Anchors Aweigh in Rocky Harbour

I joined some people I met on the ferry for some local entertainment.  Anchors Aweigh have been playing at the local pub for 16 years to a sold out crowd every night.  The show started at 8:30 and ended at 11 with only one 15 minute break.  It was supposed to give a feeling of a local "kitchen party" - when the locals get together to make music - like a jam session.

Every song they played had a Newfoundland connection.  It was either about nfld or by someone from there or it captured something of the culture.  Many stories accompanied the music.  There was one member of the band (older than the others) who had a face only a mother could love but what an entertaining character!  They sang "7 Old Ladies got Locked in the Lavatory" and he acted out the old ladies - what a hoot!  He is also the captain of the fishing boat some of the band work on in the daytime.  Seems like quite a team.

There is a newfie instrument called an "Ugly Stick".  To make one you turn a mop upside down, fasten a foot to the bottom and attached several bottle caps loosely with a couple of nails.  Then you make a "bow" which can just be a stick or it can have notches cut in it for more musical effect. I made a couple of videos but I can't get them to upload so remind me to show you when I see you.

At the end of the show the band started asking where people in the audience were from.  For each location they played a song about or by an artist from that area.  The only 2 that stumped them were Argentina (and then the music teacher remembered a few lines from Don't Cry for Me Argentina) and Denmark.  When they got to Alberta there were 5 of us in the crowd and first they said "send our boys home" and then they played Ian Tyson's Four Strong Winds.

It was a great show and I had a lot of fun.