A little bit of rain last night didn't stop us from having some fun!  The boys sounded great and played for over an hour (festival venue) ... to include an encore with a "new member" of the band ... Russell Crowe!  It was pretty cool to have him show up.  And then the final encore kept the boys on the stage with Crowe and also Carbon Leaf.  I don't recall the entire setlist (maybe someone out there has it), but most of the usuals were there (When I Am King, Ordinary Day, Consequence Free, Mary Mac, General Taylor, Jack Murphy, Captain Kidd) and I think at least two new tunes (Walk on the Moon ... and I'm not sure the name of the other new one (or at least it was one that I hadn't heard before)).

All in all, *definitely* worth the $15 festival admission.  Any day is a good day to see GBS!!  Thanks for coming fellas!!!!

It was amazing. I'm still gathering my thoughts about it.

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Becca ~ The Girl with the Kitty Ears
S&DIII: 1283
http://www.flutterbydesign.org ~ http://annaonthemoon.livejournal.com

Yes, a good time was had by all - some more than others - whew! what a crowd!  We were kind of off to the left a bit for Carbon Leaf but managed to move forward center for GBS so I was in-between Murray and Alan a few people back.  My friend kept trying to get me to butt forward to be right in front but I know how rude that is so I declined and continue with clapping and singing right where I was.  The bys did a lot of tunes in a short amount of time - was AWESOME (as always!)  They opened with Donkey Riding (adding to jimmysayes list above).  They also did Helmet Head , Run Run Away, and if anyone can add to to anything we've missed, please do.  Oh yeah, they did the Bohemian Rhapsody sing-a-long including a couple of other tunes, which I can't remember right now.  Great fun!!! 

Russell Crowe coming out and performing was a real treat.  He performed Johnny Cash's Fulsom Prison Blues - was really neat and well done by all.  Then they all sang Cockels and Mussels and Carbon Leaf joined them.  Barry from Carbon Leaf looked a little star struck sharing a mic with "The" Russell Crowe - was very cool.

I realized yesterday that I am getting too old for beer sloshing festivals.  I use to love such events in my younger day.  It took 40 min. in line to use the bathroom.  I enjoyed watching the younger crowd do their thing, and although drunk, most people were kind - just wobbly.      Very rowdy crowd on the Metro on the way back; I was very happy to get into my Subaru at the metro station safe and sound for the drive home. I am very much looking forward to seeing the boys at a tamer venue (Wolf Trap) this summer.

 Oh, I did see Kris and Murray wandering around earlier and carrying something back to the bus with them - I think packages of cookies?  I saw Alan wandering behind the fence too but didn't see if he ever wandered into the crowd. 

Hope to meet some OKPers next time.  Was such a cluster yesterday to try to even stay with the people you were with.

Cheers all!

Robin

Okay.  I'm more awake now.  (seriously. I went to bed at 7 in the morning. this is NOT normal for me)

 

First, huge thanks to the folks from VIP who kept me in a steady stream of the good beer! :D  I'm still slightly too tired to recall names, but it was very much appreciated!

I was glad to see the crowd surfers decided NOT to surf during GBS. It was really annoying during CL, especially during love songs!  And of course, I'm short, so I couldn't really reach the idiots to help push them along, I could only do my best to not get hit/shoved/smooshed.....but anyway.

The setlist was great, I really don't think I can recall off the top of my head everythin that was played, but it was all good songs to get the crowd moving.  My friend I brought along really enjoyed it, too, which was a plus as all she had heard before was 10 or so songs on my iPod on the drive down.   

 I didn't like all the pushing and shoving.  Holy crap.  It just annoys me when people make time in their schedule to position themselves where they want to be for a show,and then people show up 10 minutes before the band goes on and expect to be able to shove their way to the front. Grr.  But, I had been second rowish for CL, and this guy that was in front of me was leaving after CL, so we traded spots and that was really nice.  We managed to be right in front of Bob :)

At one point during the set I got beer spilled all down my back and in my hair (I still don't know how, when we were pushed so close together I didn't even think anyone could have raised a glass!).  I didn't have room to put my jacket on to try to stay warm, so I wound up leaving the front :(.  But, I wound up in front of the side stage and then my friend came to join me and we were standing there with a good shot of the stage and she says "that looks like Russel Crowe" and so we had a good time of admiring Russel before he went on stage :).

 I got annoyed with security though. They kicked us out! :(  I really wanted to ask Alan to sign one of the photos  from the cruise. Ah, well. Some other time. 
 

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Becca ~ The Girl with the Kitty Ears
S&DIII: 1283
http://www.flutterbydesign.org ~ http://annaonthemoon.livejournal.com

The Carbon Leaf show was a disaster!  Many of us got kicked and mauled by the body surfers -- I have bruise the size of a small watermelon on my back with what looks like a size-twelve mens foot, and getting pushed into the steel fence in front of me didn't do my bad knee any good. 

All the EMT / Fire Department guys could do with the surfers was get them out of the crowd and send them back to the festival -- and some of them enjoyed the experience so much they did it several times.  In truth, it was almost petrifying.

I didn't see any casualties, but many of us are bruised and battered and our clothes were beer-sopped.

The boys did a beautiful job!  Kim has a song list and will be posting it when she gets back to Chi-Town.  Sean wore a South Sydney Rabbitohs shirt!

It started drizzling rain about half-way thru the set.  Britt covered up all the guitars and the sound system with big blue tarps and the boys just kept on singing.  They were all so "up" again Saturday night and it just made the show better.

I hope someone will tell the boys about one family who left during the Carbon Leaf show.  It was a woman and two small children who the EMT guys pulled over the fence so they could leave  -- the children were standing right on the fence and they had made some beautiful posters for the boys.  The one I could see had a big picture of Alan with a crown on his head -- talking about when he was king.  They also had a small guitar on which I could see Alan's and other band member's autographs.

 When the body surfers got really agressive their mother moved them from the stroller they were standing in down to the ground and everyone around them was protecting them. 

It finally got to the point that the children were terrified and the security guys lifted them, their mother and the stroller (along with several other terrified and claustrophibic folks) over the fence to safety.  They had stood up there waiting patiently for hours, and to have to leave like that really pi$$ed all of the rest of us off. 

The boys came on late because of stage setting difficulties, and we were afraid that they would have to cut the show because of time considerations.  But they did not!  They kept right on playing, making up for the late start and then some.

I wish you could have seen the press surround the stage when Alan announced that Russell was there -- they came out of the woodwork.  Even the security guys were taking pictures with their cell phones

Russell sang Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and then he and the boys were joined by the Carbon Leaf gang to sing a lot of verses of "Molly Malone". 

I just might have been the happiest camper left standing -- well, almost standing!

The EMT guys (with whom I made real good friends early in the day)  were slipping me water during the shows, and got me to to the street on a golf cart afterwards, where they had arranged for Transit guys to pick me up to take me to the Metro -- and I was in my Mickey Mouse pajamas ordering room service at 11:15 pm.

Carol

 

Wow, what a thing to come back to the OKP to! And here I've been fantasizing about Russell singing with GBS ever since 2001. It's about time! And only fair; Alan's been performing with Russell's band, it's high time Russell performed with his.

And doing "Folsom Prison Blues", no less! Mm, tasty. Russell's take of that remains one of my favorite recordings of his, and the thought of it with GBS' instrument mix... oh man. Did the B'ys sing backup? Did it sound as cool as I am imagining? ^_^

Anna the Piper, who can just BET that the press went nuts, and who desperately wants to see video 

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annathepiper.org * annathepiper.livejournal.com
Amor uti mens: Love With Intellect. Swoon With Reason.

i thought Great Big Sea's set was beyond fantastic, and the encore with Russel Crowe was defintely the cherry on top of a wonderful set.

it should be noted that things turned rather sour during Carbon Leaf's set, i REALLY enjoyed thier music (i want a CD... NOW!) but it was hard to pay attention when you have 50-odd people being hurtled your way. the crowd surfing was MAYBE entertaining at first, but then it got downright disgusting, and i know a few people who had come to see GBS left during CL's set because of it. i hope everyone got home allright, the metro was a mess that night.

major thanks to ChiTownKim and Nova for watching out for us!

i have pics, and videos! coming as soon as i can get the videos and pictures online. i have video of the new GBS song, whose title escapes me (they played it near the begining, anyone recall?), and all of Folsom Prison, and the 2nd half of molly malone.

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**

 

Maggie took this!   

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Becca ~ The Girl with the Kitty Ears
S&DIII: 1283
http://www.flutterbydesign.org ~ http://annaonthemoon.livejournal.com

Paulawalla:

i have pics, and videos! coming as soon as i can get the videos and pictures online. i have video of the new GBS song, whose title escapes me (they played it near the begining, anyone recall?), 

 

Walk on the Moon?  

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Becca ~ The Girl with the Kitty Ears
S&DIII: 1283
http://www.flutterbydesign.org ~ http://annaonthemoon.livejournal.com

no... it wasn't that one. its a song that (i dont think) has been played before this weekend.

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**

Hi all!  Home safe ande sound and will post my thoughts about the weekend a little bit later, but have a few secs to post the setlist.  I'm pretty sure that they stuck to this one:

Donkey Riding
Captain Kidd
Tonight - EXCELLENT song!
Jack Hinks
When I'm Up
Lukey
Walk on the Moon - by the way, new album - "Fortune's Favor" (I think) due out June 24th
The Night that Paddy Murphy Died
When I am King
General Taylor
Scolding Wife
80's Medley (Video Killed the Radio Star, 500 Miles, Bohemian Rhapsody)
Run Run Away
Helmet Head
Comsequence Free
Mari Mac
Ordinary Day

Folsom
Molly Malone

All in all, a fantastic night, although kind of scary during Carbon Leaf's crowd surfing.  Glad I stuck it out - the payoff was well worth it.

 More later...

Kim

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live simply - love generously - care deeply - speak kindly - leave the rest to God

*shrug* I thought the crowd was pretty tame for an Irish festival show sponsored by a radio station on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, where the price of tickets was determined by what kind of beer you wanted to drink. But that's just me, I guess I'm used to people inappropriately crowd surfing for CL - and from what I saw, the crowd for them was *way* calmer than most of the bands before them.

But I also missed most of the CL set - if any of y'all bought any merch from them, Hi! Sorry stock was so low on everything - I hope you got what you wanted.

The GBS crowd was really nice to me, people kept telling me to go in front of them, so by the third song in or so, I was front row with my friends who had been there since before CL! Huzzah being able to see! It was a great set, and I really appreciated the rain to cool down the raging sunburn on my face. And Russel Crowe was surreal. Still gotta see GBS in a legit venue though!

(FWIW, the "press" for Russel was at least partly made up of crew people for other bands! heh) 

That's too bad, Golden Ager. I can skip seeing CL at Irish 2000 if I have to brave being kicked in the head by a dumb ass or coerced to make way by overly aggressive and manipulative fans pushing to the front in the 11th hour. I don't need to stare full frontal at CL to enjoy their music. If what Muppet Coat says above is true and CL fans are typically dumb asses at Irish Festivals, and it's *shrug* no big deal to them, I'm happy to skip their act.

I hate crowds like that. Idiots.

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Free Cruise Clocks

TinaCap:

That's too bad, Golden Ager. I can skip seeing CL at Irish 2000 if I have to brave being kicked in the head by a dumb ass or coerced to make way by overly aggressive and manipulative fans pushing to the front in the 11th hour. I don't need to stare full frontal at CL to enjoy their music. If what Muppet Coat says above is true and CL fans are typically dumb asses at Irish Festivals, and it's *shrug* no big deal to them, I'm happy to skip their act.

I hate crowds like that. Idiots.

 

It's not CL Fans - it's drunk people at an outdoor festival full of beer. But thanks... Honestly, If you weren't expecting that sort of crowd, I have to wonder if you've ever been to a festival like that ever before. No one said you have to be in the thick of things, my friends' kids watched from the back/side and had a great time.

I thought the crowd was pretty tame for an Irish festival show sponsored by a radio station on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, where the price of tickets was determined by what kind of beer you wanted to drink.

I totally agree with you.  I cannot fathom bringing *any* child to a venue of this sort.  The local Irish music festival put on by the local Irish Cultural org? Yes.  A drunken beer fest full of wall-to-wall, uhm, drunken people is absolutely NO place for kids in strollers.

 I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it's borderline irresponsible to take kids to a venue like this *and* attempt to be in the first row (i.e. fully enmeshed in the crowd).  Not every venue is a kid-friendly venue and sometimes taking care of kidlets needs to come ahead of the urge to be front-row center.
 

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"Wouldn’t it be great, if the band just never ended
We could stay out late and we would never hear last call ..."

Well, a girl can dream :)