Des Moines- April 1: Set List
Hi all -
Back from Des Moines and I have finished a 1300 mile four-day odyssey of Gord. 3 locations. 4 concerts. 31 different songs and a great time.
I had only driven through Des Moines a couple of times but the downtown area was fairly intuitive for driving and locating the Civic Center. No problems.
The auditorium itself was more like a large college lecture bowl. One level of seating with a gradual elevation. Very ordinary looking and low aesthetics, but the acoustics more than made up for it. Above average for sound. The hall looked about 80 percent full... not a sell-out. One design problem of the hall was no center aisle and long rows. What this meant is that my seat 48 in Row Q meant that I had to crawl over 47 people to get there. While I sat down in time, the occupants of seats 49 and 50 crawled over me, holding their drinks, during Triangle. Why do people spend good money and then can't damn well show up on time??
Gord came out pretty much on time and started in. The set list was:
1) Triangle
2) Cotton Jenny
3) 14 Karat Gold
4) Never Too Close
5) In My Fashion
6) Painter Passing Through
7) Rainy Day People
8) Shadows
9) Beautiful
10) Carefree Highway
11) Hangdog Hotel Room
12) Ribbon of Darkness
13) Sundown
14) Watchman's Gone
Intermission
15) Wreck of E.F.
16) Alberta Bound
17) Don Quixote
18) Clouds of Loneliness
19) Waiting For You
20) Ring Them Bells
21) If You Could Read My Mind
22) My Little Love
23) Early Morning Rain
24) Blackberry Wine
25) Encore: Old Dan's Records
Seemed like we were missing one song but there was no "Baby Step Back" or "If Children Had Wings."
The crowd was very enthusiastic. Standing ovations after the Edmund Fitzgerald and If You Could Read My Mind. Terry and Mike got loud responses with their various solos. Gord was in decent voice after a few songs but had some terribly raspy stretches, especially notable during Painter and Ring Them Bells.
Gord thanked the crowd for coming out on a "cold and foul' night. He said that it had been 11 years since he performed there. It was raw and windy out there. He mentioned that his new hobby is watching the American election. He mentioned that Iowa got it all with their primary going a few months ago.
Before "My Little Love" he mentioned that he has not got through this song recently without messing up the lyrics. He asked Barry if he "had the gravel ready". (Barry shook the shakers into his mike throughout the song.) Terry was going to use his acoustic but ended up switching to the electric Gretsch. I think in Appleton he used the acoustic on that song. Just personal, but I'm not a big fan of this song.
I do compliment Gord for rotating some rarities like "My Little Love" and "If Children Had Wings" into the set list. I think it really is a treat for the fans to get a couple of surprises.
Looks like this is the final time Gord and I will cross paths in 2008. Thanks in advance to all those attending concerts the rest of the year for set lists and other concert observations. I do enjoy reading them. Looking forward to Gord coming back to Minneapolis and Duluth in 2009. Ever onward.
John (Seafarer62)
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