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Old 05-16-2000, 02:28 PM   #1
rainydayperson
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As Gord-starved Brits, we lap up any comment about the concerts and love it when we hear such glowing reviews. There is another side that I'd be interested to hear about: your personal stories and feelings before a concert.

How do you like to travel to the venue? Do you play his music on the way or studiously avoid it? What do you do about pre-concert refreshment-do you have any favourite haunts? Do you get there early or dash in last minute? Are you able to get a programme or any other memorabilia? What are you thinking about before he starts?

Also, have you got any pre-concert horror stories-or near misses?

------------------
Hi derry day in the month of May
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Old 05-16-2000, 04:53 PM   #2
loveandmaplesyrup
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LOL -- I've got a HUNDRED pre-concert HORROR STORIES.

I guess the worst one was going to Las Vegas to see Gord a couple of years ago. Between dog fights, cat-dog fights, overflowing and flooding water buckets, forgetting the flight confirmation number and remembering halfway to the airport, the airline NOT accepting the sort of travelers' checks we had, our luggage going on to DENVER .... well it just goes on and on.

It's kind of a long story, but if you want me to tell it, I will.

Of course, this is what happens to us EVERY time he comes to town. I don't care how long we know in advance or how much time we have to plan for it ... the day before EVERYTHING falls apart.

Stay loose, eh?

Leslie

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."
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Old 05-16-2000, 07:42 PM   #3
Wes Steele
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You must be desperate rainydayperson if you want to hear stories about going to GL concerts.

For a number of years (8?), my wife and I went up to Toronto for the Massey Hall concerts. Most were in the spring of the year but we went to a couple that were in the fall also.

I live in Cleveland, which by air to Toronto is about 45 minutes over Lake Erie, but to drive around the lake by car, it takes about six hours.

It always seemed to me that there was "electric" in the air the day of the concerts.

My wife and I usually spent the day shopping and as the concert grew close we ended up at a place called the "Saloon" which is across the street from Massey Hall. It is a nicer place than the name suggests. Our ritual was that my wife would have a glass of wine and I would have a shot of rye. Believe it or not, for about five years we had the same waiter. After the first time we ordered, the waiter walked back to the bar, and in a heavy "Brittish" accent yelled out to the bartender, "a glass of wine for the lady, and a shot of rye for the gentleman!" My wife and I thought that was the greatest thing. I found out that night that rye tastes like jet fuel, but the following years to come we ordered the same thing, just to hear this waiter cry out his chant.
Cheap cough syrup tastes better than rye, but I ordered it every year.

That was our ritual for the Massey concerts. Two "ugly" Americans getting a charge out of a waiter with a Brittish accent.

Also, rainydayperson, check out my posts under "Hi Lites & Lo Lites Of GL Concerts".
There are some mentions of pre concert things in there too.
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Old 05-16-2000, 08:46 PM   #4
loveandmaplesyrup
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Gee, Wes,

Could you please describe to me what jet fuel tastes like? I haven't had the pleasure of sampling any of it and since you have, I am kind of curious. I think it's one of those things I'd rather experience second-hand ... if you get my gist.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."
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Old 05-16-2000, 09:25 PM   #5
Dan
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In the mid-seventies my wife(who was my girlfriend then) and I drove over to Rochester NY with two other friends for a Lightfoot concert. Rochester is only about 60 miles east of Buffalo but we went early to make a day of it. After spending the whole day 'tooling around' Rochester we drove over to the the concert site. As we walked to the front doors we wondered why there were no cars or people around when on the door we saw a hand written sign on a piece of typing paper which said:

'Gordon Litefoot concert cancelled due to illness'

Gordon probably got pissed off because they didn't know how to spell his name and decided not to show up!

Dan

[This message has been edited by Dan (edited May 16, 2000).]
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Old 05-17-2000, 12:14 AM   #6
loveandmaplesyrup
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Dan,
If it was the mid-seventies, was it around '73 or so? Gord got Bell's palsy around that time and that could have been why he cancelled the concert. I don't know, it's just speculation.

Stay loose, eh?

LAMS

------------------
"Love and maple syrup
go together like the
sticky winds of winter
when they meet....
If you go into the forest
Gaze up through the trees
The sky is white.
You can understand
What makes the forest
Greet the man
Like a mother's only
child ..."
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Old 05-17-2000, 05:26 AM   #7
2Much2Lose
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LAMS,

Secondhand, I've heard it tastes like chicken.

Just a rye observation. Pardon the pun.
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Old 05-17-2000, 12:48 PM   #8
Pirate Queen
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Sadly, though I have only seen GL in concert once, I have a story of complete panic as far as possibly being unable to make it....I left my home as soon as I finished work on a Thurs. morning and was making pretty god time for getting to my parent's house, particularly on a Thurs., which makes for absolutely hideous traffic (in case no one is aware the Seattle area traffic was recently ranked the worst in the country) and I was even early enough to get into second gear tryong to get over....the Narrow's Bridge...ok, this will not strike terror in the fear of people who aren't from my hometown are, but suffice it to say, you usually get over that bridge in about an hour (attempting to go about 15 miles total) and I am almost home when, dead stop. A car about 4 cars in front of my got into a head on collision. This means I sit on the bridge for 45 min. and then they finally let us off and lcose the bridge down. So getting to my parents house was no big deal. The problem...the only way to get out of Gig Harbor without going the REALLY REALLY long way is to go over the bridge. Needless to say I was terrified I would end up missing the concert, an accident on the bridge means the whole thing is tied up for hours. An accident on the bridge during rush hour means even longer. But, they must have known I had matters of great importance to take care of in Tacoma because they cleaned up the mess in what for them must be record time. and i was quite happy to have made it to the concert with plenty of time to spare (almost not making it raelly makes one appreciate the concert though....).
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Old 05-17-2000, 03:30 PM   #9
chris
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This is a great topic. A few concerts ago, I made the mistake of having a big tall glass of ice tea at dinner before the concert, which unbeknownst to me the watiress kept refilling. By the time I got to the concert I was bursting, this necessitated a trip to the ladies' room before the show and during intermission! At intermission I just like to sit and watch the audience and analyze the first and anticipate the second half. So my new policy is to drink almost nothing before the concert and avoid that horrible scene at the ladies room. When it comes to GL concerts we're all somewhat obsessive. My nightmare is to be held in the back of the theater by a zealous usher and "miss" hearing a song. That's my preconcert ritual -- abstinence!

------------------
"It took most of my time to do what never was done" -- GL
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Old 05-17-2000, 07:36 PM   #10
Dan
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LAMS,

I don't remember the year but it could very well have been '73. You would think if it was cancelled because of his bells palsey we would have heard about it before the concert date.

What do you mean by 'Stay loose, eh'? Are you a Canadian Joe wannabe or should we just take it literally?

In any event have a Canadian Brew and flip a Lightfoot cd on the player!

Dan
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Old 05-18-2000, 01:09 PM   #11
rainydayperson
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Wes, yes I am desperate! Not having been able to one of Gord's concerts for 19 years -the anniversary is tomorrow, you get that way. Also age must have something to do with it. They say that your concentration span decreases by 23.5% when you pass 40.......

What was the thread again?! In Britain they'd say such a person was 'a bit of an anorak' with 'trainspotter' tendencies. You know that time in life when you develop an interest in slippers and caravanning holidays, but find line-dancing too strenuous? Well I haven't quite got there yet! Apart from the slippers.

I was just interested in the pre-concert atmosphere and goings-on, for example do they sell Gord memorabilia? Like tee-shirts, programmes or replica moustaches

------------------
Hi derry day in the month of May
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Old 05-18-2000, 05:07 PM   #12
Wes Steele
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Rainydayperson....

No Tee-shirts....no albums...no plastic 12 string guitars...no beers (you get the beer or ale across the street at the "Saloon").

It has always been very low key...Just like Gordie.

Somewhere else at this site I mention about the peanut vendor selling "heated" nuts outside Massey Hall in the cool spring evening before his concerts. I can still smell them... and taste them. I think they killed the taste of the rye (jet fuel) I had across the street.

At the better venues (like Cleveland) you do usually get a program FREE (it comes with the $39.00 ticket). At places like the theatre I saw him in Erie, when you walk in they give everyone a roll of duct tape to tape the rips in their seats. (the tape is also free with the $27.00 ticket)

"The skys of North America are covered with stars, over factories and farms, over hamlets and bars....."

Wes

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Old 05-19-2000, 03:02 AM   #13
isabella
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I saw Gord in the early seventies when he came to New Brunswick Canada and sang in a hard seater high school auditorium with Anne Murrray who was barefoot on stage but not pregant:}I lived out of town at the time so we loaded all our 8 tracks(God I am dating myself)into the car and sang every Gord song that we knew as we drove through the night.A quick stop at the Aquarius tavern to wet our whistles before the show and we anxiously took our seats.The best part of the show was when Gord would sing one of our personal favorites and without words, we would look at each other and smile contently with our eyes.We could have gleefully done without Annes input but hey, a girl's gotta work.He talked to the audience like we were all his friends(which we are) and did requests that we hollared from our seats.It was like having him in the livingroom as the venue only seated a few hundred people.That night we laughed, we cried and we travelled back to other places, other times , in our minds as Gord reminded us through his words just how fragile the human relationship can be and that sometimes being alone is just a stepping stone to evaluating your life and knowing you're alive.If he could survive, as he did,with all that life offered him, then we knew after the concert, no matter our state of mind or the circumstances that we were going through at the moment, that there was hope for us all.Hope is a great gift to give anyone.Thanks Gord.


'Give your heart and never count the cost
Lose your heart and never call it lost
May love be your shelter
To the ending of your days.
Love is all it is
And all it ever was' Garnet Rogers(Gord's
friend)

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Old 05-19-2000, 05:06 AM   #14
Chuck Darling
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Hey Wes,
Speaking of fixing the rips in your seats, remember just about everytime Gordon came to Cleveland he'd play at The Front Row Theater! in the "round"... everyone picture this.. the stage was round and as the band played the stage would keep turning! I hated it! and Gordon HAD to get dizzy, but he always played there!

------------------
Ever Onward...
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Old 05-19-2000, 04:00 PM   #15
Wes Steele
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Hey Chuck, how are ya?

I used to like the Front Row. I thought the accoustics were great.

I saw him a zillion times there too. Tell me the times that you were there.

Chuck, we gotta get on the land line together. For those of you out there, Chuck and I live within about 60 miles of each other here in the great state of Ohio.

Wes....
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Old 05-19-2000, 05:33 PM   #16
charlene
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Living only 30 minutes from Massey Hall doesn't give one a lot of time but I don't listen to any music the day of the concert and none in the car on the way down the highway. I like to get in to my seat early and people watch. I wonder when they discovered Gord, how many times they've seen him in concert, where they are from, who will clap at the inmappropriate times, who will call out a request, what the requests will be but I mostly sit there and wish I was the only one in the hall and that everyone would just disappear. During the concert I find myself at times sort of "coming to" - it's like I am in a trance and everyone HAS disappeared! I posted a couple months back about my post-concert rituals.
Have a safe weekend all!
Char
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Old 05-20-2000, 09:35 AM   #17
Wes Steele
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Charlene...My wife and I like to "people watch" too before a concert.

This was no pre-concert ritual but it is a neat story.

In the early 80's my wife and I went to see GL in Columbus Ohio which is about 2 hours south of here. We stayed the weekend so with all the time on our hands, we left early for the show. We walked from our hotel and we were doing window shopping. Two cars pulled up next to the theatre and sure enough it was GL and the band. We walked over to them, they were very cordial. They were looking for the back stage entrance and asked for our help. GL posed for a picture with me. He seemed very relaxed and pleasant.

We had no intention of meeting them that day so it was a real treat for us.

"...and trade that for a warm bed in a place I can call home...."

Wes
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