I always thought Alan was the partier before the show and Sean was the conservative one! Good times regardless! Alan and GBS, thank you for making us all smile for so many years! The music lives on!
I actually had a drink with Alan AFTER show in Seattle, just one, while he signed autographs and milled about with his adoring, yet reasonable fans. You are something of a hero Alan Doyle! Thanks for everything!
It's such a trapping of the industry - especially for a Celtic band where alcohol is a big part of the image. Its nice to see Alan talk about it so candidly.
I was lucky enough to share some moments with Alan on a small back porch in the little town of Sellersville, Pennsylvania several hours before a GBS concert. Of course, he was offered a drink . . and turned it town for the same reasons relayed in his interview. He is all about giving the audience the best performance he is able to give! Gotta love him for it! Always a fan - Polly a/k/a GBS Wench
He turned down that one drink for the same reason people w/alcoholism hide their bottles... trying to not get caught. Rest assured he had a drink or three in private later, before the show. Sad that he hasn't faced his issues, as Séan has.
My wife and I met Alan after a concert in Bremerton, WA just 3 weeks ago. We were waiting near the bus and his roadie asked if we were waiting for him. The roadie went to the bus and came off a moment later telling us we were in luck. Alan visited with us for a few minutes and couldn't have been more kind, conversational, friendly, and sober. He asked us more questions about us than we did ask questions about him. We told him he'd love the historic venue he was to play next, and he messaged me on Instagram to let me know that I was right. My wife has traveled Canada and the US seeing Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle. This was my first show. My only regret is that I didn't take my children. I've been to hundreds of concerts, but no one engages a crowd to jump, clap, and dance like Alan. We saw John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in an acoustic set a few months ago, and when I was clapping during a John Hiatt song, a woman actually turned around to stare at me because she wanted to sit and listen rather than engage. Alan is the consummate audience performer.
Thanks for sharing this interview. I have a been a GBS fan for several years and never knew. Great to hear how Alan understood about not getting drunk for a concert.
Seems to be more about Doyle than McCann, which is fine, just saying. It's sad for anyone to be controlled by alcohol, drinking is glorified and taken way too lightly by society IMO. PS. Alan would really like the Celtic Kitchen Party's version of my song JUST FOR TONIGHT.
Really? "lies ...lies..."? He didn't say he never drank; he said he was never drunk on stage. While he appears to be a fellow who enjoys a pint from time to time, he clearly is a gifted performer who enjoys what he does. The two things are not mutually exclusive and if he says, for him, performing trumps drinking, I see no reason to disbelieve him notwithstanding your observations at one GBS show in 2010.
@@TristanandIsolt The man is huge and I've never seen him have more than two beers while performing at a concert. With all the moving arou d they do he would have to be a remarkable lightweight to be inebriated.
@Kyle: Agreed. Alan is pure public relations bs and is still in denial, at least as of this interview. Kudos to Séan for getting sober and bravely confronting his demons.
@@pisto30 You might be referring to the original poster, since I didn't use the words "lying" or "lies." What matters in this interview is that Alan's revision of history for his own PR sake is disrespectful to Séan (in fact, some of his statements about Séan approach slander), while painting himself pure as the driven snow. BTW, I love Alan's voice and his songs... but I hate when he talks bs, like he does in this interview.
as a guitar palyer who makes his money from the pubs. this is so true the night out stops being a night out and becomes a need to just be normal if front of people .
I always thought Alan was the partier before the show and Sean was the conservative one! Good times regardless! Alan and GBS, thank you for making us all smile for so many years! The music lives on!
I actually had a drink with Alan AFTER show in Seattle, just one, while he signed autographs and milled about with his adoring, yet reasonable fans. You are something of a hero Alan Doyle! Thanks for everything!
Quality guy. For sure.
I was at that show!
It's such a trapping of the industry - especially for a Celtic band where alcohol is a big part of the image. Its nice to see Alan talk about it so candidly.
I was lucky enough to share some moments with Alan on a small back porch in the little town of Sellersville, Pennsylvania several hours before a GBS concert. Of course, he was offered a drink . . and turned it town for the same reasons relayed in his interview. He is all about giving the audience the best performance he is able to give! Gotta love him for it! Always a fan - Polly a/k/a GBS Wench
He turned down that one drink for the same reason people w/alcoholism hide their bottles... trying to not get caught. Rest assured he had a drink or three in private later, before the show. Sad that he hasn't faced his issues, as Séan has.
My wife and I met Alan after a concert in Bremerton, WA just 3 weeks ago. We were waiting near the bus and his roadie asked if we were waiting for him. The roadie went to the bus and came off a moment later telling us we were in luck. Alan visited with us for a few minutes and couldn't have been more kind, conversational, friendly, and sober. He asked us more questions about us than we did ask questions about him. We told him he'd love the historic venue he was to play next, and he messaged me on Instagram to let me know that I was right.
My wife has traveled Canada and the US seeing Great Big Sea and Alan Doyle. This was my first show. My only regret is that I didn't take my children. I've been to hundreds of concerts, but no one engages a crowd to jump, clap, and dance like Alan.
We saw John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in an acoustic set a few months ago, and when I was clapping during a John Hiatt song, a woman actually turned around to stare at me because she wanted to sit and listen rather than engage.
Alan is the consummate audience performer.
Thanks for sharing this interview. I have a been a GBS fan for several years and never knew. Great to hear how Alan understood about not getting drunk for a concert.
Doyle handled that well, even when Sean sort of blamed his addiction issues on the band when clearly they were his own problems.
Seems to be more about Doyle than McCann, which is fine, just saying. It's sad for anyone to be controlled by alcohol, drinking is glorified and taken way too lightly by society IMO.
PS. Alan would really like the Celtic Kitchen Party's version of my song JUST FOR TONIGHT.
I saw him with Great Big Sea in September 2010 in Charlotte, NC. I love Alan, but he had drink after drink, even drank on stage. Lies, here, lies.
Really? "lies ...lies..."?
He didn't say he never drank; he said he was never drunk on stage.
While he appears to be a fellow who enjoys a pint from time to time, he clearly is a gifted performer who enjoys what he does. The two things are not mutually exclusive and if he says, for him, performing trumps drinking, I see no reason to disbelieve him notwithstanding your observations at one GBS show in 2010.
He's on film drinking while performing. Who's to say if he ever drank to the point of inebriation.
@@TristanandIsolt The man is huge and I've never seen him have more than two beers while performing at a concert. With all the moving arou d they do he would have to be a remarkable lightweight to be inebriated.
@Kyle: Agreed. Alan is pure public relations bs and is still in denial, at least as of this interview. Kudos to Séan for getting sober and bravely confronting his demons.
@@pisto30 You might be referring to the original poster, since I didn't use the words "lying" or "lies." What matters in this interview is that Alan's revision of history for his own PR sake is disrespectful to Séan (in fact, some of his statements about Séan approach slander), while painting himself pure as the driven snow.
BTW, I love Alan's voice and his songs... but I hate when he talks bs, like he does in this interview.
as a guitar palyer who makes his money from the pubs. this is so true the night out stops being a night out and becomes a need to just be normal if front of people .