Jbt and I got on the road at about 4:30 heading to Glenside. Surprisingly we didn't hit much traffic, but a construction detour delayed us just a few minutes, and we arrived in Glenside ten minutes early for our 6:00 dinner reservation. We ate at Athena Restaurant, a Greek restaurant accross the street from the Keswick theater. The meal was delicious, and, judging from the conversation, the place was packed with concertgoers.
We took our seats 4th row on the left, and the show started promptly at 8:00. Gord was wearing black jeans, a white long sleeved shirt and vest. He looked raring to go. His voice was noticeably hoarse, but seemed to even out as the show went on. He mentioned that this was show #8 out of 10, and that they used to play at the Academy of Music in the '70s. He mentioned sharing "some suds" with four Flyers players one of which was Bill Barber, back in the day.
The setlist is as follows:
Triangle
Cotton Jenny
14K Gold
Never Too Close
In My Fashion
A Painter Passing Through
Rainy Day People
Shadows
Beautiful
Carefree Highway
Hangdog Hotel Room
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
The Watchman's Gone
Set 2 (Gord changed into a blue shirt)
The Wreck
Alberta Bound
The Pony Man*
All the Lovely Ladies
Clouds of Loneliness
Waiting for You
If You Could Read My Mind
Ring Them Bells (two takes)
Baby Step Back
Don Q
CRT
Encore
Blackberry Wine
Old Dan's Records
*Someone must have requested The Pony Man, and Gord said something like "you're sure you want to hear Pony over Ladies?" Everyone clapped, so he started The Pony Man. He mentioned that he wrote it for his kids and said he has "six kids and four mothers". Everyone laughed. Then, about two verses into The Pony Man, he abruptly stopped, said his ear was stuffed up, and launched into All the Lovely Ladies. I heard some murmurs, but knowing what a perfectionist he is, I wasn't worried. However, five songs later when he started Ring them Bells, he abruptly stopped again, paused, and then began again and played the song flawlessly. The two false starts were a little disconcerting to say the least. Other than that, the show went on as usual.
Overall, it was a fine show. The band sounded great and the crowd was very appreciative. We had a great time, and are thankful to have been able to experience a Gord show once again.
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