[davevoeltz]

Rapid City Review

Wow, it’s been a few years since my last concert. In fact, the last concert we attended was with Gord right here in Rapid City.

With a change in time zone going west, my wife, two sons and I were able to leave Pierre, SD at 4 pm, drive the 173 miles to Rapid City, have time for a leisurely dinner and still make the concert with time to spare. We left on time and had to face a forceful northwesterly wind most of the trip. Remindful of one of the songs we would hear about 5 hours later.

We arrived, had dinner, and arrived at the Rushmore Civic Center about an hour before the start of the concert. We were able to park in the front lot near the building.



I could look straight ahead and see the stage crew’s bus and semi parked at the back stage door. (see pic).



One thing different from the last time here is the construction of a fence around the back stage loading facility. After the last concert, we were able to walk right up to the door and visit with the crew while waiting for Gord and the band to leave the building. That is no longer possible. All I have to say to the Civic Center building staff is ‘BOOOOOOOO!!!’

We entered the facility and walked around the building a while. They have pictures of past performers hanging on the wall and we found a picture of Gord in his 1994 concert. We then returned to the concert hall, had our tickets scanned, and found our seats. It was 30 minutes until the start of the concert.

At this point, about 20 percent of us were seated. We were surprised to find some nearby neighbors were seated right in front of us. We also saw a dozen or so people from Pierre right in our vicinity. That really surprised me that that many folks drove that far to attend the concert. I should have chartered a bus!



This was the first time our neighbors have attended a concert. I tipped them off that Gord has lost some of the richness in his voice due to being nearly 75 years old and his liking of cigarettes. So adjust your expectations accordingly. We chatted more as the seats continued to fill. The floor was nearly full as 8 o’clock arrived.

Exactly at 8:00, the lights dimmed and the band members walked out on stage followed by Gord. He was dressed in black jeans and a velvet looking suit coat.


They promptly launched into the first song. Gord started out a little weak but his voice warmed up by the end of the first song. He song a couple more songs (set listed below) and then commented he was glad to be back in Rapid City and the Black Hills. He noted it was his 4 time here (and I have been to all 4 concerts here). He mentioned that they visited the Black Hills and Mt. Rushmore during the first two concerts but didn’t do so the last or this time.

Here is the list of songs for the first set:

The Watchmans' Gone
Waiting For You (shortened version)
All The Lovely Ladies
I'd Rather Press On
Christian Island
Rainy Day People
Shadows
Carefree Highway
Cotton Jenny
Now And Then
Ribbon Of Darkness
Sundown
Did She Mention My Name (Shortened version)


They played a couple more songs and then Gord introduced the band, starting with Mike on the key boards, Rick on the Bass, Barry on the drums, and Carter on the lead guitar. No mention was made about the longevity of the members nor the passing of Terry a few years back.

One thing concerned me during the concert. Gord would take a swig of water between songs and would then lean way over forward as if taking a big bow at the end of the concert. He would hold this position for 5 to 10 seconds. I was seriously worried that he was sick or had some pain. He did mention something about being a bit jet lagged and this was only the 5th concert in a group of 18 he was performing over the next month. He did this through the entire night. Anyone else see this at a concert?

He continued through his first set and seemed to gain a little more vocal range. He did mention that he struggles with some of the high notes and to forgive him and the crowd sent up a roar of appreciation for him being there performing for us.

At the end of Ribbon of Darkness, he sang the last line “Ribbon of Darknessssssss…………………………………………………..” followed by a very long period of silence. Everyone sat perfectly quiet waiting for the end. He then looked up with eyebrows raised as expecting the crowd to finish with “Over Me”. So I did and he immediately launched into the next song. So is this typical of his other concerts this year?

The first set was completed at 8:45 pm and consisted of 13 songs. The band took a 15 minute break and was back on stage shortly after 9:00 pm. Here we are waiting during intermission:



Part 2 to follow