Lightfoot Concert

As part of my "tuning forty" I asked to see Gordon Lightfoot live. He's been at it as long as I have been alive, and I wanted to say I had seen him live in any capacity.

There we were in the second row,... from the back, in the balcony. If the guy working the spotlight needed a break, I could sit in. The woman next to me was trying to console her husband that at least we're here. I tried my best to make light of our seats:"Hey we're in the room, that's all that matters. We're in the room." And really that was all that mattered with Lightfoot as well. Back from a visit at Death's Door a few years ago, people were just glad to see he was still here. His voice not as full as it once was, but still bang on the notes, he was doing his damnedest, and at 68 years old, that's all you can ask.

A couple rows down from us were 4 hosers. You know the type, ball caps, plaid shirts, and soul patches, probably found Lightfoot through Tragically Hip. Kind of guys who back in my day could sing Stan Rodger's Barrret's Privateers in it's entirety, after 5 pints. These guys were probably expecting the kind of raucous sing along you get at a stomping' Tom concert. They tried to get something going, saving their whooping and hollerin' for their fave The Canadian Raiload Trilogy. But it didn't happen. Instead, the band played at a hush volume, trying not to overpower the remainder of Lightfoot's voice. The crowd remained respectful, and quiet, collectively whispering along with the songs, most noticeably on If You Could Read My Mind. But he was too proud, and rightly so, of these songs to let anyone help him sing them.

UPDATE: latest news on a fan site mentioned he had recently suffered a small stroke that left his right hand somewhat hindered. That would expalain why they couldn't play some of the songs at the original tempo. Oh and his tour schedule around North America takes him into 2007!