Greeting from Cedar Rapids!

[RJ]

We spent a lovely late afternoon and evening getting off the interstate driving the state roads from Minneapolis to Waterloo. All that beautiful green corn and fields of soy. We met some nice folks in Waterloo and drank beer into the night. This morning we drove across Hwy. 20 to Dyersville and the Field of Dreams movie site. We arrived just after noon on the most glorious Iowa sunny summer day ever. Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa.. indeed. Iowa in summer, is undoudbtedly one of thee most beautiful places on this good Earth. The field of dreams was amazing; I was very moved. If you're ever passin through the Dubuque area, it's well worth the extra 20 miles. Now we're safely and on time in our room on the 11th floor overlooking downtown Cedar Rapids, 4 hours yet from the show, at 8:00 p.m.. The final show of the leg. 8 shows in 9 nights, and tonight's it. This is it. A Saturday night send-off.. then home, I suppose they go, to Toronto. I'm getting that good feeling I get when I know one of life's peak experiences is in store for me in the coming hours. It's been a heartland weekend of dreams, back roads and fields of summer green. There is such beauty in the world.

A quick shower here, a stop for a couple beers somewhere warm and friendly, then off to the orchestra pit at the Paramount Theater.

[charlene]

well we've got to have our man back home for CANADA DAY!

have a great time at the show!

[talbot10]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RJ:
It's been a heartland weekend of dreams, back roads and fields of summer green. There is such beauty in the world.


Beautifully said Ron! Have a great trip home!
Bill

[Gitchigumee]

You describe summer in Iowa perfectly. As I was passing through there last summer, I was struck by the feeling of how everything is so BIG. Big cornfields, bit views, big farms, big graineries, big wide-open spaces. For a small state, it sure did seem big to me.

I can't wait to hear how you liked the show!

[RJ]

Wow, what a weekend.. more incredible weather yesterday (Sunday) for the drive home. It took us 8 hours to go 300 miles as we stopped every hour or so at the rest areas along I-380 and I-35 and had little “mini-picnics” in the back of each nearest the green green Iowa corn. At one rest area we found a path and got lost in the woods for awhile. It was as if I was resisting the Minnesota border. I didn’t wanna go home! I loved Iowa..

As for the show, its hard for me to review it after seeing the guys so many times, and pretty consistently at that, but suffice to say if you’ve seen the show since he’s come back out after being “felled”.. that’s it.. Cotton Jenny, Carefree, Sea of Tranquility 1-2-3 punch 12-string opener. Only Clouds from Harmony, which is just a killer tune (‘wish the boss would rotate in Sometimes I Wish from that album some day).. no CRT..
and the Paramount Theater? Oh my.. what loveliness.. reminded me very much of the State Theater in Kalamazoo, which completely surprised me with its warmth, elegance, majesty, and sheer beauty.. (funny you think all those amazing theaters are gonna be in these big “world-class” cities, and some of the very best and finest are in places like Kalamazoo, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa etc.).. while I’m on the subject, one of the truly great things about following a guy like Gord around for 26 years (as opposed to say, a Bon Jovi hockey rink-sized act etc.) is all these amazing historic 70-100 year-old 2000 seat theaters you get to experience.. and there’s nothin better than seein one on a Saturday night. Gord and Rick and Terry and Barry and Michael on a Saturday night in a beautiful theater. Lord, when I die, please make heaven just like that, and may it never end..

Thanks guys, for one more great show, and thank you Waterloo, Dyersville, Cedar Rapids, Clear Lake, and all points in between, may we all live forever..

or at least until we meet again..

[ July 03, 2007, 09:39: Message edited by: RJ ]

[RJ]

By the way guys, I'm not Ron.. I guess there's another guy, Ron J. around this blog, not sure what his official member name is exactly..
but for what it's worth..

[RM]

Ron Jones' screen name is 'lighthead2toe'.

There's too many Rons in this room.

[RJ]

re: too many Rons in this room..

eheheheheh..
indeed..
good one..

[seafarer62]

Hi All-

We just returned from our Iowa trip and the Cedar Rapids show on June 30. Didn't get to meet you RJ. Did get to meet Nancy from South Dakota who lurks in Corfid. They were sitting right behind us and had been at the Omaha concert the night before. She said he had done Trilogy there. I encouraged her to post and join the action !!

Here is the set list:

1) Cotton Jenny
2) Carefree Highway
3) Sea of Tranquility
4) 14 Karat Gold
5) Never Too Close
6) In My Fashion
7) A Painter Passing Through
8) Rainy Day People
9) Shadows
10) Beautiful
11) The Watchman's Gone
12) Ribbon of Darkness
13) Sundown
14) Wreck of E.F.

Intermission

15) Triangle
16) Hangdog Hotel Room
17) Restless
18) Clouds of Loneliness
19) Waiting For You
20) Make Way For the Lady
21) If You Could Read My Mind
22) Don Quixote
23) Baby Step Back
24) Early Morning Rain
25) Blackberry Wine
26) Encore: Old Dan's Records

Beautiful theatre in a very clean, quiet downtown area. Ornate gold decoration inside. Very reminscent of the State Theatre in Minneapolis and the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois.

The review of the concert in the Cedar Rapids newspaper was fair. I had never heard Gord more hoarse. I asked my wife who is a casual fan what she thought. She asked me if he warms up ahead of the concert?? He didn't really get the cobwebs out until about Shadows. After that he alternated between good and bad for most of the concert. Blackberry Wine was an absolute disaster as I didn't think he was going to get through it. On the other hand, he then came back and gave a strong Old Dan's encore. Go figure !!

He was fairly talktative and friendly, mentioning Iowa and "tornado alley" a couple of times. He said the response on this tour has been just phenomenal.

I left a note by his mike during intermission for "Bitter Green" or "Song for a Winter's Night" for my wife's birthday. He picked up the note but didn't address it.

Several of the stories before the songs he had used before: Field and Stream Magazine for Sea of Tranquility, Elvis Presley- Early Morning Rain, One finger on left hand needed on Painter, Tailor-made suit reference to Never Too Close, Jerry Jeff Walker-Kris Kristoferson for Hangdog, Flying above North America for Waiting for You.

So it was a fun trip. But being the 8th concert in 9 nights was a little bit of a bummer. I know entertainers want to minimize their time away from home and I imagine the expenses of a tour are minimized by night after night. But I wonder if Gord has reached the point where he shouldn't do that many nights consecutively. I say that in love, not in disgust.

All that said, we still plan to catch his Minnesota tour in September.

John/Minnesota

[RJ]

re: Didn't get to meet you RJ.

Ya sorry John.. we strode down to the pit a little bit close to the lights dropping off so I didn't wanna complicate anything down there at the last minute..
Let's shoot for Minneapolis (or Rochester or Duluth if these mystery rumor shows come to pass in fact etc.)..