Geeze - they didn't have it posted on-line at 6:30 a.m.!
lol
yep - a true Canadian moment...LOVE it!
Glimpses of frailty add charm to Lightfoot performance
Canadian icon back in Vancouver for the first time in seven years
John MacKie, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, October 04, 2006
It was a good day for Canadian nationalists Tuesday. The historic Banff Springs Hotel and the Chateau Lake Louise are back in Canadian ownership, and Gordon Lightfoot was back onstage in Vancouver for the first time in seven years.
A lot has happened in that time. Lightfoot almost died in 2002 from an abdominal hemorrhage that left him in a coma for nearly two months. It took him awhile to get back to performing, but now, just shy of his 68th birthday, he's embarked on a 17-date national tour.
Lightfoot walked onstage at the Centre for the Performing Arts in a red and black shirt, black suspenders and black pants, looking trim and fit and kind of regal, with his big shock of hair and big moustache. His features are so finely chiseled and so engrained in the national consciousness, it's like his face has sprung off a coin.
He got straight to business with Cotton Jenny, followed by Carefree Highway. Then he set the tone for the night by hauling out lesser-known songs such as 14 Karat Gold and In My Fashion before coming back to familiar territory with Rainy Day People. It wasn't just a recital of the hits; it was a show that reached deep into the old saddlebag of songs, unearthing some gems that people might have missed over his 40-year career.
His voice isn't as deep and rich as it once was, but the audience knows the songs so well, they fill in the notes he can no longer hit in their mind. The frailty he displays on occasion has its charm, as well, adding a different emotional touch to the songs.
He was in quite a good mood, recalling how he came to Vancouver to chill after his first marriage broke up, and expressing surprise at how many new buildings there are downtown. He acknowledged Elvis Presley's contribution to Early Morning Rain, where the King made the key lyrical change of "cold and drunk as I can be" to "cold and drunk as I may be," which Lightfoot thinks is much better.
Highlights? A Painter Passing Through History was incredibly poignant, with its story of an old painter discussing his life. The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald, Don Quixote and Beautiful were elegantly rendered, but the best song was If You Could Read My Mind. You could hear almost all the 1,800 people in the theatre softly singing along; it was just about perfect, a true Canadian moment.
jmackie@png.canwest.com, 604-605-2126