Lightfoot Concert - Tucson, Az 1/29/07

[RM]

Warning: this review will not be anywhere near as wonderfully entertaining as Borderstone's ....

The set list follows these impressions :

What a delight. The plans went according to my wishes. No ticket snafus, great seats (up close and personal), and the most attentive and appreciative audience I have encountered since my college days. There were a few attempts to clap-along, but they were thankfully silenced by the majority's desire to just listen, and that's what I was there for. Perfect.

His voice was stronger than I expected, although the between-songs banter was a bit difficult to hear for this hearing impaired body.

Doing the best I could.....

Rainy Day People
Shadows (a quick restart)
Beautiful
(a short chat about the 7 concerts in 8 days, and the fact about such feats..."It's A Science")
(Somewhere in here he introduced the band)
The Watchman's Gone
Ribbon of Darkness
(on the last "Darkness", lights dimmed, and then it was into)
Sundown
(Brief story about TWOTEF. Upon the opening, Lightfoot turned to Terry Clements and said "Too loud, Too Loud".

Intermission

Triangle
(Jerry Jeff Walker tale about him being the greatest "Stayer Upper" that Lightfoot had ever met, and then into)
Hangdog Hotel Room
All The Lovely Ladies
(an observation about dating, the gist of which I could not decipher, and then into)
Clouds of Loneliness
Waiting for You
Make Way For The Lady
IYCRMM (What an ovation !!!!! Lightfoot's eyes sparkled)
Don Quixote ( meager clap-along snuffed..thank you)
Baby Step Back
Restless
Old Dan's Records

Encore

(The Elvis Story)

Early Morning Rain

Solo Bow.....goodnight....Leaves the stage with a thumb-up to the audience....

My honest belief is that had not it been for the demands of the road, Lightfoot would have done a second encore. Such was the warmth with which he was received. Perfect.

[ January 30, 2007, 05:19: Message edited by: RMD ]

[formerlylavender]

Thanks for posting your review, RMD, sounds like you had a great concert. I'm glad to hear that Gord's voice was stronger than expected. All these reviews have gotten me psyched for April at the Keswick. I can't wait!!!

[Jesse Joe]

Great job of describing your night at the concert, RMD...Thank's for sharing it.


"Encore

(The Elvis Story)

Early Morning Rain

Solo Bow.....goodnight....Leaves the stage with a thumb-up to the audience....

My honest belief is that had not it been for the demands of the road, Lightfoot would have done a second encore. Such was the warmth with which he was received. Perfect."... Posted by RMD.


What a guy that Gord !!!

[charlene]

sounds like a fabulous show-it's quite the schedule he's got out there so hope the rest of the shows are as excellent as this one was!

got pics???


Char
hates the clap-along too...

[RM]

Originally posted by charlene:

got pics???

I'm afraid not. At this stage in my life I no longer ponder whether I should sell my soul for a chance to meet him. Those days have passed, and the music is enough.

Just a couple of additional notes :

He mentioned that it has been 24 years since he last performed in Tucson.

His fingerpicking seemed fine, the flat picking appeared to be constrained.

I omitted Carefree Highway, and probably another song or two. I was mesmerized.

[ January 30, 2007, 13:36: Message edited by: RMD ]

[vlmagee]

Originally posted by charlene:

hates the clap-along too...

He used to hate it too, but in recent years seems to have learned to take what comes. My favorite recollections on the clap-along issue are the days (the 70s) when he would say something, usually when they clapped along to The Auctioneer (a difficult enough song to sing without random clapping). His favorite line being "Leave the driving to us". I remember it from Saratoga, and he also did it at Montreux, as you can hear in the bootleg. I always wondered how many in the audience (in Switzerland, remember) had ever heard the Greyhound bus ad!

[Borderstone]

RMD! You lucky,lucky Lightfoot fan!! :D

You got to hear one of my mega-favorites by Gord!

I so totally dig,"Make Way For The Lady"!!! Again...you lucky...DUCK! Quack! :D & "Don Q". too? Oh,man!

By the way,you inflate my ego with no where near faint praise of my review! LOL! :D He talked about the "science" at my show too & some of the same jokes probably,as well.

[brink-]

Thanks Ron, it is really nice to read about the audience appreciating Gord and the guys. You have a singers view of the concert - nice. I played your CD the other day. Still enjoy it as much as the first time I heard it.

[RM]

[quote]Originally posted by lighthead2toe:

[qb]. You're a cool guy

When did this happen ? I need to let others know.

[RM]

I couldn't find a review of the concert in the local newspapers in the days that followed it, but I happened to come across this letter-to-the-editor that was published 2/05 in the Arizona Daily Star :

Event Downtown a real happening

Wow. Gordon Lightfoot, the wonderful Fox Theatre, a sold-out concert of over 1,000 totally tuned-in folks; it doesn't get much better. Kudos to Herb Stratford et al, for making this a Downtown happening. Let's get going, Tucson. We are with you.

Judy Dare
Tucson