Celtic Fling, Second Day

I'm so glad that we decided to go back for the second day, I would have been kicking myself if we hadn't gone back.

Hamish: Today he was wearing an interesting shirt - I leave the pics to describe it - but it was a beige, red and green button down type shirt. He was again wearing the long green pants/kilt type things, and silver sunglasses. Rick: Brownish corduroys, and a black tank on top. The brown leather hat was back, and he also had sunglasses on at the beginning of the day. Roel: Black Harley Davidson logo-ed tank, with black/grey shorts. He also was wearing a blue bucket type had and bug-eyed sunglasses. Angus: Black pants, and a grey tank. Sunglasses on again at the beginning of the show. Yup, no kilts. But that may change...

We made a semi-set list, after the show, so they aren't in order, but they are an approximation of what we remember being played.

an daorach bheag
thetimeisnow
Crow
Shadowman
Romp
Crazy
Hang on
Fragile
Good

Amazing, amazing show again. Brother appears to be full of energy and in excellent spirits. We were sitting on the stage around 1:15, waiting for the 1:30 start. Angus announced around 1:20 that Brother was ACTUALLY ready to begin on time! Someone, Roel, perhaps said, "who can believe that!" Hamish kidded that they should go and get a drink, as they had a lot of time before they were going to start.

They still didn't begin on time, and so Roel left the drumset, and came and sat in the front row with us all. He asked "so, who are we seeing today?" We, of course, responded "oh, just some band". Roel then commenced to tell more drummer jokes, two of which I just happen to remember.

"What's the difference between a drummer and a pizza?" (there's the pizza joke!)
"A pizza can feed a family of four!"

"What's a drummer without a girlfriend?"
"Homeless"

Roel is one funny guy (even if it isn't apparent here...) Roel jumped back on stage, and the show began with Angus and Hamish facing each other playing the bagpipes, and then turning out toward the crowd. Excellent! I haven't seen this type of beginning in a while. Rick brought out a didg and played back and forth with Hamish for a while, during Romp, I think. It was a cool didg - black and white, and painted twisted, like a barber pole. Shelly from Glengharry Bhoys joined them for Shadowman, as Hamish said the song really deserved a good fiddle. Sounded just great - she did an excellent job!

There were bubbles during Crazy (we forgot ours again!) and the wind was blowing well enough that I got some good pics. Hamish liked them too, he remarked on them, and asked the crowd if they were feeling bubbly today! Rick broke a string somewhere, possibly during Crow, but kept playing on. He had another guitar on stage, so the show went on without a hitch.

Fragile was the only really new song that I remember them playing in the first show. It's really very good. I have a poor recollection on the lyrics, but I believe it begins with something along the lines of "picture myself on the steps in the pouring rain". Don't quote me on this one! We wandered the faire for a while after the show, and talked with the ever-wonderful Teri. We lounged around the merchandise area for a while, Hamish, Angus and Roel were around, but mainly we just tried to stay out of the way, and out of the sun.

We soon noticed that some fans had already taken seats, so we joined them and get some nice center stage seats. We actually wrote down the set list for the second show, so I know this was what they played -

Bitch
Crazy
River
So familiar
Name
2 Weeks
Bye Bye
Louie
Clumsy

Another rockin show. There was a lot of fun banter and joking through out both shows, and I'll try to remember some here. It took a while for the mikes and sound to get set up correctly, but they were finally ready to go at about 4:35ish. Remember how I said that the no kilts might change?? Well, it did! Angus came out for the second show in the black corduroy kit, with the green plaid underneath (my favorite of his kilts). Very pleasing.

They began with Bitch, which was as powerful as ever. It was nice to hear So Familiar - it sounds excellent. After name, Angus remarked that he was a tad bit thirsty, to which Hamish replied "Angus would like a beer", and Angus told him that just asking for one "destroyed the theatre of the moment". At one point, they couldn't decide what song to play next, and Roel started banging around and said "Listen to me - I'm the drummer!" He then said he just felt like throwing a tantrum.

2 weeks is a great song, and I really think it does sound Beatles-esque. We pretty sure that these are the lyrics to the verse - Hamish, Angus, and Rick each sing the verse by themselves during this song:

Feels like, I'm never gettin' home
and I feel so alone
but right now, I'm right where I want to be

Angus remarked at the end, that the verse was true. They began Bye, bye, which started with Angus singing the first verse. About halfway through the verse he stopped and looked over at Hamish and Rick, who were laughing hysterically. He said, "It's supposed to be a poignant song!" Hamish then explained to the crowd that he had been playing, and looked over at Rick, and noted that Rick still had the capo on his guitar. Rick had noticed the same thing, and they just dissolved into laughter. With the capo on, they were a semitone above where Angus' bass was. Hamish remarked that they should not be playing the song with the capos on and Angus said he definitely did not want to try it in that key today. Angus then said something like "ok, let's say goodbye" and they began again, and it sounded just great.

Bye, bye still has me a bit confused. I need to hear it again to get a real handle on the words, but here are some that we remember.

bye bye brother...
it's been a long time, such a long time
going on with this perpetuation
it's not bad, we're just moving on
it's been a long time, such a long time
bye bye brother

They began to close out the show with Louie - it rocked. One point I forgot to mention was that we were seated on the ground for the majority of the shows all weekend. I think this was mainly because people didn't want to block anyone's view, and I know it was not because the shows were boring. Hey, if we could have been dancing, we would have been. Louie brought everyone to his or her feet. Angus did play both his and Hash's pipes during the show. Rick and Gus pointed their guitar necks at Hamish, and moved across the stage in unison towards him and at one point, Angus knelt on the stage. They asked what we wanted to end the show with - Clumsy or It's all good. The crowd said both, but finally decided on Clumsy. Great way to end a power packed show!

After the show, we hung out and talked with Teri a bit. She's wonderful, everyone, you've got to spend a bit of time with her if you can. She said she was back in the "on the road" mindset, and we welcomed her back any time! They had sold completely out of CD's today, and only had a couple of sizes of shirts left! Brother sounds better than ever, they are energized and putting on great shows. The new stuff is just great - I cannot wait to hear the studio album! The guys do care about the fans, it's clear that we mean something to them, and they take the effort to show that. They hang around after shows, totally accessible, and never hesitate to sign anything, or have a quick conversation. Or even to give someone a surprise hug. Just a wonderful weekend.

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