Played the last of the Fortune’s Favour Tour dates in Calgary last weekend. Frolicking at the Grey Cup, Canada’s Super Bowl, has become a near annual bash for GBS and our close buds. Word has circulated that the Grey Cup weekend serves as an excellent platform for a few boys nights out and we were joined by an All Star cast of foolish dudes. Had a fun night Friday at the pub, then the big gig on Saturday night, then all hands; me and Sean and ten others to the Football Game.
As fortune would have it, we ended up with one more person than game tickets, so I called in a favour with Jim from Blue Rodeo. The boys were slated to play the halftime show and they graciously allowed me to tag along with them. It was all good chatting with Jim and Greg and watching the opening and first half from the sidelines. As the second quarter drew to a close, the BR guys headed back to a dressing room to get ready for the Halftime show. It would be a big gig for the guys with nearly 7 Million Viewers.
I lagged behind a little, and made my way back to their dressing room about five minutes later. The mood in the room was noticeably tense and something was not right. Baz, the bands bass player was doubled over in pain in the corner, as a few folks attended to him. Apparently he had been having recurring internal attacks from a temporary, but nasty ailment. This attack was a bad one.
Someone knocked on the door and said, “Blue Rodeo. Ten minutes”.
Musicians are generally a compassionate bunch, I’d say. And you learn that you have to look after your buds in sickness and in health if you are going to last the long run. This was very apparent in the dressing room as all hands did what they could to get the patient what he needed quickly. But musicians also learn another truism:
The Show Must Go On.
I think it was Glen, BR drummer, who finally said what was on everyone’s mind. “What if Baz can’t play?”
What Jim Cuddy said next, nearly knocked me off my feet.
“Alan will play bass.”
I nearly shite myself, but of course, nodded and said if Baz can’t play, I’ll step in.
Let’s be honest here. I can play rhythm guitar fairly well, but am not a shredder by any sense. I could fake my way through many last second gigs on guitar and not trainwreck the whole shebang. I say this so you understand the situation, and don’t confuse this for some false modesty. I am a professional guitar player. But I am not a professional bass guitar player. At all.
But still, if the boys were stuck, I’d give it a go. Not ideal to have your professional bass playing debut to be on live TV, but what do you do. To make a short story short, I spent the next six to eight minutes going over the chord changes to the three BR tunes they were about to play…for 7Million people. All the while Baz is being tended to and all hands had their fingers crossed that he’d be ok.
We all got in a van and rode to the back of the stage at center field. With less than a commercial break to go, Baz said he wanted to give it a go and they asked me to stand close by in case something went amiss.
Baz made it to the stage in time and rocked the house. I’d forgotten how complex and full of melody his bass lines can be. I confess I’ve never listened to him quite as closely as I did on the field in Calgary. 7 million viewers watched Baz and BR rock blast through their tunes. What they did not see was a scared shiteless rhythm guitar player from Petty Harbour about twenty feet from the stage nervously hoping to not have to pick up a bass after Bazil Donovan had played it.
Baz went to doctor right off the stage and is doing much better now, by the way, according to sources.
Fun times. By the way, I’ve been practicing bass all this week in case Jim and the boys, or anyone else calls again. I’ll be ready.
Had a very welcomed week home. Made up for some lost time, but the scale of home and gone is tipped hard to the latter for 2009 and I’m out of calendar days to level it off.
Finally got to have a look around Daffodil Place. For those of you who don’t know, Daffodil Place is a residence for Rural Newfoundlanders who need to stay in St. John’s while receiving longer-term cancer care. I was on the fundraising board and along with the rest of the team, managed to raise almost 8 Million Dollars to build the facility. The grand opening was earlier in 2009 while I was working on the Robin Hood film in England. Despite my desires, I could not get away to attend the festivities. I got my first glance of the fruit of our toils the other day.
It is fantastic. Very cozy rooms, with all the modern kitchen and laundry facilities available to the residents. The meeting rooms for support groups are large enough for the guests and there is even a dandy outdoor garden with lovely plants and chairs. Many of you should feel good that your donations went to such a great cause, which has been almost 90% full since opening. I spoke to a few people who are using Daffodil Place while undergoing treatment and they were so happy to have such an option available to them.
Great Big Sea donated the proceeds of our Christmas Concert to the cause and thanks to kind folks like some of you who attended; we raised over 50k, and named one of the Guest Suites. It felt good to finally see it in person.
Currently in a recording studio in the Garden District of New Orleans. GBS will be here for a couple of weeks before and after the Christmas break, hoping to make the new opus. But more about that later.
The Road is Long.
I hope.
Cheers,
Alan