Sept.6/02 Orillia Opera House

[james hill]

anybody fortunate enough to attend? i'm always looking for these small-town gigs but when they happen, i never have the funds!

if you went let me know how it was, & possibly what the setlist was

james

[Janice]

Char is attending so we will be getting all the details. She has out-of-town guests so she may not be able to post her recap right away. But keep the faith - she's never let us down, yet!

[Janice]

Ooops, I lied. Didn't mean to, just got confused on the dates. Char is seeing Gord today (the 7th) not last night. But the rest of what I said is true enough

[wattsdmatter]

My wife and myself have just flown back to the UK after 17 days in Ontario. We had tickets for both Gordon,s shows in Orilla (Fri 6th & Sat 7th) plus tickets for his Stratford show (Mon 10th). On Friday Gordon was in sparkling form, he did a superb show. We were absolutely devastated to here he was ill on Saturday. When we saw the TV pictures of him on a stretcher, we were shocked. We could only pray. A few days later we saw on CMT Anne Murray receiving an honour from the Canadian Country Music Association, and in her acceptance speech she wished Gordon good wishes, and don't we all.
I made a note of the set list for Gordon's show Friday 6th. If you think it appropiate at this time, let me know, I would be happy to post it, with some comments.
Get well soon Gordon.

[BILLW]

Please do post the setlist, we'd all love to see it and your comments too.
Thanks,
Bill

[SilverHeels]

WattsdMatter,

please post the set list and performance report. I'm sure we would all love to
see it. I envy you having seen him
on that Friday.

It's been a terrible nine days but we are
hoping he is over the worse. Please God
let it be so.

[james hill]

I just want to make it clear that at the time i made my original post, (Sept.7/02) I was not yet aware of Gord's illness.That post sounds cold & crass in light of what happened. My inquiries at that time would've been about his health & well-being, not what the setlist was the night before. I'm glad i got that cleared up. i think about Gord & pray for him everyday.

james
james

[wattsdmatter]

James, I am sure we are all aware that you were not aware of Gordon's condition when you posted your request. I appreciate other comments here, thank you.
Here is the set list for Gordon,s Orilla concert Friday 6th September.
Triangle
All The Lovely Ladies
Never Too Close
Waiting For You
Beautifull
Let It Ride
Rainy Day People
The Watchmans Gone
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
Carefree Highway
The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
The Pony Man
Baby Step Back

INTERVAL

Harmony
Couchiching
Uncle Toad Said
Spanish Moss
Don Quixote
If You Could Read My Mind
Painter Passing Through
Cotton Jenny
Alberta Bound
Blackberry Wine
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Old Dan's Records

When Gordon walked on stage he got a rousing welcome from his home town audience, he said that this was one show he has been anticipating as the 'Home town boy' he then went straight into 'Triangle' and the start of what turned out, for me, a great show.
When Gordon got to 'Ribbon Of Darkness' which he did on his 'standard tuned 12 string' he got to the last stanza of 'ribbon of darkness.......' then paused and looked at the audience, we all waited for 'o...ver me' We never got it, after a lenghty pause, he went into 'Sundown' Quite a moment.
I think it was after 'The Wreck' someone near the front asked for 'Second Cup Of Coffee' Gordon looked down and said "Second Cup, we haven't done that one for some time" he didn't do it.

After the interval Gordon came out with his 6 string, minus the band. He said that he is still writing the songs and stated "I intend doing one (he held 1 finger up to make the point) more album" This got a cheer. He then introduced a song which he said he wrote whilst in one of those troughs on life roller coaster. People had asked him if he can still write whilst feeling low, he said, the answer was, yes. He alluded to 'Ramblin' Jack' I took this to mean ' Ramblin' Jack Elliott', Jack had said by playing with harmonics, you can come up with tunes. Gordon then did a lovely song called 'Harmony'. After this he did what I felt was a 'pearl' in the treasure chest of 'Lightfoot' songs, 'Couchiching' a little song about the lake and Orilla. This song had the audience laughing. This solo moment for me was the high point of the evening. Should we see Gordon on stage again, I feel that we will, 'Couchiching' will, to quote a lyric, 'hit you with a ping'. The band returned and the show continued. Gordon did a very nice segue from 'Spanish Moss' to 'Don Quixote'. At this point I think some one asked for 'Second Cup Of Coffee' again. Gordon said "we are not going to do that song, we don't even know it". Before doing 'Painter Passing Through' Gordon mentioned the old joke, he never told it, but the punch line he gave was, " I thought you were the Doctor". "No I'm just the Painter Passing Through". It was here when somebody asked for a song, I think it was 'Cotton Jenny'. Gordon looked at the band, put his hands to his face in mock exasperation, and said, "If we were going to do that song, we would have done in the first half, when we had the 12 string, not this 12 string" (pointing to the 'F Gibson'on it's stand). "the other 12 string which is back stage. Songs are like tyres, they have to be rotated". It was soon after this that another request for a song came up from the stalls. Gordon put down his guitar, and went of stage, leaving the band to play amongst themselves. He returned with the other 12 string, and did 'Cotton Jenny' & 'Alberta Bound' when he finshed he said "and no Second Cup" Gordon did 1 encore, 'Old Dan's Record' and the show was over. This was my third Gordon concert, the oter 2 were very good, but for me this was the best. With hindsight I feel that Gordon must have been in some discomfort that night. Which says much for this Giant of the music worlds tremendous professionalism. I and my wife hope and pray that Gordon makes a complete recovery, and that once again we can spend some time in the company of this wonderful man.

Dave.

[SilverHeels]

Thanks, Dave, for a great post.
The poignancy is that this was Gord's last
concert for a while and how I would have
loved to have been there; to hear the old
favourites, the old gags and the new songs.
Like all of us, I pray for his swift recovery
and cant wait to see him on stage again.

Thank you, again, Dave, for sharing this
most special of concerts with us.

[Brenda]

Thank you, Dave. How lucky you were to be there and to hear "The Watchman's Gone" live. What a treat that would be. Thanks for sharing.

I get very annoyed with people shouting out requests during concerts, and wonder if performing artists do too. I suppose it just comes with the territory, but it seems so rude!

When I attended Gordon's concert in Oregon in 2000, I wrote three requests on the back of my business card and left it on the stage before the concert began. He didn't sing any of them, but when he picked up my card half-way through the set and read my requests aloud I nearly died (of delight)!

What a relief to hear that the world's greatest singer/songwriter is on the mend. To all of you who have shared info about his condition, thanks for all the health updates.

[This message has been edited by Brenda (edited September 19, 2002).]

[This message has been edited by Brenda (edited September 19, 2002).]

I hear ya about the song requests, when Gord was in here in Brantford in 99 I left on stage during intermission a request for Sea of Tranquility, of course it wasn't played. When he came back in 2001, that was the first song off the bat.

[SilverHeels]

And when I arrived in Trenton, NJ, in April
(practically just off the flight from UK
and feeling very jet-lagged), I left a note
on stage asking him to sing 'Christian
Island', mentioning that I was 'jet lagged'.
He read my note, acknowledged it but said
he couldnt sing it becos they hadnt rehearsed it. After the interval, he returned and as the first chord sounded, he
looked down at me (in the front row), smiled and said 'this one is for Jet-lagged'. I
must have jumped a foot in the air.

This is one of my fave Gord memories. There
will be lots more, I'm sure.

[BILLW]

Thanks Dave, great post. As Second Cup... is my favorite tune I would have been going nuts during that exchange... thank you for sharing your fine memory of a great show.

Bill