Our friends Gareth and Emily invited us to go to see a Great Big Sea concert in downtown Halifax last night. The band was celebrating the Canada Games outside in the cold for free! Bands had been performing all week which was clear by the thick cold mud underneath our feet that has destroyed the turf of the square.
It is hard to say to no to such a fantastic opportunity with great friends although it was damn cold and snowy! I had to keep moving constantly to stay warm and not seize up from the cold. The night opened with Jeremy Fisher who was great but a little too mellow to jump up and down to! Sorry Jeremy, none of my photos of you turned out but it was a great performance and BTW, you forgot to mention Manitoba when you went through the provinces but you were so sweet, I am sure Manitoba will forgive you.
It felt like forever for Great Big Sea to come on stage. As we were waiting the crowd was so thick there were a few moments I could not move and I started to panic. I do not handle crowds well and not being able to move almost got me to hyperventilate but my husband calmed me down and things opened up again. Still, a little freaky!
Thankfully when the band came on stage people settled on where they were and stopped pressing forward. I started to dance and try to waken up my feet. Dancing is easy at a Great Big Sea concert, their music was made for jumping up and down. So much energy, so much fun, you can not help but love this fantastic Maritime band.
Being from Newfoundland, they performed on a cold winter's night with tons of energy and passion without toques or parkas! I remember seeing them for the first time in Ottawa over ten years ago, absolutely impressed with their performance. How amazing to see they are still going strong and just released their tenth album!
I lasted for about 45 minutes but pain took over and it was time to leave which was not easy! Walking over slippery freezing mud past thousands of enthusiastic fans, we were all amazed at how wonderfully polite people were as we walked against the thick crushing crowd.
Everywhere you could see people were wearing these flashing sunglasses. Here you see a pair that had fallen into the mud but spontaneously started to blink for the entire performance. We finally got past most of the people and out of the square, able to finally breathe only to see even more people hanging out along the streets downtown, just listening to one of their favourite Maritime bands.
On the way to the car we tried to use clean snow to rub off the thick mud covering our winter boots and jeans. We said goodnight to our friends and came home frozen. I could no longer feel my feet but my back screamed for pain killers.
Still, I kept singing to myself on the way home, "When I'm up and I can't get down..."
5 comments:
I love Great Big Sea! They are the most high energy band around!
And no, Manitoba will not forgive Jeremy Fisher. Manitobans never forget.
I totally agree, nobody does high energy like GBS, awesome! Oh dear, poor Mr Fisher! I thought it was Quebec that never forgets, LOL.
It's been awhile since I spent time on my blog or others'.... It's good to see you, Suzie!
Oh I wanted to go but I was just too tired:( Looks like it was fantastic! They have such terrific energy!
Wish I could have been there, they are so much fun to watch and to stomp along with. Lucky you!
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