Paula Sanderson, Staff Contributor
Nova Scotians were ready to party when Great Big Sea rocked Celebration Square at the halfway point of the Canada Games.
Over 13,000 people packed the downtown area to see the free concert on Feb. 19.
“It’s a chance to play some new songs from the record and participate in a great public event,” said founding member, Bob Hallett in an interview before the concert. “All the ducks were in a row.”
Currently on a North American tour, Great Big Sea has performed in Halifax on numerous occasions and each time they try to bring something different to the concert. “Every night on tour is different. Not just for the audience, but for us as well,” said Hallett. “Every night we are challenged by having to play songs that are not easy or songs people won’t sleep through. It’s not the same concert.”
The Canada Games show featured songs off their greatest hits albums, as well as new songs from their latest release,Safe Upon The Shore.
Opening act Jeremy Fisher was one of the artists who collaborated with GBS on the new album. Hallett says bringing in other people makes their music better. “They approach songwriting and song arranging from a very different point of view than we have,” he said. “Not every experiment or collaboration worked that well—the ones that did made it on the album.”
After nearly two decades and 10 albums, Great Big Sea doesn’t want to produce the same music. “18 years in, the easiest thing to do would be to make the same album over and over again,” said Hallett. “If you can find other collaborators to make it better, why not?”
With Safe Upon The Shore the band tried to build upon what they had. “For our fans we were able to raise the bar a bit,” said Hallett, “In the words of C.S. Lewis, ‘further in and further up;’ we hope to be doing that for a long time yet.”
The band has long been considered Canadian icons, but Hallett finds this label “very bizarre.”
“It’s not a role we aspired to when we started this band,” he said. “We were very outsiders, very underdog and very indie in the beginning and in our own minds we still are.”
Although the group maintains the “underdog” mentality, their public and critical reception suggests otherwise.
The band has been nominated for 11 Juno awards—receiving a nomination this year for Group of the Year. “I think the chances of winning a week ago were one in five,” said Hallett. “I think after Arcade Fire winning at the Grammys, I wouldn’t put $5 on us at the bookies.”
Still, they are pleased with the nomination. “It’s nice to be nominated,” said Hallett. “Nice to be recognized.”
The band didn’t have time to catch any competitions at the Canada Games, but Hallett would have liked to watch cross-country skiing. “It’s not the sexiest sport in the world, but it’s one of the few winter sports that I do a little bit myself,” he said.
Hallett thinks that a good performance is key to being successful in the music industry. “Being a good songwriter is useful, but it doesn’t really carry the income with it that it would have 10 years ago. What you really need to do if you want to make an income in the music business is learn how to stand up in front of people and entertain them,” said Hallett. “If you can do that, you’re set for life.”
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