Hi All:
Running on fumes here with all the travel and dual excitement/concern over the concerts and then Gordon's condition the past few days.
Just returned from the State Theatre with my 17-year old son. (His first GL concert, for me it is over 30 now). My son actually thought he was cool for a 67-year old !!
No opening act was advertised but when the lights dimmed, Adam Levy from the HoneyDogs (local Twin Cities band) appeared on stage to perform an acoustic solo set of 5 songs. I guessed then that we were going to get the "casino" set rather than the two sets with an intermission format.
Gord looked far better than he did on Friday night but was nowhere close to normal. He still played intermittedly. He did explain to the crowd that he had a "transient" stroke on Friday and showed how his middle and ring fingers on his right hand are not working. There was a noticeable gasp among the crowd when he described this.
He said he had spent the last 48 hours adjusting to try to play with these limitations. I am no guitar expert whatsoever, but he was playing up higher on the neck of the guitar with his strumming and picking. Maybe someone else out there can help describe exactly what adjustments he was making. As on Friday, he was frequently having trouble gripping the guitar pick and switching grips several times during each song. Once he joked about holding the picks in his teeth.
He had a couple of humorous lines about Friday night that he was taken to the Escanaba, Michigan hospital after Friday's show and thanked the hospital staff. He asked the band, "Where the hell were we on Friday night?" He mentioned that he is scheduled to see a neurologist here in the Twin Cities on Monday's off-day and that he brought the x-rays and DVDs for the exam !!
Here is the set list:
Opening Act: Adam Levy from the HoneyDogs
1) Cotton Jenny
2) Carefree Highway
3) Sea of Tranquility
4) Never Too Close
5) 14 Karat Gold
6) In My Fashion
7) A Painter Passing Through
8) Rainy Day People
9) Shadows
10) Beautiful
11) Waiting For You
12) The Watchman's Gone
13) Ribbon of Darkness
14) Sundown
15) Wreck of E.F.
16) If You Could Read My Mind
17) Don Quixote
18) Baby Step Back
19) Blackberry Wine
20) Early Morning Rain
Encore:
21) Old Dan's Records
Very polite crowd but not subdued. There were several standing ovations. Gord remarked how he remembered playing at the old Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis 40 years ago. Hope someone mentioned to him that the old Guthrie was torn down and rebuilt in the past year.
Couple of more funny lines: He talked about the line from "Never Too Close" about the bonds of truth were not made to measure. He said he always thinks of a suit made to measure when he sings it and asked the crowd if we did the same !! He also had an extended intro before "Waiting For You" explaining that it was written for his wife that the inspiration was that he always found himself waiting for her to reappear from somewhere in the house. He mentioned that they interact like any family but they have lived apart for a number of years.
Anyway, that's all I know. I tried to get tickets to Wausau (Sept 19) but it sold out early the first day and I called two hours late.
All you folks in southern Wisconsin and Chicago, please let the newsgroup know how the shows go down there later this week. Much appreciated.
Regards,
John - Forest Lake, MN
aka: seafarer62
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