It should be fun."
---- Toronto, ON, July 11, 1999
Alan: "Ryan [of Guster] still has not been kissed by a Canadian woman. I have volunteered to kiss him myself, but he has declined, strangely. So if any of you would like to oblige him, so that I am not left as the sole representative of the female population of Canada...”
---- Toronto, ON, July 11, 1999
Séan: “Somebody just pinched my butt.”
---- Toronto, ON, July 11, 1999 after doing a song with Guster and they were exiting the stage behind him.
Alan (arms raised in triumph): “This is not just an evening of fun, this is an evening of love. I can feel the love!!!”
---- Toronto, ON, July 11, 1999
Alan: “This is a song about a man who is about to embark on a perilous journey. Now, this man, being Séan, decides that the only way to make this long and perilous journey more bearable is to spend the night with his girlfriend. And so, this man, Séan climbs to her bedroom window and knocks on it to see if she will let him in. Now, I do not want to reveal to much here and spoil the mystery of the song, so you’ll have to listen very closely and see if she lets him in.”
Séan crosses his fingers (both hands), adopts “Oh, please, please, please,” posture.
Alan: "Now, Séan here is, as you may know, seldom sober - "
Séan: "Slander!!"
Alan: "Uh, er...of course “sober,” in this context..."
Séan: "Lies! Slander!!"
Alan: "...is a literary reference (mimes opening book). What I mean to say is that he is seldom sober of thought..."
Séan: "You slanderous hairy person!!!"
And by this time this contributor was laughing so hard she missed anything else either one of them might have said. They sing the song.
Alan: "My sincerest apologies for slandering Séan’s good name."
Séan seemed to accept this. Promised there’d be “chocolate milk and cookies” after the show. Ah, harmony is restored.
---- Toronto, ON, July 11, 1999
Alan commenting on the loveliness of his own shirt, and how it was of Paris design.
Séan: "Yeah, they have Walmart in Paris."
---- Philadelphia Folk Festival, August 28, 1999
Séan: "I just wet myself from the excitement"
---- Portland, OR, September 4, 1999 after a rousing rendition of Goin' Up
Séan: "I'm singing this for you, man."
Alan: "Wow... after six years! I'm touched."
---- Portland, OR, September 4, 1999 before Paddy Murphy
Alan: "All four of us have degrees in English, which means we can do absolutely nothing."
Séan: "We can spot double negatives from miles away."
---- Seattle, WA, September 5, 1999
Alan said something about having his first triple latté from StarBucks or something and then explained, "Usually we play all ballads."
---- Seattle, WA, September 5, 1999
Alan did spiel of the tropical island of Newfoundland, and then went on to mention the anniversary of the vikings.
Alan: "We had a great many sailors" Séan and crowd erupt into laughter, and Alan tries to explain.
Séan smiles and bats his eyelashes.
Séan: "Hello Sailor!"
---- Seattle, WA, September 5, 1999
They announce that Séan is on his 12th day since he quit smoking.
Alan: "Yeah mornings around here have been really fun," then illustrates by shouting: "SHUT UP, YOU!"
Séan bursts into a little tune about what he wouldn't give for just one cigarette.
---- Cleveland, OH, September 8, 1999
Alan runs over just before a song to consult briefly with Bob.
Alan: "I had to have a little chat with Bob. He always has wonderful words of wisdom."
Bob responds by giving Alan a thumbs up sign.
---- Cleveland, OH, September 8, 1999
Alan: "The next time we appear here we will be performing entirely without clothes."
Reactions of the rest of the band have to be added here:
Alan's making his usual impish doyling face, something along the lines of "I dare you to consider, just for a moment, that this might actually happen." Darrell pursed his lips together in grim little smile, as though thinking "What're we going to do with this boy?" Séan is standing at the rear of the stage shaking his head sadly, and making a "no way" gesture with his hands, not unlike a referee declaring that a kick is "no good." But Bob literally clutches the front of his shirt and holds it desperately to his body, with a look of (mock?) terror, as if he's certain that Alan is about to come over and demand immediate disrobing.
---- Cleveland, OH, September 8, 1999
Alan: "As you know; we are from the Island of Newfoundland and it’s a very addictive sort of place. You can never be away without wanting to go back. So even now that we’re touring we’ve decided that we will always be based out of Newfoundland, of all places. But sometimes when we’re preparing to leave another tour and I see the long lines on my girlfriend’s face..."
Séan: "Alan, I’ve never seen any lines on your girlfriend’s face. She doesn’t have any lines on her face yet."
Alan: "Lines? did I say she had lines?" With a very worried look.
Séan: "Yes, and I’m glad it was you that said it and not me."
Alan tried to find a come back and couldn’t so Séan looked at his “pretend” watch and said: "Well, Alan we’re five minutes into this introduction. Is it going somewhere?"
Alan just couldn’t find his train of thought so after saying something about Newfoundland that meant nothing to me; he suddenly gave us a “Welcome to Fantasy Island” and they started the song.
---- Alexandria, VA, September 12, 1999
Alan notices that the upper balcony has a little area that protrudes that reminds him of Titanic, and looking up at that...
Alan: "I'm the king of the world!"
Séan: "Yeah, uh-uh."
---- Winnipeg, MB, October 15, 1999
Alan dedicates Boston to St. John's to a certain someone special.
Séan: "Why thank you, Alan."
---- Victoria, BC, October 27, 1999
Alan introducing a song, but goes off on a complete tangent. After a minute or two, he realizes...
Alan: "I was going somewhere with this." *pause* "I can feel the boys' eyes burning into the back of my head."
Darrell, Sean and Bob all staring at him in something bordering on disbelief.
Séan: "This is why I don't talk as much as you do."
---- Victoria, BC, October 28, 1999
They finish playing an exciting song.
Séan: "I'm all a-tingle! I have a tingle in my toe.......it's moving up my leg."
This toe tingle made a reappearance several times throughout the course of the show.
---- Kingston, ON, November 21, 1999
Introducing I'm a Rover...
Alan: "He knocks on the fair maiden's window to gain admittance to her private parts."
Laugher everywhere in the room as Alan notices his slip up.
Alan: "uhhh……her private *quarters*, her private *quarters*!!!!!"
Séan: "You're not allowed to introduce this song anymore."
---- Kingston, ON, November 21, 1999
Finshes a song...
Alan: "That was good!"
Séan: "Yah, we should maybe form a band! We should pick ourselves up a bass player. I know this tunes guy, he plays everything!"
---- Kingston, ON, November 21, 1999
Séan: "I just got my hair cut in London!"
*cheer from crowd*
Séan: "You know, if this were Kelowna and I had said 'I just got my hair cut in Kamloops', everyone would boo. Ontario is such a peace-loving province. [a little something in here] We're all here to make love tonight! Alan, you're here to make love, right?"
Unusally speechless Alan: "uhhhhh….."
---- Kitchener, ON, November 24, 1999
Band finishes playing Boston and St. John's
Alan: "All right, enough singing about loves far away. Now we're going to sing about loves present. And I love Séan McCann!"
(Pause while Séan casts a few wary glances over his shoulder.)
Séan: "We're not singin' no love song now, eh? This song is about death and people dying! If that's your idea of a love song, then you're just a very strange person in a silly shirt. Anyway, this one goes out to all you dead people."
(Audience laughs.)
Séan: "Hey, it's only a matter of time, don't laugh. *clears throat* (sings) Oh the night that Paddy Murphy diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...(Alan starts to look impatient)...iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...(Sean checks his watch, keeps singing)...iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiied."
(Cue huge cheer from audience. And then, to make up for lost time...)
Séan: (quickly) "IsanightI'llneverforget! "
---- Hamilton, ON, November 25, 1999
Alan: "We'd like to thank our manager Louis and our agents Jack and ????? for everything they do. They were the ones out front scalping tickets."
---- Toronto, ON, November 26, 1999
Alan: "I’m glad to see they spelled our name correctly this time. It’s quite different from the first time we played in Ontario. The place we played, it had one of those signs where you slide the letters in, and the ‘G’ and the ‘R’ had fallen off. So the sign said, 'Tonight, Eat Big Sea!'"
---- Toronto, ON, November 27, 1999
Séan: "The show can’t be sold out. Some guy outside tried to sell me tickets. I thought that was pretty nice of him."
Alan: "Yeah, a guy on the corner tried to sell me tickets. I told him the band sucks!"
---- Toronto, ON, November 27, 1999
Alan recounts his shopping excursion in downtown Toronto.
Alan: "I went to the Eaton Centre."
Séan: "Don't you mean the Sears Centre?"
(Huge laugh from audience.)
Alan: "Whoo! It’s something this time of year. Stores will do anything to draw in customers. I saw this sign outside some, I dunno, discount clothing store, it said: 'Ladies’ Pants Half Off'"
Séan: "Are you sure you were at the Eaton Centre this afternoon?" (Raising eyebrows in questioning glance)
Alan: "Hey, when I say the Eaton Centre - I mean the Eatin’ Centre."
(Another huge laugh from audience.)
Séan: (hand to forehead) "This is a family show."
Alan: "How ‘bout I just sing."
---- Toronto, ON, November 27, 1999
Introducing "Run Runaway," as Alan was having trouble with his equipment.
Alan: "Say something nice to these people while I adjust my thingy here."
(Sean plays something on whistle...not to his satisfaction.)
Séan: "I was trying to play the theme from ‘The Friendly Giant,’ but it’s not working."
(Tries again.)
Séan: "No, that’s not it."
(Plays one note.)
Séan: "That’s not it either."
Alan: "Y’know, most other bands have a tendency to rehearse their songs before performing them, but we think that robs the audience of a crucial part of the song development process. So take all the time you want."
Séan: "You folks got a couple of hours while I try and figure this out? (Studies whistle.) I gotta’ tell you, ladies and gentlemen, this will be the last tour I use this whistle on. You will hear sounds from this whistle you never thought you’d hear."
(Goes on to play Run Runaway)
Séan: "How’d you like that whistle solo, eh? You don’t hear solos like that every day."
---- Toronto, ON, November 27, 1999
Alan: "We got in late last night and we went to O'Leary's pub for water and hot tea."
Séan: "The hot tea at O'Leary's is the best."
Alan: "Then today we got to have lunch at Reggie's. Sean, tell them what you had."
Séan: "I had corned beef hash, fish cakes, fried eggs...... So if I seem a little sluggish tonight..."
Alan: "We'll do all ballads tonight."
Séan: *shocked* "We are not doing all ballads! We're playing..."
All four of them shout: "ALL THE HITS!!"
---- Saint John, NB, November 30, 1999
Alan (wearing a glitterball for a shirt): "As many of you may have noticed already, we are at odds within the band as to the dress code for performances."
Séan: "Does that shirt come with instructions for washing it, or does it just go out on its own and come back clean?"
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Séan: "This is our second performance of the new millenium."
Alan: "Yes, it’s been a while since we’ve played together, so things are going to be a little different tonight. This isn’t just a concert, it will be an evening of conversation and song with Great Big Sea. We will, of course, be playing all the hits. All the Oasis hits. Séan, sing these people an Oasis song."
Sean: (long pause, stares at Alan)
Alan: (long pause, stares back at Séan)
Séan: (to the tune of “I Wanna’ Be Sedated”) “I wanna’ be Oasis.” (shrug)
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Danny hands Séan the whistle. Séan takes one look at the whistle in his hand, throws his arms up in the air and storms off to the wings.
Alan: (to audience) "Oh now look, you’ve gone and upset him."
Séan marches back to microphone, wags whistle in Alan’s direction, goes to speak, is too “furious” to form actual sentences and has to pace some more before he can finally spit the words out.
Séan: (pointing whistle accusingly at Alan) "You promised!!! You swore I would never have to play this again! You gave me your word! You’re a hard man to work for, Alan Doyle!" (Storms off again in disgust.)
Séan: (dejectedly) "This is like being put back on defence after playing centre for a while."
Alan: "Perhaps I should explain to the audience. Y’see, we asked some of our online supporters to request some songs for us to play tonight, and they’ve been coming up with all sorts of fantastic things for us, baskets of food and the like...And in this particular song they’ve requested, the arrangement is such that it requires Séan here to play the tin whistle."
Séan: "Oh, so I’m not playing it for you, then? It’s for someone else?"
Alan: "That’s right."
Séan: "Alright, then I’ll do it - one last time. And then tomorrow I get to eat this thing for lunch, and that’s it."
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Alan: "We’re going to go back a couple of albums now. I’ve always wanted to say that. I can remember the first concert I ever went to...uhh...(can’t remember at all)...I think it was Rush or something."
(Huge cheer from audience full of Rush fans, apparently.)
Alan: "Yeah, yeah, that’s it. It was Rush. Anyway, they have like a bajillion records, so they kept saying, ‘We’re gonna’ go back a few albums now.’ And now that we have four records out, I finally get to say it. ‘We’re gonna’ go back a couple of albums, now.’ (pause) And now that I’ve belaboured that point to death..."
Séan: (helpfully) "That’s a nice shirt, though."
(Audience applauds.)
Alan: "Really, you don’t have to applaud the shirt."
(Audience applauds even louder.)
Séan: "Oh, well, next time we’ll just bring the shirt then, eh Bob?"
Bob nods his head vigorously and gives a big “thumbs up!”
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Notices gifts on the stage. Picks one up, Séan comes over to have a look at it, too.
Alan: "Oh look, presents!"
Séan: (wandering all the way back to his own mic to ask) "What is it?"
Alan: (at a loss) "Uhh..."
Séan: "Is that some kind of marsupial thing?"
Alan: "I know! It’s a blue elephant - [lifts black hood-like thing around creature’s neck] - from the hood."
Both he and Séan start rapping, much to each other’s surprise, and the audience’s extreme amusement.
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Séan completely messes up the lyrics to I'm A Rover...
Séan: (as song ends) "I added some new lyrics there."
Alan: "Wouldn’t want things to get stale."
---- Brantford, ON, January 28, 2000
Alan: "We're going to do a song for you now... *pause* ...as opposed to doing magic tricks!"
---- Ann Arbor, MI, January 29, 2000
Alan: " We're taking requests tonight, just write them in the foam of a pint of Guiness and we'll do them."
---- Toronto, ON, March 11, 2000