GrandRapids review
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http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/g...ot_vocals.html
Review: Gordon Lightfoot vocals grow stronger throughout DeVos Hall show Published: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 12:35 AM Updated: Saturday, June 12, 2010, 2:23 AM Rachael Recker | The Grand Rapids Press Katy Batdorff | The Grand Rapids Press Gordon Lightfoot performs with his band made up of bassist Rick Haynes, keyboardist Mike Heffernan, drummer Barry Keane and lead guitarist Terry Clemens at DeVos Performance Hall Friday evening. (Katy Batdorff | The Grand Rapids Press) Gordon Lightfoot at DeVos Hall gallery (5 photos Gordon Lightfoot, winner of 17 Juno Awards and five-time Grammy Award nominee, can do no wrong. At 8:01 p.m. Friday, Lightfoot’s four-member backing band — lead guitarist and Detroit native Terry Clements, drummer Barry Keane, bassist Rick Haynes, keyboardist Michael Heffernan — walked on stage at DeVos Performance Hall, sharing a few waves. A crowd of 1,600 started going wild for what would be a 29-song set sung in almost two hours. Soon after the band, the 71-year-old icon of the ’60s and ’70s folk/country/rock sort of ambled on stage into a spotlight toward the mic. The crowd of Lightfoot fanatics voiced their gratitude for the place his music about nature and life occupies in their lives. The musician from Orillia, Ont., took to the mic and began with a lesser-know tune (at least in the States), “Triangle.” The song began what was — at least from the orchestra seating — a first half that seemed to struggle with sound difficulties. Most of the band seemed to be un-miked, and Lightfoot’s vocals — now a bit more raspy, wispy and nasal — were barely audible during the 47-minute first half. “Triangle” was followed by Lightfoot’s endearing and better-known song, “Cotton Jenny.” Besides having a bit of a time hitting the higher notes, the singer brought home one of the most melodious and feel-good songs of his catalogue. “Thank you, Gord. We love you,” shouted an audience member. Requests and thank-yous for returning to the area and general comments of admiration came from the crowd, who gave standing ovations throughout the evening. “We only get one chance to talk to you,” said another audience member after Lightfoot seemed slightly taken aback at all of the requests, especially for the “unreleased” “Echoes of Heroes.” “It never came out the way I wanted it to,” Lightfoot revealed on stage of the early tune. Following “Cotton,” Lightfoot launched into the catchy “14 Karat Gold.” Finally, in the fourth song, the band made its presence known. The group throughout the first half seemed to play quietly, practically invisibly, to accommodate Lightfoot’s light vocals. Interestingly, the first half also was filled predominantlwith lesser-known hits. Lightfoot did drop his heavy hitters “Carefree Highway,” “Alberta Bound” and “Sundown.” During “Sundown,” the audience could not help but sing along, albeit really softly so as to seemingly not drown out the quiet vocals. I felt Lightfoot could have benefited from a couple of backing vocalists. Following a 15-minute intermission, Lightfoot and band came back to a more rocking, better-sounding second half. Lightfoot’s vocals — which he openly criticized on stage — possibly became stronger with use, but it was obvious the sound improved, too. An enthusiastic version of “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” kicked things off, followed by “Ringneck Loon,” featuring a heavy bass that could have been toned down, “Baby Step Back,” “Winter’s Night” and “Don Quixote.” “If You Could Read My Mind” seemed to bring everyone back to the beauty of the original version. No “Rainy Day People” for this audience. His epic “Trilogy” was the highlight of the evening, featuring its intriguing tempo changes and storyline. As 52-year-old Cheboygan resident Vickie Bade noted, Lightfoot never performs the lengthy “Trilogy” and “Wreck” in the same evening. She should know. She has seen him 40 to 50 times in concert. Besides sound difficulties and vocals that grew stronger throughout the evening, Bade summed it up: “This was great. Outstanding.” E-mail Rachael Recker: rrecker@grpress.com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/rachaelrecker |
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It seems like he wants yet longer hair, maybe like Rick ? :eek:
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vanity.. thy name is 'thinning hair'....
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Kinda hard to tell how long his hair is in these pics. To me, looks shorter and fuller. Except for the pompadour, it's looking pretty good and doesn't seem as though it adversely affects his performance :p
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I don't know what the reviewer was talking about when she said that the "Wreck" or "Trilogy" are not done in the same concert ??
He has done both in many of the 45 or so concerts I have attended. |
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The reviewer was quoting a random fan, obviously not one of us! I actually considered writing to the reviewer and setting him (her?) straight, but decided it wasn't worth it. If we tried to correct every mistake in every review, we'd never get anything else done.
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Nice photos.Did you take them,Charlene? Its kind of hard to tell from this bunch of pics-Is Gordys' mustache gone again? I don't know about anyone else,but I infinately prefer him WITH it.
patybear |
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Vickie (Moosedog) who posts here is the fan in the article. Gord has done many concerts without doing both The Wreck and Trilogy in the same show. He told me in Calgary in april 2009 that he usually doesn't do them both and if one is missing then he plays EMR. Perhaps she's never attended a concert where both have been done.?
I didn't take the pics-they were with the article. |
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the concert was superb!
by the end of the concert I was way more than impressed with Gords vocals. Very nice indeed. He is an artist and a fragile human being like us all... Bless his sweet soul. I am so happy to just be able to go and hear him perform! We are blessed corfidians... Good concert, get out and see him... he really enjoys performing for us! His mention of his obit was funny but missed by most of the audience. He said rumors of his death were greatly exaggerated. What a sense of humor. |
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Thanks much, Char and Bill - wasn't difficult for you to understand my statement at all, was it? :) Further to Char's point, Gord specifically said - prior to playing Trilogy - "Well, you either get Early Morning Rain or Trilogy".
The internet can be such an ugly place...I've now been reminded why I do far more lurking than posting here. |
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Vickie: In my job, I deal with reporters regularly. They can mangle quotes so badly. I have seen my quotes in paper and they will make one sentence out of two thoughts spoken ten minutes apart. Join the club of "The Misquoted." : > )
You are absolutely correct that in most recent years Gord will either do "Early Morning Rain" or "Trilogy". There were some times in the late 1970's when he did not do either one of them in some concerts. There were some concerts in the 1990's where he would do both of them, but not since his return to the stage from his 2002 illness. Thanks for the review and set lists. I see he did "Home from the Forest" in Detroit Sunday night. Yep, definitely getting pumped about 10/12 in Eau Claire!! John/Minnesota |
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You should probably visit them all first & see which campus you like best, which is cheapest, which is closest/furhtest away from home, and which one your friends may be going to.
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That isn't true either. He has definitely done both EMR and CRT on the same night since his 2002 illness; he just doesn't do CRT as often, which is understandable. He did both on the Saturday of his May, 2008 Massey stand, which is the last concert I attended (bad luck conspired to keep me from attending a concert last summer). And, before his illness, he often did both. They were the two 12-string, dropped D, songs in the 2nd set (and part of the reason the 2nd set was always my favorite). |
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'he NEVER plays CRT and the Wreck on same night' but what we were supposed to understand was that the quote was more like 'he rarely plays CRT and EMR on the same night' (ie. you either get CRT or EMR) but it seems he never played EMR so I don't know why it was part of the discussion anyhow....but they did say he never played RDP...confusing, lol ok, so based on 40 setlists from 2009, he played the Wreck 40 times....he played EMR 29 times and CRT 12 times, so he must have played all 3 at one of those gigs:) what i've learned from this is that there are nights that he doesn't play EMR (which i thought was one of the big 8 or 9 that he ALWAYS plays)...to me that is signature Lightfoot and the one that started it all (even though IYCRMM bought the farm)...I would be dumbfounded if I paid to see Gord and never heard EMR...why not make it 'you never get CRT and Beautiful in the same night'...or how about 'you never get Beautiful, ever' ;) hey, vicki, hope all well,I guess this is your 15 minutes...don't be a stranger:) |
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yeah, he played the Wreck, CRT and EMR six months ago (and I guess I was there) http://www.lightfoot.ca/091120.htm all that trivia aside, glad it was Outstanding, moosedog...cool you heard HFTF:) |
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Thanks, JJ. I've actually never used the word "Outstanding" in my life. Not sure where that came from, but if it's on the internet - it simply MUST be true. :)
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geez Vickie..sorry the reporter took some things out of context there. The "Wreck" and "CRT" thing is hardly a major offense anyway. Unlike getting your age wrong!
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