June 11th St. Louis Concert (Sheldon Concert Hall)

[Tim]

Hello everybody!

Gordon and the guys put on a great show Tuesday night, June 11th. The venue is an historic site in St. Louis. It seats about 800 which makes for a very intimate concert setting. I saw him there about 3 years ago as well. Here is the set list and a few observations:

Waiting for You
Watchman's Gone
Too Many Clues in This Room
Never Too Close
Don Quixote
A Painter Passing Through
Shadows
Beautiful
Much to My Surprise
Cold on the Shoulder
Sweet Guinevere
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Carefree Highway

Intermission

Cotton Jenny
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
I'd Rather Press On
14 Karat Gold
Minstrel of the Dawn
Let It Ride
If You Could Read My Mind
Restless
Baby Step Back
Early Morning Rain

Encore
Rainy Day People

Overall, a great show. The concert was sold out. I attended with my wife and son Tim. They sat in the second row and I had a great balcony seat, first row, center. Gordon's voice sounded good, I noticed he is hitting more of the high notes these days -- maybe a benefit from quitting smoking. His acoustic guitar picking also sounded strong. He also wished the St. Louis Blues well as they were going to be playing the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup the next night, the crowd appreciated that as the entire city is abuzz with the Blues' run at the Stanley Cup, particularly since they were at the bottom of the NHL standings in January. The crowd, throughout the show, was very appreciative. During the expected extended standing ovation that followed IYCRMM Gord said he must have played that song at least 3000 times and it feels different EVERY time.

One last observation -- near the end of Baby Step Back I noticed that Gord dropped his guitar pick. He finished the song flawlessly and then started searching the floor for his pick. This search went on for at least 2 minutes. Rick even came up and helped him scour the floor for it. The audience laughter added to the moment. Then, I noticed a young man approach the stage offering him a guitar pick. That young man happened to be my son! Young Tim said afterward that it would have been quite a moment for Gordon to have used his pick for a song. But, he was waved off by Carter as he tried to offer it up. Tim said afterward, "I'm sure Gordon takes a large supply of picks on his tours." Gordon eventually came up with a replacement pick having never found the one he dropped. I think later he discovered that he dropped it inside the sound hole of his Martin D-28 acoustic. It just made for an enjoyable few minutes which everyone seemed to enjoy, including Gordon.

A great show overall and was glad to be there.

Take Care everyone.

Tim

[imported_Ordinary_Man]

I was waiting for someone to give the set list as I (for maybe the first time in 15 or so years) didn't feel like writing it down. I was in the second row center right in front of the mike about 8-10 feet from Gord. Best seat I've had in years.

Thanks for the set list Tim. I think I met you and your son in KC or Aurora IL several years ago. We've been at several of the same shows over the years, I know that.

A few observations...The elusive pick was never found. I don't think it was in the guitar, as Gord shook it vigorously. People were still looking for it after the show. I, and the people in the first row center were close enough to actually chat with Gord during the show. The guy in front of me had asked Gord to play Cherokee Bend at some point (short discussion followed) and he also started shouting "Best song ever!" after they did the Wreck.

Anyway, while looking for the pick Gord says "I was getting ready to give that pick away, now I can't find it." I said, "I'd love to have it." He looks right at me and says, "I was gonna give it to you." My reply, "Story of my life".

A back up pick is used to do Early Morning Rain and they leave the stage to a standing ovation and a quick break before the encore. When they come back, Gord hands the "Best Song Ever" guy a pick and says, "See, I told you I was gonna give you a pick." He showed it to me after the show. It's an Ultra Cool curved triangular .6 mm pick with a "grippy" surface.

Tim, I remember hearing someone say "I've got a pick" and then bring it to the stage where it was deemed not needed. That's cool that it was your son. That whole episode was quite amusing. Several years ago, again in a first or second row seat, I watched as Gord's pick fluttered to the stage floor. My eyes followed it and when I looked back up, Gord was strumming away with a new pick so I thought I was imagining things. At intermission my friend told me that he had pulled one out of his pocket and just kept going. Last night, he got one off the stool where his water bottle was.

He never mentioned the St. Louis Cardinals (I think his uncle had been a long time fan), something that came up a few nights earlier in Milwaukee. (See Milw. setlist and review for mention.) Weird that he mentioned it in Milwaukee but not St. Louis. I did expect the shout out to the Blues though and was not disappointed. Said he thinks they've been to St. Louis 12 times over the years.

It was a treat for me to hear Too Many Clues and Sweet Guinevere as I don't think I'd ever heard either of them live, even back in the day.

The people around me were astounded to hear that I've seen Gord around 40 times at various places in the midwest. The middle-aged guy next to me had never seen him til last night.

If you got this far, thanks for reading. I do tend to ramble.

Best regards to all the Gordie fans,
Steve

[Tim]

Thanks Steve! Yes I think I remember meeting you. We attended a Gordon concert in KC in 2007 and I think also in Aurora the same year. My son Tim had an extended conversation with Terry Clements after the Aurora concert. On the theme of "guitar picks" Terry gave my son his pick. I don't remember other than it was a large, orange triangular one with a "medium" thickness. Not sure of the mm thickness of it, though.

[charlene]

Awesome stories! thanks for sharing!
Kim photo -https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48052525806_fda9bb69c5_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gdeKNf)june 11,2019-kim photo-st.louis,mo. (https://flic.kr/p/2gdeKNf) by char Westbrook (https://www.flickr.com/photos/8539259@N07/), on Flickr