PHOTOS: JOHN KENNEY, MONTREAL GAZETTE
http://communities.canada.com/MONTRE...il-8-2010.aspx
comments at link.
The line was inevitable, but the audience at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts had to wait until five songs had gone by before Gordon Lightfoot delivered it.
"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," the unflappable singer-songwriter loudly proclaimed, to cheers and applause. "What a kerfuffle that was." He was, of course, referring to a rumour in February, reported by some media, that he had ridden his last carefree highway.
As he showed last night, Lightfoot, 71, has a sundown or two left in him. Yet the song that followed his Mark Twain quote, the superb A Painter Passing Through, is a cheerfully resigned tip of the hat to mortality. And truth be told, the two-hour concert had a ghostly quality, with Lightfoot and his four backup musicians delivering haunting, hushed versions of well-worn classics and obscure favourites (five selections came from the 1982 album Shadows).
Some songs, like Don Quixote and Song For a Winter's Night, had a hymn-like feel that made even the enthusiastic, but civilized applause seem like an intrusion. Folk-rockers like Sundown and Hangdog Hotel Room were even gentler than their studio counterparts. Ultimately, this show --- similar in tone to Lightfoot's 2006 performance in the same hall --- must have been among the quietest concerts ever heard from a popular music artist.
Part of the equation is Lightfoot's voice. What was once a rich, confident baritone has, apparently, lost both its resonance and its reach: you had to fill in the higher notes of Song For a Winter Night's chorus with your imagination, for example. Perhaps the vocal thinness requires the supporting players to really hang back and even undersell their perfect fills. Luckily, however, there were times --- as in Fine As Fine Can Be and Restless, a highlight --- where short, passing daydreams of the old Gord voice just about became reality.
Ultimately, a Gordon Lightfoot concert in 2010 is not about reinventing the back catalogue and rocking up the old favourites, as fellow legend Bob Dylan might do. A Lightfoot show is a much tamer affair, one that can pretty much mean only one thing: a gathering of the faithful to celebrate one of the finest bodies of work in popular music. That description of the oeuvre seemed more apt than ever after the singer finished the ever-stunning Canadian Railroad Trilogy, during which a movement to clap along in the faster sections failed to get off the ground.
A standing ovation, appropriately polite, brought the night's sole encore: the oddly-chosen Old Dan's Records, a likeable, but lesser Lightfoot song. The audience was up for more, but it was not to be: Lightfoot returned alone, without his guitar, took a bow, held two thumbs up and disappeared as the room lights were turned on.
OpinionAislinBlogsEditorialsColumnistsOp–EdReader CommentsLettersBusinessMoneyMarkets on FPBusiness ObserverSportsCanadiens/HockeyAlouettes/FootballBaseballBasketballGolfAuto RacingSoccer/ImpactTennisHabs Inside/Out2010 ParalympicsArtsFestival CentralMovie GuideTelevisionTV ListingsMusicBooksCelebrityTheatreLifeFashion & BeautyFood & WineParentingRelationshipsGreen LifeDiversions - Comics & GamesMike HolmesHealthWomenMenFamily & ChildSeniorsSexual HealthDiet & FitnessH1N1TechnologyPersonal TechGamingTech–BizInternetEnvironmentSpaceScienceB est of YouTubeTravelTrip IdeasTools & TipsCommunityDestination GuidesJobsSearch JobsResourcesPost JobsMy ProfileCarsNewUsedPre-Owned Weekly SpecialsSellResearch & Compare News & Events VideosFeaturesHomesFor Sale/RentTips for Buyers & SellersRenovatingDecoratingGardeningCondo LivingVacation HomesGreen HomesMike HolmesClassifiedsAnnouncementsDatingObituariesJob ListingsCar ListingsReal Estate For Sale/RentShopLocalPlace an Ad
MAINCONTACT EDITORSUBSCRIBE RSSToday is Saturday April 10, 2010 Set List: Gordon Lightfoot at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts; April 8, 2010
By Bernard Perusse Fri, Apr 9 2010 COMMENTS(0) Words & Music
Filed under: Gordon Lightfoot
1. Triangle
2. Cotton Jenny
3. 14 Karat Gold
4. Never Too Close
5. In My Fashion
6. A Painter Passing Through
7. Spanish Moss
8. Shadows
9. Beautiful
10. Carefree Highway
11. Hangdog Hotel Room
12. Ribbon of Darkness
13. Sundown
14. The Watchman's Gone
15. Alberta Bound
*** INTERMISSION ***
16. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
17. Ringneck Loon
18. Don Quixote
19. If Children Had Wings
20. Let It Ride
21. Make Way For the LAdy
22. Baby Step Back
23. Fine As Fine Can Be
24. Restless
25. If You Could Read My Mind
26. Canadian Railroad Trilogy
27. Song For a Winter's Night
ENCORE:
28. Old Dan's Records
MONTREAL review
