Gordon Lightfoot Forums - SASKATOON,Sask.Nov.6-2014

https://www.facebook.com/thestarphoe...36554376374008 Lightfoot still a can't-miss for many

BY CAM FULLER, THE STARPHOENIX NOVEMBER 7, 2014 7:42 AM "We were looking through the back catalogue," Gordon Lightfoot said with a wry smile at TCU Place Thursday night. "And there are few good ones back there."

No kidding. He spent the evening proving it, and rather fearlessly starting with almost 40 minutes of deep, deep album cuts that only the die-hardiest of diehards would recognize: The Watchman's Gone. All the Lovely Ladies. Christian Island. A Painter Passing Through. Let it Go. Triangle. Those last two were from his 1982 album Shadows which peaked at number 87 on the Billboard charts.

Not a sinking iron ore boat to be seen or reference to the man of La Mancha to be heard - least not 'til the second set which was past deadline.

But if the audience was champing at the bit to hear Alberta Bound (which checked in at number eight or nine), it didn't show it - there was much patient, appreciative applause backing up the initial standing ovation.

Lightfoot is truly a living legend - and one with a sense of humour.

"I'm Gordon Lightfoot," he said. "And reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

He's very tall, very, very thin and wore long hair and a short red velvet waistcoat. Out of the corner of your eye, he looked like the British actor Bill Nighy circa Love Actually. He's 75 years old. That's only 13 years younger than the Queen of England.

There are four in the band - Rick Haynes on bass, Michael Heffernan on keyboards, Barry Keane on drums and Carter Lancaster on guitar.

And there was also an elephant in the room - Lightfoot's voice, which is running at about 50 per cent of full steam. It's awkward and it's sad and the band has to play quietly to not overpower the man. It lent a very mellow and oddly detached feeling at times - like hearing a radio in a distant bedroom.

But it's a radio that plays timeless songs crafted by one of the all-time greats.

Carefree Highway was greeted like an old friend. As were Cotton Jenny, Ribbon of Darkness and Sundown.

One of the lines in A Painter Passing Through is "now that I am old, let me rest awhile." And one of the lines in Christian Island is "When summer ends we'll rest again." The resonance can't be missed. But for many, for ever, neither can an evening with Gordon Lightfoot.

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