A-HA

Alan's From The Road

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There are times in this beautiful life when you realise that you have chosen a side; whether you heard it or not, at some point a bell rang...a marker was laid, a wheel turned. No looking back, the decision has been made.

Yes. That side, that is the side I chose. And choose. For that matter, all around that circle.

More on that when I get back to this, because it is pertinent to what I am going to say about the Kingston show - that choice of sides not only impacts what I say, it's at the heart of what I see at any of their shows. But right now I am running short of time for catching my train out of here and, more to the point, I want to take some more time to think about what I am going to say before saying it, that brandly new habit to which I am endeavouring to become accustomed.

I do have just enough time to put up the YouTubes from the Kingston videos and a few of the Megauploads - I got one of the two vertically-shot videos (Sean's solo and Alan's Singalongs) up there for downloading so it can be seen right-side-up by those to whom that's important; I'll get the Singalongs up as soon as I can, and then the rest of them too and edit in the links. Not many videos this night  because I was behind several tall fellows and there would have been a lot of backs of heads in the videos; as it is, there are still some, but that's how it goes sometimes. I felt very small last night, especially so when I could not get a decent view of Alan's WIAK lead solo. I think my seat tonight in Barrie is in a similar location...I wonder if stepladders are allowed in the venue.

First up, Sean's solo, appropriate as can be for Kingston: The Hip's Bobcaygeon.

Download version of Sean's Bobcaygeon, 260 MB (right side up)

A bouncy but adorable set of Singalongs.

Download version oF Kingston Singalongs, 150 MB (right side up))

Second-set-opening Tunes, a limited view but I only got this much because buddy and buddy in front of me were late getting back from the break with their beverages.

Download version of Kingston Tunes (175 MB)

Kingston Impromptu Song.

Download version of Kingston Impromptu Song (155 MB)

Heaven on Earth: Straight To Hell.

Download version of Kingston Straight To Hell (220 MB)

And an utterly gorgeous Excursion.

Download version of Excursion (130 MB)

Enough for now, have to go catch a train and do some thinking before speaking, When I figure out what I want to say about Kingston and about choosing/having chosen sides, I'll edit it in at the end here (along with the set list - have a few comments to make about that too). And if I feel up to taking on the new photoediting program again (don't even ask how long it took me to get those two photos edited), I might add another photo or two. All of this is assuming that I don't let the train rock me back to sleep all the way to Toronto.

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Slept all the way on the train and followed that with an encore of more of the same on the bus. Rather startling coming into Barrie - my cell phone rang and woke me up just as we were approaching the city limits; I came to groggily and wondered why the frig it was so bright...then saw the snow. Yes, this is Northern Ontario and this is November.

So no actual work got done on the way here - not unless you count my being obedient to those Rest & Recuperation orders, especially needed right now since I seem to have a pissy cold along with me for this ride - leaving me to start from scratch now. No, not truly from scratch..I dreamed about this on the train. Dreams can be the best starting place of all.

Long ago and far away - well, not really quite so long ago but considerably far away - in the course of a discussion about related matters, Alan told me that he knew in advance of reading any GBS review I wrote that it would say I loved the show. Which pissed me off mightily - because, it was, of course, true. And so too was the love...so is the love still. But the love is a only part of what's true, perhaps the best part, but still not the whole truth. Whole Truth is almost always complicated and messy and contradictory. Whole Truth is almost always difficult to write about succinctly, or even coherently - this is why fiction is so often more believable than reality.

What I wanted to say to Alan in heat of the not-so-long-ago-but-very far-away moment was Yes that's true, but it's not that simple. But I was angry and hurt - and angry because I was hurt - and perilously close to boo-hoo-hooing in circumstances that were not a bit appropriate for tearful display; I was also not a bit sure how to go about explaining just why it was not that simple, should such an explanation be demanded of me. Being unable to explain your assertion, no matter how sure you might be that the assertion is indeed True, does not lend very much credence to either assertion or assertor. So I held my tongue in regard to that point, near bit it in two, as I recall.

Because I did want to be able to explain what in knew in my heart was true - because I wanted to understand what I knew in my heart was true - I thought long and hard about that conversation for months afterwards; I thought not only about how I write about the shows and why, but also about how I see the shows and why. I thought about what was True. As expected, what was True - what is True - is complicated and messy and contradictory. And difficult to write. There truly are some things in this beautiful life that we can count on.

The best I can describe this particular Messy Truth is that it is like seeing simultaneously on different levels, all of those levels varying in importance and significance and impact. It's not a bit equal. First and foremost, I see Alan; I see him as a dear man and a wonderful performer, and I want him get all possibe happiness and satsifaction and fulfillment out of each and every time on stage. That's the foundation of what I walk into any and all venues hoping for, what matters the most during the show, and what I walk out thinking about, one way or another, after the final encore. Level One, then....Bedrock True.

But even at its most basic - even before all of the hopes that the rest of them wind up feeling equally glad about how the show went and that the audience will love it and go buy lots of merch and bring all their friends next time - it's still not that simple. Not unlike how I still see Alan as a dear man even when he's acting like an arsehole, I still see him as a wonderful performer even when he's having a rough nigtht. It's not that I don't see the struggle; I do - after having seen them all so much, I'd have to be completely stunned not to notice those kind of differences on any given night ; there is always a part of my mind that notices differences from show to show to show to show, the differences that make one show soar above their usual gold standard of performance and the differences that indicate some struggle - internal, external or (c) both - is taking place on a given night.

Even while noticing those differences on one level, every now and again to the point of worrying about what might be causing the struggling ones, especially the struggling ones that repeat in patterns, on another level they just do not matter, not when it comes to an overall assessment of the player and the pleasure that comes from his performance. Past a certain point - I don't know for sure what our where that point is, only that it is somewhere behind me - when you have witnessed greatness again and again and again, when you know in your heart the depth of desire and breadth of ability a person possesses, and when you have repeatedly seen the spectacular result of the collision of desire and ability, it gets to the point where you see them across a spectrum of accomplishment as much or more than you see them in the individual moment. You walk in the door knowing You are wonderful - you will always be wonderful, beyond any possibility of doubt; nothing that happens on any single night can change that larger truth. You are wonderful is as true coming out as it was going in.

Reading back over what I just wrote, it looks as if I am about to say the Kingston show sucked mightily, not in the good way of sucking mightily. Not so, not at all  - though I will confess and answer a questioner with a "Yes" to his question, "Were you hoping if you waited to write about Kingston, Alan will himself write and give you a lead to follow?" - I checked his journal first thing when I got in the room. I just checked it again a few moments ago and read what he has written, and now I am pondering the efficacy of the Delete key.  And choosing to forge ahead instead. You are wonderful is not a truth that suffers timidity. 

I am going to edit in a quote from what he wrote though. It too is pertinent. To be honest, it makes me want to say simply that "Kingston was wonderful because you are wonderful" and leave it at that. It  is true, after all -  Bedrock True. Alan feels privileged and glad and grateful to be out here on tour and on all of these stages, and he truly is wonderful.  Good enough for me; all that matters to me. It is why I love every show. One simple, sweet, uncomplicated Truth.

So I loved Kingston, because I love how much pleasure he takes from being exactly where he is. Overall, semi-objectively (as if I could even begin to approach "semi" status while taking such pleasure in his pleasure), it was a pretty good show, with a bit of a puzzle for a crowd. I thought the band was on fire during the first set, while much of the crowd was somewhat restrained, particularly for what I've come to expect from a Kingston crowd. During the second set, the roles were reversed - the crowd was rowdy and enthusiastic (well lubricated by then too) and it became the band's turn to take a step back, a small step but the distance was there.

I can't be sure about causes, but there's never a shortage of theories. On the one hand, the first set felt much "newer" in terms of the music, with the second set containing most of the Old Faithful GBS tunes that so many people come in expecting (and credit to them for not adding Donkey Riding to that tally).  I didn't particularly care for the second-set list, but that's only a personal opinion. Given the crowd response during the second set, I am sure not going to argue with the decision. As Alan pointed out several times, Sean too, it has been awhile since they played Kingston (I had thought they were there during the tour for The Hard and The Easy in 2006, but on further reflection, I think it might be the 2004 Something Beautiful tour when they were last there) and there is a very strong argument for not sounding so different from the last time you played a town that you scare people away. 

Then again, you could counter-argue that what gets played in the second half of the show is what people leave singing...how people walk away thinking about you.  I'm very curious about how the set lists for the rest of these Canadian shows are going to play out - what decisions will they make and how will the crowds respond. I'm thinking about that quote of Sean's in regard to them asking their audiences to trust that they will like the new music too and wondering how much reciprocal trust they can/should/will have for those audiences.

While I can't fault the shrewdness of the set list in relation to what this crowd seemed most likely to respond to, I could say that it did seem as if the band members themselves got more pleasure out of the newer-music-dominant first set. But that could also be a function of fatigue setting in by time for the second set, especially after the break. I've been wondering how they deal with that break in terms of adrenaline comedown and momentum upending; it's got to be a challenge to keep yourself up in such a format, much more so when you go into a show after having flown out at the crack of dawn, recorded radio interviews, scrambled to the town of your show doing phone interviews along the way, played PR games once you got there...and then it's showtime, folks.

Alan is right: It is a privlege. It is the privilege he has spent most of his life desiring with all of his heart. But it can also be exhausting, and since I can feel myself beginning to slip into Fussing & Worrying Mode, I think I'll just leave it at that. Though there's probably no harm in reiterating that sweet and simple truth about being wonderful, the one about loving too. And knowing what side I am always going to be on.

"Bring it on" works well too.

Set list for Kingston:

Set One

Love Me Tonight

Process Man

Paddy Murphy

When I'm Up

Jack Hinks

England

Charlie Horse

Hard Case

River Driver

Here & Now

Sean's Solo: Bobcaygeon

Company Of Fools

Singalongs/Run, Runaway

Set Two

Tunes

Captain Kidd

When I Am King

Rover

General Taylor

Scolding Wife

Helmethead

Dream To Live

Consequence Free

Mari Mac

Ordinary Day

Encores

Walk On The Moon

Kingston Song/Old Black Rum

Straight To Hell

Excursion

Fortune

No new pictures, not yet. Given how icy it is outside and my own penchant for landing on my head, I am considering the advisability of walking the kilometer or so to the venue while it is still light outside.