Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim
At the risk of continuing this thread beyond it's usefulness, I'd like to add a bit of perspective. I was at the Aurora Concert on Sunday, Sept 16. It ended up being a very special family experience which I will post as soon as time permits.
The Aurora,IL show on Sunday, Sept 16 was the last show prior to the Milwaukee performance on Sept 19. At the Aurora show there was not a single instance where Gordon forgot any lyrics, or seemed "out of it" in any way. With regard to his voice, I thought it was fine throughout the performance. Was it exactly like it was 30, 20, or 10 years ago? No, it was a bit weaker, but very pleasant to listen to, and very much in tune.
Something that also amazed me was Gord's memory for lyrics. At a Joan Baez concert a few years ago, I noticed that she brought out a music stand during the performance and jokingly said "The memory is the first thing to go." After 30 years of Gordon concerts, I never remember a single instance of Gord making the concession of bringing out a memory crutch.
I have to wonder about the expectations of the original poster with regard to Gord's voice. My dad (God rest his soul) had a beautiful Irish tenor voice. For many years we loved to sing as a family, and I remember his strong voice gracing our family gatherings. (one of his favorite songs was "Hangdog Hotel Room"). Anyway, as he go into his 70s, it was obvious that the voice wasn't quite as strong or clear as it had been. But, I cut him some slack, with the realization that time does not freeze for everyone as we age. Maybe we need to do the same for Gord. It is not reasonable to expect Gord to sound just like his recordings from 30 years ago.
Speaking of "years ago" I remember Gord sharing at a concert in 1978 that he likes to do a string of shows and the take a few days off, and that the first concert after a few days off is usually the toughest one of the string. After the Aurora show on Sunday, he flew back to Toronto for a couple days before returning to Milwaukee to start the next portion of his tour. Maybe, the difficulty of the layoff contributed to whatever sluggishness that might have been perceived. I will be curious as to the reviews of the follow-on shows from the Milwaukee performance.
I apologize for the delay in posting a detailed review of the Aurora performance, but it will indicate a somewhat higher level of performance than what was reported at Milwaukee. And I am very confident that the follow-on shows (to the Milwaukee performance) will also be somewhat better than what we heard here.
Thanks for listening.
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What's with some of you completely out of touch Gordon obsessed FANatics? I have never seen such complete blindness and denial. First off, if you actually read what I wrote I had seen Gordon a few years earlier and loved the performance. And, I do respect the mans music, lyrics and career. I am not affraid of age as someone wrote earlier, I am 30 years old and I have seen more concerts of all gene's than most people of any age. Also, my expectations were not to hear a man of 69 years old to sound like he was 29. I already explained that this was by far the worst concert I have ever seen, even of bands who's music I didn't necessarily like. He was way off and should not have performed that night. I already explained about seeing Tony Bennett last year who is 81 - awesome! I was at the very last Grateful Dead concert in 1995 Soldier Field, Jerry was well weathered at that point and a few short weeks from his demise, but was a wonderful show. I have seen the Rolling Stones as well as Bob Dylan and Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Neil Young, CSN&Y, Johnny Cash, James Taylor, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffett (1 mo. ago) many well into there 60's. Do you want me to continue - you name them, I've probably seen them...I do not expect alot as some have inferred. Seeing Gordon Lightfoot last week was actually painful to watch and to listen to...plain and simple. I do not appreciate all of the character assasinations and inferrrences into what I know and what I do not know and have an ability to appreciate. He was lousy...we left early as did many in this theater. All I can comment on is when I had seen him before at the Potowotomi Casino and now @ the Pabst Theater, which is gorgeous bye-the-way. I do not offer my commentary about this performance to offend any of you, I have never in fact gone to any blog, chatroom or postings before. I felt strongly about this and wondered what was going on w/ Gordon. I was not aware that he had all of these health issues, but clearly he should not have performed that night in my opinion. I wish him the best, as well as all of you. I just know that if you are being honest and objective you could not have seen much to be positive about that night. His voice was so bad, his energy so low, just a very quiet theater w/ many uncomfortable fans yearning to be someplace else at that very moment.