Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - Northampton, MA--quick review

Don Quixote · 10-21-2005, 05:41 AM

"Much to my surprise" I find myself writing this; until Tuesday I thought I'd be out of town and unable to attend, but fortunately I had a meeting canceled and there were a few tickets left. I was towards the back, but the Calvin theater is small and intimate, and there really isn't a bad seat in the place. The only thing I missed was a little of the stage patter between songs.

The Calvin is a historically preserved, old-fashioned New England movie house--slightly musty, plaster ornamentation, marble fuax columns, lights adorned with black ironwork, stage outlined in maroon and gilt. The stage is small--just enough room for the players and their instruments. The backdrop was black; during much of the show, geometric patterns of different shapes and colors were projected onto the backdrop.

The crowd was a little older and even more subdued than I imagined it would be--many people in their 60s and beyond, some younger, a few kids dragged in by their parents. A couple of rows ahead of me, there was some slacker-looking kid (hooded sweatshirt, knit cap smashed down over ragged dyed blond hair) with his parents and younger brother.

The band came on to fairly quiet applause, followed by a more sustained, semi-standing ovation for GL himself, dressed in black pants, white shirt and dark satin vest--something like he might have worn back in the mid-60s, but without the string tie. At intermission, the white shirt was exchanged for a blue one.

Here's the set list. Several of the songs were truncated:

Spanish Moss
Don Quixote
Minstrel of the Dawn
In My Fashion
Harmony
Never Too Close
Ghosts of Cape Horn
Blackberry Wine
Sea of Tranquility
Cotton Jenny
I Used to be a Country Singer
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
Intermission
Restless
Beautiful
Shadows
If You Could Read my Mind
Let it Ride
Clouds of Loneliness
14K Gold
Baby Step Back
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Rainy Day People
Song for a Winter's Night
Old Dan's Record
Encore--Early Morning Rain

As usual, the band was in great form--efficient and effective. GL was in good voice most of the night; it took him a while to warm up, and I think he was sounding a bit tired at the end, but all in all was in good form. The show did, however, give the impression that they all couldn't wait to get out. Gord didn't introduce the band at all; one song followed another, often without a pause to let the applause die down, even a little; too many songs that were shortened: Spanish Moss, Minstrel of the Dawn, Cotton Jenny, even the Wreck (didn't use the verse "The dawn came late, etc.", Ribbon of Darkness", Rainy Day People all were shortened.

Lowlight of the evening: right before intermission, he totally blew Sundown, goofing up the verses, and ending up singing "La, la la, blah". Everyone got a laugh; it reminded me of Ringo blowing It Don't Come Easy on the Concert for Bangladesh.

Many highlights: GL on DQ was excellent; Harmony was moving, especially in the beginning when it was just Gord and his guitar; Never Too Close sounded like his voice kicked in all the way; his voice was excellent for the Wreck; Restless was just perfect; Beautiful was good, although, understandably, he didn't try for the high notes at the end; Shadows was stunningly haunting--there was a slight pause before the applause, as if people were still taking the song in, and GL's vocals were right at their peak; IYCRMM was, as always, a centerpiece of the performance; Song for a Winter's Night was magnificent.

I always love to hear CRT, and the band was in excellent form, but I personally don't like that he's slowed the song down where it should be gaining momentum. I understand that it's a young person's song, and that it may just be too hard to sing in its original tempo, but it turns what I think is one of the greatest songs ever written into just a very good one.

A few comments: Before launching into Harmony, GL commented that the song was "as real as it could be, at least to me". He talked a lot about the rains we've had in this area this week, talked about the "two-dimensional life" that performers had, mentioned the origins of Ghosts of Cape Horn ("that was the end of my movie producing career"), and comically apologized for including two songs off the new album ("There's a lot of product out there").
There were some shouts for requests (Pony Man, a few people were relentless about this), and someone behing me yelled after intermission that they wanted him to do Sundown over again; GL explained that he had switched from 12-string to 6-string guitar.
Only one other comment--there was too much percussion on some of the earlier songs, before GL used a drummer. I thought that DQ and Beautiful could have used a less intrusive drum.

All in all a great evening; glad I was able be there.

10-21-2005, 05:41 AM	#1
Don Quixote Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Springfield, MA 01109 Posts: 309	"Much to my surprise" I find myself writing this; until Tuesday I thought I'd be out of town and unable to attend, but fortunately I had a meeting canceled and there were a few tickets left. I was towards the back, but the Calvin theater is small and intimate, and there really isn't a bad seat in the place. The only thing I missed was a little of the stage patter between songs. The Calvin is a historically preserved, old-fashioned New England movie house--slightly musty, plaster ornamentation, marble fuax columns, lights adorned with black ironwork, stage outlined in maroon and gilt. The stage is small--just enough room for the players and their instruments. The backdrop was black; during much of the show, geometric patterns of different shapes and colors were projected onto the backdrop. The crowd was a little older and even more subdued than I imagined it would be--many people in their 60s and beyond, some younger, a few kids dragged in by their parents. A couple of rows ahead of me, there was some slacker-looking kid (hooded sweatshirt, knit cap smashed down over ragged dyed blond hair) with his parents and younger brother. The band came on to fairly quiet applause, followed by a more sustained, semi-standing ovation for GL himself, dressed in black pants, white shirt and dark satin vest--something like he might have worn back in the mid-60s, but without the string tie. At intermission, the white shirt was exchanged for a blue one. Here's the set list. Several of the songs were truncated: Spanish Moss Don Quixote Minstrel of the Dawn In My Fashion Harmony Never Too Close Ghosts of Cape Horn Blackberry Wine Sea of Tranquility Cotton Jenny I Used to be a Country Singer Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Ribbon of Darkness Sundown Intermission Restless Beautiful Shadows If You Could Read my Mind Let it Ride Clouds of Loneliness 14K Gold Baby Step Back Canadian Railroad Trilogy Rainy Day People Song for a Winter's Night Old Dan's Record Encore--Early Morning Rain As usual, the band was in great form--efficient and effective. GL was in good voice most of the night; it took him a while to warm up, and I think he was sounding a bit tired at the end, but all in all was in good form. The show did, however, give the impression that they all couldn't wait to get out. Gord didn't introduce the band at all; one song followed another, often without a pause to let the applause die down, even a little; too many songs that were shortened: Spanish Moss, Minstrel of the Dawn, Cotton Jenny, even the Wreck (didn't use the verse "The dawn came late, etc.", Ribbon of Darkness", Rainy Day People all were shortened. Lowlight of the evening: right before intermission, he totally blew Sundown, goofing up the verses, and ending up singing "La, la la, blah". Everyone got a laugh; it reminded me of Ringo blowing It Don't Come Easy on the Concert for Bangladesh. Many highlights: GL on DQ was excellent; Harmony was moving, especially in the beginning when it was just Gord and his guitar; Never Too Close sounded like his voice kicked in all the way; his voice was excellent for the Wreck; Restless was just perfect; Beautiful was good, although, understandably, he didn't try for the high notes at the end; Shadows was stunningly haunting--there was a slight pause before the applause, as if people were still taking the song in, and GL's vocals were right at their peak; IYCRMM was, as always, a centerpiece of the performance; Song for a Winter's Night was magnificent. I always love to hear CRT, and the band was in excellent form, but I personally don't like that he's slowed the song down where it should be gaining momentum. I understand that it's a young person's song, and that it may just be too hard to sing in its original tempo, but it turns what I think is one of the greatest songs ever written into just a very good one. A few comments: Before launching into Harmony, GL commented that the song was "as real as it could be, at least to me". He talked a lot about the rains we've had in this area this week, talked about the "two-dimensional life" that performers had, mentioned the origins of Ghosts of Cape Horn ("that was the end of my movie producing career"), and comically apologized for including two songs off the new album ("There's a lot of product out there"). There were some shouts for requests (Pony Man, a few people were relentless about this), and someone behing me yelled after intermission that they wanted him to do Sundown over again; GL explained that he had switched from 12-string to 6-string guitar. Only one other comment--there was too much percussion on some of the earlier songs, before GL used a drummer. I thought that DQ and Beautiful could have used a less intrusive drum. All in all a great evening; glad I was able be there.