RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

CARTER: I'm performing tonight with Gordon Lightfoot and his legendary band at the Carpenter Theater in Richmond VA. This is the last concert of this tour. It has been another great run but it will be nice to have some downtime. Sorry about the photo but this place is too big to fit it all in.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

RICK: Welcome to the beautiful Carpenter Theater in downtown Richmond, VA. 5 years ago, we appeared here at the Landmark Theater, which is closed for renovation right now. Back in 1992, we played at the Fairgrounds Amphitheater beside the Richmond International Raceway. Here's a bit of a walkaround the Carpenter

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

Setlist

Watchman
Waiting for You
All the Lovely Ladies
I'd Rather Press On
Painter
Rainy Day People
Shadows
Beautiful
Much to My Surprise (mine, too, and it was great! :) )
Carefree Highway
Cotton Jenny
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown

Intermission

Sweet Guinevere
Wreck
Never Too Close
14 Kt Gold
Make Way for the Lady
Wild Strawberries
Let It Ride
If You Could Read My Mind
Restless
Baby Step Back
Early Morning Rain
Song for a Winter's Night

Encore - Cold on the Shoulder

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

I was going to post the set list for Richmond but I see Ellen beat me to it. So, I'll just add a few comments. It seemed to take longer for Gord's voice to warm up that in recent (within the past year) concerts I've been to. The 1200 seat theater looked like a sell-out. I was worried about this since they've been running a lot of ads for the concert lately which is often a sign that ticket sales were soft. At least twice Gord had to squirt some sort of nasal spray up his nose and at times he would step back from the mike and take deep bows when here was no applause almost as if he was draining his sinus. This may explain his weak voice. The over sound mix was too low for my taste. We were in row H of the orchestra so the sound should have been stronger. And, as usual, the lead guitar was a tad too low. There were several loud cries from the audience for requests towards the end (Pony Man and Trilogy). Again Gord said that he'd only played Much to My Surprise only two or three times. 14 Carat Gold came off without a hitch this time. On the way out I heard a guy asking an usher where the GL merchandise was.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

Thanks for the set list.

Really surprised by Gord saying that "Much to My Surprise" was played only a few times.

Gord and the guys played in St. Paul, Minnnesota in late April 1995 for two straight nights. Both nights for the encore, I remember him coming out, sitting down on the bench he was using at that time, and played "Much to My Surprise." One night he said something to the effect that, this song is not quite finished but we want to try it.

It's too long ago for me to remember how close the 1995 live version was from the final product on "A Painter Passing Through."

So Gord was playing this song a couple of years before we heard it on album.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

He may have caught the sniffles playing outside at Aston, PA the night before. Our party all remarked how strong he and his voice were that night, it was the best voice I had heard from in in years. I guess it's one day at a time, eh?

Bill :)

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

You may be right, Bill.

Keith wondered how the sound would be since it was outside, but the sound was great as were Gord's vocals.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

I thought his voice was softer than usual. I was in Orchestra right row A, so pretty close. As I have sinus issues myself I recognize the attempt to drain. Fellow sitting behind me voiced a concern about getting hooked on nasal spray. His voice seemed strongest on Much to My Surprise. Never thought it warmed up as much as at past concerts I've attended. I'm not smart enough to know if it's the vocalist or the sound mix. Hope all the guys get some good rest on this break. At any rate, I was glad for the opportunity to be there. I'd rather hear Lightfoot at less than his best than anyone else at 100%, as far as I'm concerned.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

That's my concern too Ellen- that nose spray that he started at the beginning of the year is nasty stuff and can be addictive and damage the sinuses..He has inner ear issues too...
I'm hoping it's only used when required on tour..but I do wish it wasn't done facing the audience....
yep- Gordon at 80-90% is better than many artists I'd ever pay to see.. ;)

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

Quote Ellen, "I'd rather hear Lightfoot at less than his best than anyone else at 100%, as far as I'm concerned."

Well said, and I think most of us would agree. Sadly I noticed he was a bit hard to hear sometimes at the Norwalk concert. The music hall there is an original 1800's old Town Hall with poor acoustics and no baffling at all, and I think the sound board guy didn't compensate for this, or probably couldn't. Overall the volume was too low also, as I could hear and understand the people in the row in front, and in the row in back of me talking. I'd rather have the volume up where I can only hear Gordon and the band. But it was still a good concert and wouldn't have missed it no matter what the small flaws were.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

John or Ellen, did either of you notice that Gord was doing full versions of more of the songs at the VA show? I thought he did full versions of some in Aston. Usually he does the shortened ones with the exception of the Wreck/CRT.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

he must mean on tho current tour (or with Carter onboard) … he's played it about 40 times live, but back before it was released on APPT … glad it's back

thanks for the reviews … hope Gord gets his sinuses resolved, how aggravating it must be for him

formerly lavender, i saw that you guys met up with Bill and it was a lovely pic… it looked to me like Bill was getting a celeb pic with Andie MacDowell … :)

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

He also used the nasal spray several times in Englewood NJ on the 16th. At one point he made a remark about it, which I could not hear, turned sidways to the audience and pointed it in Carter's direction giving it a couple of sprays. Kind of amusing himself with it.

He also did the thing a few times where he would bend over as if taking a deep bow, pause and shake.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

HE's been doing the drink/bend over thing for several years now but the nasal spray started in January...kind of worrisome if he uses it steadily, even off stage.. Do wish it wasn't such a public event tho..

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

Well, I've been on about this for awhile. Save for Niagara Falls Fallsview Casino, the sound volume is too low at other venues I see Lightfoot at, so it does seem it has to do with Lightfoot's own instructions or the workings of his sound crew. It really does need to be turned up.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

I just know about the Norwalk show, and I know he did shortened versions of at least a couple songs.

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

I wish you all could have been at the Aston show with us. Maybe it was because it was in the fresh air venue but the sound was loud and clear and if he used nasal spray I didn't notice it. And as formerlylavender mentioned he seemed to be doing quite a few full versions. And the combination of a real seat and grass underfoot was pretty nice.

Bill :)

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

You nailed it jj and right about then we were photo-bombed by Mick Jagger... it's a small world, eh?

Bill :)

Re: RICHMOND VA-July 20-2014
 

Wow, thanks jj and Bill for the compliment. I love Andie MacDowell. I usually get Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, well at least I did during the Seinfeld years:)

If I remember correctly, Sea of Tranquility, Don Q, Drifters and definitely Wild Strawberries were full versions. Maybe even Beautiful. Rainy Day People was the encore and was only one verse! I guess Gord was making up for lost time.

I don't remember any nasal spray either, Bill. He did cough a couple of times and drank his water, but that's not unusual.