It was a full on East Coast party when Great Big Sea performed on Friday night at Bluesfest in Ottawa.  It is their 20^th anniversary as a band and a video montage of past performances preceded the band’s entrance on stage.  The entire crowd burst into party mode with opening number Ordinary Day, dancing (or jumping) and singing along throughout the entire song.  “It’s our 20^th Anniversary for God’s Sake! So glad to be here!” greeted Alan Doyle, the band’s gritty vocalist.

Sean McCann toned things down later with a hauntingly beautiful performance of traditional folk song “England”.  The audience was captivated but was snapped out of their trance when Alan Doyle shouted “Shall we whip the crowd into a frenzy by singing a song about a dead horse??!!”  and the party was back on.

Near the end of the show, Alan confirmed Ottawa as a favourite stop for Great Big Sea.  “Ottawa’s been our biggest audience in the world since day one.”  It’s obvious that the feeling’s mutual among the fans, especially when they took encore songs Mari Mac and Old Black Rum as their last chance to party with the band until their inevitable return.

It was a fun, fun, completely Canadian show that left everyone feeling good and exhausted after it was over, a good old maritime celebration.