The Way We Feel
Tribute To Gordon Lightfoot
Capitol Theatre
PORT HOPE, Ontario
April 22, 2006
Well I was really looking forward to this evening for a few reasons….the music, the performers and to see this amazing show in a soft-seat theatre setting. I attended with my mum and daughter Lisa with complimentary tickets from Aengus and Jory – the two talents/co-producers behind the Tribute Shows and two major reasons why the shows are so successful. Thanks guys!
Port Hope is about 70 minutes east of Toronto and 30 minutes east of me here in Whitby. It’s where Aengus Finnan lives and the area where he will be holding his 3rd annual, 3 day Shelter Valley Folk Festival
http://www.sheltervalley.com/ in Northumberland County at the beginning of September. 15 minutes east of Port Hope in the town of Grafton where Aengus grew up he will be opening an art gallery at the end of May. I wish him every success.
Port Hope is a lovely, quaint little town on the shore of Lake Ontario with a main street full of boutique shoppes, antique stores and art galleries. Beautiful old buildings and homes have been refurbished and lovingly cared for and the town still maintains that old country charm.
The Capitol Theatre seats approximately 400 people in an intimate well appointed venue. The ceiling has been artfully painted as an evening sky with inset twinkling lights. The walls have handpainted murals of trees and forest like settings that make the theatre warm and cozy.
http://www.capitoltheatre.com/gallery.php?gallery=14 for pictures of the theatre interior. The sound and lighting for the show was excellent.
The talented and handsome David Newland was the emcee again for the evening and was resplendent in a great suit! Lookin’ good David!
First up was Aengus Finnan
www.aengusfinnan.com who sang “The Way I Feel” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Hearing these songs performed by Aengus in this setting was like I’d never heard them before. His voice was so crisp and clear as were the instruments. The large stage with the high ceilings, black drapery backdrop and an ambience 180 degrees from Hugh’s Room in Toronto created a huge difference. There were no waiters walking around, no one talking, just pure silence.
The house band consisted of David Woodhead on bass, Anne Lindsay on fiddle etc. and Jason Fowler on various guitars. There was plenty of room onstage for everyone even with a beautiful black piano up there. I missed Anne Lindsay earlier this year at Hugh’s Room when a scheduling conflict stopped her from participating. She brings a lot of energy to the music. It was going to be interesting to hear some piano as well.
A new artist to the shows was a fellow from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mark Reeves
http://www.markreeves.com/bio.html is a roots/rock/let it rip performer. Very strong vocals and superb guitar playing had him singing “Early Morning Rain” and “Cotton Jenney” in a bluesy/funk way that was quite unexpected but received with great applause. A welcome addition for sure!
Lori Cullen
http://www.loricullen.com/ has recorded her gorgeous rendition of “Pussywillows-Cattails” on her latest CD and didn’t fail to mesmerize the crowd last night.
Listen at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/cullen3
Her phrasing and soft, silky voice makes for a dreamy listening experience that had me wishing the song was about 5 minutes longer. She then sang “Ill Tag Along” with a bit more of an upbeat feel than the Lightfoot version but captivated the emotion perfectly.
Jory Nash is a perfect pairing with Lori and did back-up on this song. Lovely.
David Matheson was playing piano as backup for the performers and the added dimension to the songs was fabulous.
Mike Ford
www.mikeford.ca and David Matheson
http://www.davidmatheson.ca/ (formerly of Moxy Fruvous) sang the 1968 Lightfoot ‘news report’ – “Black Day in July.” Theirs is a fast paced version, full of drama and as the events of the day are told the sense of panic and fear really is felt.
Mike mentioned that while he was at that moment onstage in Port Hope singing Lightfoot tunes his father was in Toronto actually onstage WITH Lightfoot as a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society presenting Lightfoot with an honourary membership. Amazing!
They then broke into a verse of The Wreck sung as only Barbershoppers could sing it – complete with the great ‘happy’ ending and big smiles that barbershoppers have! Very funny stuff.
They next sang “Minstrel of The Dawn” and again the clarity of their voices in the old theatre gave more heart to the words.
I found this was true with all the artists…..it made me wish the evening was being recorded…..Mr. Nash, Mr. Finnan…are you listening???
Jory Nash –
www.jorynash.com he of the curls and hats and haunting voice sang “Summer Side of Life” and that fine Lightfoot toe-tapper “Old Dan’s Records.” He had the audience singing and clapping along with ODR and as always seemed thrilled to be entertaining us. He’s a lovely, gentle fellow and I adore him even if he calls me names like “matriarch.” I forgot to give him hell about that last night….LOL !
Jory is working on a new CD so stay tuned!
Connie Kaldor
http://www.conniekaldor.com/# said she was going to sing a song for the ‘bad girl’ part of her and that this song empowered women! She wanted all the women in the audience to sing along with “That’s What You Get For Lovin’ Me.” She has a strong, powerful voice and she really enjoyed singing this tune. She then sat at the piano and sang a soulful “If You Could Read My Mind” with Lori Cullen and Jory singing backup. Astounding.
BREAK for 20 minutes
Aengus came onstage and introduced his good friend David Newland.
www.davidnewland.com who once again, as he did at Hugh’s Room sang “Stone Cold Sober.” My goodness it was so quiet and this much overlooked song sung with such passion received a huge ovation. It’s a great song and David is the perfect artist to sing it.
Melwood Cutlery
http://www.melwoodcutlery.com/ did a honky tonk/roots version of “Did She Mention My Name” with Dave Matheson on piano….quite unique and with a bit of a yodel thrown in! He also sang “Summertime Dream.”
Jason Fowler came forward to sing “In My Fashion” and mentioned that back when Lightfoot recorded it he was keeping current with the new rap that was on the radio…LOL. He then sang a lovely soft rendition of “Fine As Fine Can Be.” He recounted his “Boiler” story of when Lightfoot explained to him how to boil his guitar strings. It’s a funny story every time it’s told. Just thinking of Lightfoot sitting in front of a hot plate with a pot of boiling water and watching his strings boil for 7 minutes is a hilarious visual. Drying them on a Scott towel and then putting them in baggies with Red tape (red for Ready) and blue (for boil) is hilarious….and then calling Jason to tell him not to boil his classical guitar strings “cuz they’ll melt” is beyond funny. Jason has a beautiful voice and makes guitar playing look so easy. He’s an amazing talent.
Katherine Wheatley
http://www.katherinewheatley.com/ and Suzie Vinnick
http://www.suzievinnick.com/ came onstage and Katherine sang “I’m Not Supposed To Care” with Suzie singing backup and playing bass and then Suzie sang her rockin’ blues version of “I’d Do It Again” with Katherine on backup. Both have very strong vocal styles and with the excellent sound system they both received great receptions for their songs.
From just north of Port Hope in the Kawarthas, Rick Fines
http://www.rickfines.com/ drove down from Peterborough to astound us all with his “Bossman” and “Ribbon of Darkness.” This blues performer has a new CD coming out on May 1 and has recorded Ribbon of Darkness on it. All other songs are his own and the CD was recorded in his cabin with solar power! He is hoping to start touring the U.S. in 2007 and having seen him at the Tribute shows and on his own at a small venue I heartily recommend you try to see him if he’s near your town. He always looks like he’s having a damn fine time onstage!
Canadian Folk Icon VALDY
http://www.valdy.com/ was next. This man has more energy than he knows what to do with and is a joy to watch and listen to. Even performing Lightfoot tunes the unmistakable Valdy vocal and guitar sound is there. He did a fabulous version of “Bitter Green” that had the whole place singing along. He told us that Robert Service wrote a poem that Lightfoot had written music for and did a hilarious rendition of “Piddling Pete.” He had a ball doing it. He never stands still, resplendent in red suspenders and runners he bounces, wiggles and jumps around with the joy of a child. He’s quite something. He then sang “Steel Rail Blues” and we all sang along with him again. He’s a well loved Canadian performer and still sounds as he did 30 years ago…it’s amazing! He was just on tour in New Zealand and was even asked to sing some Lightfoot songs down under!
Unbelievably it was the end of the show and the whole cast of characters came back onstage to sing “Rich Man’s Spiritual” with the audience in full participation. They were then called back for an unexpected encore and sang an ‘unrehearsed’ “Alberta Bound.”
Wow – it was a fabulous night of diverse talent, equally diverse songs and stylings but a common sense of respect and joy and thankfulness we all have for the talents of Gordon Lightfoot.
And as usual I got all my hugs and kisses in with ‘my boys” and one extra hug thrown in for Valdy. What a character.
In January I saw the Tribute show as I always have at Hugh’s Room in Toronto (8 of 10 shows over 4 years). Sparky Jenney) has joined me as has Ron Jones, Dan and Nanci, Kenyon and my daughter Lisa. A couple of years ago I saw Aengus, Jory and Terry Tufts in New Jersey with Sparky and Skip , Sir John and Susan, Joan and Billyboy. Next month I will see the show as performed by Aengus, Jory, Suzie Vinnick and Katherine Wheatley here in Whitby.
At every show I always wish more of you could experience these artists live onstage and come to cherish their talents as I do. All are hugely talented in their own right and make for an astounding evening of song…throw in a few Lightfoot tunes and it’s damn perfect. Check out their websites, listen to their song samples, order a CD or two…Thank me later.
I am still amazed that my Lightfoot devotion has brought new friends into my life over the last 6+ years and I am even more amazed that a whole new set of musicians have found their way into my life and heart as well.
We’re a very blessed group of people, very blessed indeed.
Char
Some pics can be seen at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slidesho...y=-j0hc4s&Ux=0
with me in the pics taken by Lisa are : Jory, Aengus,David and Valdy....
