http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/0...nd-interactive
You gotta give Gordon Lightfoot points for hangin’ in there.
After all, nobody would have blamed him for throwing in the towel years ago. Like back in 2002, when he suffered a near-fatal abdominal aneurysm that left him in a coma for six weeks and put him out of commission for a year. Or in 2006, when he had a minor stroke onstage that hindered his picking hand for a while. Or even in 2010, when he was declared dead via Twitter. Lots of guys would have taken the hint at that point. But not Gord. He just keeps going. At 73, he’s got more than half a century in the game. And even though he may no longer be at the top of his own game, thankfully he’s clearly not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
To that end, the Energizer Bunny (or the Rasputin, depending on your take) of Canadian folk brought his never-ending tour back to town on Friday night, delivering 100 minutes of intimate acoustic-guitar classics for an audience of 2,700 middle-aged but reasonably rowdy fans (including Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall, who was standing behind me). It was Gord’s third visit in six years. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t much different from the last two. Same songs he played last time, aside from a handful (Lightfoot has been alternating between two basic set lists for a while now, and has stopped writing new material). Same band he’s had for decades (aside from a new guitarist to replace Terry Clements, who died earlier this year). Even the same clothing change (he plays the first set in a suitjacket, then ditches it for a vest in the second half).
Thing is, vocally he wasn’t the same old Gord. Thanks to the ravages of time — perhaps compounded by a tracheotomy during that first health crisis — the gaunt Lightfoot’s voice is no longer The Voice it once was. The rich old baritone is gone, replaced by a sound that is thinner and breathier, more nasal and less powerful. It has its own appeal — the new scratchiness added some nice grit at times, and was almost raggedly Dylanesque on Rainy Day People. And even though the notes sound different, they’re all still there.
So, of course, are the songs. As always, Lightfoot divided his show into two equal-length sets that balanced ’60s and ’70s classics like Sundown, Cotton Jenny and Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald with lesser-known fare and newer cuts, including one from his 2004 studio swan song Harmony. Interesting thing about that mix: If you didn’t know their vintage, you would never have guessed these songs were written over the course of nearly 40 years. They could all have come from the era, the same album, the same session. Say what you will about Lightfoot, but as a songwriter he’s been indisputably consistent (which kind of makes you respect him for quitting while he was ahead).
Consistency is also a word that applied to his band. Impeccable is another. Bassist Rick Haynes, drummer Barry Keane, keyboardist Mike Heffernan and new guitarist Carter Lancaster discharged their duties with unassuming perfection. Every note, every chord, every beat was spot-on, played with the easy perfection and near-psychic communication that can only come from years together. But to their credit, it never sounded robotic or laissez-faire. They weren’t just going through the motions or phoning it in.
Neither, it must be stressed, was Lightfoot. The man loves his work. He says it in every interview, during every show. And he takes his job seriously. He works out religiously to stay in shape for the road. He and his band continue to rehearse when they’re not touring. He spends hours before each show tuning his own 12-string guitars (and has clearly recovered sufficiently from that stroke to put them to good use). All that effort and dedication are impossible to miss in his engaged performance.
At the same time, however, Lightfoot was enjoying himself onstage. He was enthusiastic. Affable. Chatty. He told old jokes (“My girlfriend bought me a birthday present that make my eyes pop out: It was a shirt three sizes too small”). He reminisced about old friends, old parties, old tours (“I haven’t played Dawson City since the government sent me out there in 1967”). He joked about his songs (“I mesmerize myself when I do that one,” he said after playing Shadows). He gave a shout-out to the Jets. He exclaimed “All right!” between nearly every song. Make no mistake: Gord was having fun.
And compared to his 2009 show, which felt rushed and unfocused, this set was more fun — nicely paced and comfortably relaxed. The dynamic range wasn’t overwhelming — the simmering country-rock of Hangdog Hotel Room and the dark rootsiness of Sundown were about as wild as it got. The bulk of the night was devoted to gentle ballads, from openers Sweet Guinevere and The Watchman’s Gone all the way through to the closer Hold the Hands I Love. Earplugs were definitely not required. It was quiet enough that I could hear people around me singing along with Gord’s classics — when they weren’t whistling, stomping, hooting, hollering and generally greeting nearly every song with the sort of enthusiasm you’d expect at a heavy metal show.
Clearly, they give Lightfoot points for hangin’ in there too.
Set List:
Sweet Guinevere
The Watchman's Gone
14 Karat Gold
Never Too Close
In My Fashion
A Painter Passing Through
Rainy Day People
Shadows
Beautiful
Carefree Highway
Hangdog Hotel Room
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
Cotton Jenny
• • •
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Ringneck Loon
Don Quixote
Clouds of Loneliness
Let It Ride
Fine as Fine Can Be
If You Could Read My Mind
Restless
Baby Step Back
Early Morning Rain
Hold the Hands I Love
Encore:
Blackberry Wine
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WINNIPEG review
