Last night was AMAZING! Ardra, Aly, and I piled into the car and blared Great Big Sea the whole way there. We got there early, but even thought it was only 6:30, they opened the doors at Milestones, so we went in and stood around in front of the stage talking to each other for awhile because we were too chicken to talk to anyone else. Milestones is actually pretty small, though there were probably several hundred people there for the concert; they had taken all the tables out.

List (complete?) of people there from the Powder Room or Online Kitchen Party: Barbara (Babs), Nixie, Trish, Em, Hap, Donna, Fiona, Fran, Cheechi, Alex, Jenny, Ense, and Chris. Then we spotted Cheechi in her April Fool’s get-up (complete with Fisher Price binoculars to peer at Alan through while he was performing) So we worked up the courage and walked over and I tapped her on the shoulder (reaching over a few people); we just said hi and talked for a minutes, but it seemed kind of awkward and we were talking over people, so it kind of died and we went back to our “place.” We just hung around for awhile, until the woman in front of us turned around and said hi or something. Then we found out: this was Barbara, from the Powder Room! We were all shocked because neither of us knew the other would be here! From thence forth she took us under her wing; pointing out people, introducing us to people, and later on scolding Trish for crushing us.:) She was a real sweetheart. She also said, “How old are you?” When I told her she was like, “Really?! I knew Katie-Joe was that age, but somehow you guys seems older than her. You could pass for 18 or 19.”

Then Trish and Em got there; we said hi to Trish, and walked over to Em (I had guessed she was Em, but Barbara verified it), who was talking to someone. Ardra started to chicken out and was like “let’s go back to Aly”; finally, there was a lull in Em’s conversation, and as Ardra turned to go back to our spot, I grabbed her arm and tapped Em on the shoulder. “Hi! This is Ardra; I’m Caity.” It’s fun to exclaim over people you’ve never met before but know online, and have them exclaim over you.:) One of the first things Em said (with a bit of a smile) “How did you guys get in here?” (Under 18 you can’t get in w/o an adult) We explained, then she took us over and we shook hands and introduced ourselves to Nixie, who asked, concerned: “How did you girls get in here?” I love it - it’s not like they’re pushing cigarettes or alcohol into our hands; they were actually concerned. I calmed their fears by pointing out my dad, who was standing nearer the back where there was light to read.We talked to Babs, who has been to like 6 concerts in the past two months, and Em, the Quebec French Canadien who sounds like Celine Dion and talks really loudly :) (at one point Barbara leaned over to us and said, “Isn’t she exactly like she is on the message board?!” - ie. loud and outgoing:)

The opening band - never caught their name because I couldn’t understand a word they said! - came on shortly after 9. They were good; hard rock, so not really my thing, but at least they were good musicians. Then Danny was on and off stage for nearly 20 minutes putting up the b’ys stuff, checking mics and instruments; Ense, Em, and Trish started yelling “Go Danny, Go Danny!” whenever he came onstage.:) He put up with it and even got into it a little bit, dancing around.

Then, finally, our b’ys bounded on stage, looking gorgeous as ever! Alan was wearing a calm outfit today - tan corduroy-type pants and a black, long sleeved top (of course with his Celtic knot necklace) - during the songs he wasn’t playing his guitar in he’d pull his hands inside his sleeves a little bit, which was really cute. Darrel and Sean had on similar simple, low-key outfits. Bob had a kind of funky top which was collared and button up; red down the middle and then two black stripes, which had red fire going up them (hehe). It gave me shivers because Alan likes to look out at the crowd, and he made eye contact with me a bunch of times. Sometimes for like 7 or 8 seconds. It was a very cool experience. Sean, however, tended to try to avoid looking out at the audience most of the time and he looked very tired, while Bob looked normal; I couldn’t see him real well. Darrell looked all ruffled and adorable.:)

Songs: (not in concert order)

Donkey Riding–their first song. Alan’s voice was gorgeous and he did the little pulling of his hands up into his sleeves thing that was so endearing;

When I’m Up–the second song of the concert; jumping and bouncing galore! Alan held out the final “oh-oh-oh-I can’t get down” out forever and the crowd, who were singing along, moved down it too fast;

Consequence Free–lots of bouncing up and down - especially on “na na na’s”; typical cheers at “wouldn’t it be great if the band just never ended” and a wide-spread appreciation for the “I could really use to lose my Catholic conscious” line;

Old Black Rum--fists in the air on the “heys!” This one was fun;

Feel it Turn–just beautiful - with Sean’s voice hitting the ceiling and resounding and Bob’s tin whistle;

Boston and St. John’s–Alan didn’t dedicate it to Jo this time - perhaps this mean something? At the end his face just kind of crumpled, and he swung his hair down into his face to hide it.:( His face made my heart want to break, especially at the climactic middle and end of the song;

Jack Hinks–a rousing number;

Can’t Stop Falling–every time when Sean sang “won’t someone save me!” Trish or Em would say: “I will!” :);

Auntie Mary– “...Mary has a canary up her drawers?” What?!:);

Hanging Johnny–Alan’s “disgusted” expressions as Sean sang through the verses: “First I hang my brother . . . mother . . . father . . . granny . . . the Holy Family . . .” were hilarious! After they finished the song, Sean said: “I’ve never hung anyone. Except Bob a few times.”;

Jakey’s Gin–fists in the air to punctuate the chorus on this song, too!;

Goin’ Up–Alan had us sing all the “oh-oh-ohs” back to him - sometimes he started to laugh because we were singing so loudly off key. He also told us to be dancers for this song;

Excursion Around the Bay–we sang the “oh-mi, oh-my”’s and put our fists in the air as usual;

Mari Mac–very fast!;

The Little Beggerman–Darrell got a chance to challenge the pace of Sean’s “Mari Mac”!

I’m A Rover–Alan’s intro: “All the ladies in the house: Please let Sean in!” Then he proceeded to act out parts of the song as Sean sang it; the “arms around her breast” was hilarious as Alan mocked being scandalized at a male intruder and clapped a hand to cover his “bare” chest;

Ordinary Day–this one was kind of sad because it was their last song. It gave a sense of closure, but it also made me so content -- a kind of peacefulness bubbling up ;o);

End of the World

Process Worker’s Song–first song in second encore - they had two encores! Alan sang a beautiful, long “go. . . .” as his last note;

Rant and Roar–one of their last in the encore. The first row laced arms over shoulders/waists and swayed, so we joined in; Trish and I both looked at each other for a second and then w/o a word put our arms around each other and began to sway and sing.:) It was so amazing, because Alan had us sing the second chorus to him, and here was this bar full of non-Newfoundlanders, in the US no less!, singing “We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true Newfoundlanders!” You could just see something on Alan’s face as he looked out over us - a kind of amazement at what GBS has been able to accomplish and they pride they’ve been able to stoke in the hearts of people who aren’t even NFLDers!)

In front of us was Chris; she was a little tipsy. It was kind of cute because all the other women are looking out for her. At one point Ense had just gotten a drink and Chris pointed to it exaggeratedly; Ense said no, but Chris said “just a teeny bit!” Ense finally gave in. Chris also wrote a love note to Alan, which he took from her outstretched hand; it said “Can you meet me after the show? I love you! XXX, Chris” It made me LOL. Alan kind of chuckled and dropped it on the stage.

Alan told that after the Juno awards, at the party, ACDC got up and did a song, and then GBS did. Alan: “So as I see it, ACDC opened for us. . . .”

Between songs Alan kind of looked at Sean for a second, then started singing (Backstreet Boys): “I want it that wa–“ *stops* “Wait, what’s the newest one?” *starts singing* “Show me the meaning of being lonely. . . .” It was so funny; he even stretched his arms out the way the Backstreet Boys do. He said at the Juno awards he saw A.J. (not knowing their names, Alan had to rely on help from Chris, in the audience ;o), and he also had a discussion with Howie:

Alan: “Hey, I’m Alan!”

Howie: “Hi.”

Alan: “I’m from NFLD.”

Howie: “I’m Howie, from Florida.”

Alan: “Florida . . .where’s that?” LOL! (cuz no one ever knows where NFLD is) Alan (to us in the audience): “Hey, is that somewhere in Canada?”

As the intro for “Old Black Rum,” Sean started singing “Message in a Bottle.” None of the other guys picked it up along with him, and Alan was like, “What are you doing?” But then the crowd picked it up with Sean, and they all sang the chorus together (I didn’t know it), and it was so funny because there Sean was, standing on the front of the stage, leading the audience in, “I’ll send an S.O.S. to the world . . . message in a bottle.” Then they ended and Alan was like, “What was that for?” Sean motioned for him to look at the set list; then Alan realized it was “Old Black Rum.” Then, Alan started singing “Genie in a Bottle.” He looked at Sean and said, “You gotta rub me the right way.” Sean said, “I don’t wanna rub you!” Everyone burst out into laughter. Sean paused then said, “I’d rather rub Bob!” The look from Bob at this!

Alan looked at Cheechi during the show when he saw her doing the binocular thing at him and laughed, then looked to Sean and grinned and they both laughed. Then about halfway through, Cheechi handed up an embroidered thing that said “Home Sweet Home, NFLD” with Hawaii crossed out under it (NFLD is Canada’s “Hawaii”) Alan loved it and showed the crowd. Then he said: “And that has got to be the best shirt in the house tonight! What is that, cross-stitch?” (It was her personally embroidered PLAY shirt) Then he leaned forward and took her hand and kissed it, and asked her name and dedicated the song to her! Awww! At the end of the show he leaned forward and gave her his guitar pick, too.:)

After the show, when we were waiting around from 11:30-12 to see if the b’ys would come back (they didn’t), Em sidled up to me and said, “So, did you enjoy the show?” I fiercely said yes, and asked her the same, and she said, “Oh yeah.” Then she slowly unfurled her hand; in it was Sean’s guitar pick, which Hap had seen left lying on the stage afterward and had grabbed it for Em.

It was SO hot (and not just because of the b’ys! ;) and we got home about 2:40. *sigh* What a wonderful night. . . .