Hi All-
We just returned from our Iowa trip and the Cedar Rapids show on June 30. Didn't get to meet you RJ. Did get to meet Nancy from South Dakota who lurks in Corfid. They were sitting right behind us and had been at the Omaha concert the night before. She said he had done Trilogy there. I encouraged her to post and join the action !!
Here is the set list:
1) Cotton Jenny
2) Carefree Highway
3) Sea of Tranquility
4) 14 Karat Gold
5) Never Too Close
6) In My Fashion
7) A Painter Passing Through
8) Rainy Day People
9) Shadows
10) Beautiful
11) The Watchman's Gone
12) Ribbon of Darkness
13) Sundown
14) Wreck of E.F.
Intermission
15) Triangle
16) Hangdog Hotel Room
17) Restless
18) Clouds of Loneliness
19) Waiting For You
20) Make Way For the Lady
21) If You Could Read My Mind
22) Don Quixote
23) Baby Step Back
24) Early Morning Rain
25) Blackberry Wine
26) Encore: Old Dan's Records
Beautiful theatre in a very clean, quiet downtown area. Ornate gold decoration inside. Very reminscent of the State Theatre in Minneapolis and the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois.
The review of the concert in the Cedar Rapids newspaper was fair. I had never heard Gord more hoarse. I asked my wife who is a casual fan what she thought. She asked me if he warms up ahead of the concert?? He didn't really get the cobwebs out until about Shadows. After that he alternated between good and bad for most of the concert. Blackberry Wine was an absolute disaster as I didn't think he was going to get through it. On the other hand, he then came back and gave a strong Old Dan's encore. Go figure !!
He was fairly talktative and friendly, mentioning Iowa and "tornado alley" a couple of times. He said the response on this tour has been just phenomenal.
I left a note by his mike during intermission for "Bitter Green" or "Song for a Winter's Night" for my wife's birthday. He picked up the note but didn't address it.
Several of the stories before the songs he had used before: Field and Stream Magazine for Sea of Tranquility, Elvis Presley- Early Morning Rain, One finger on left hand needed on Painter, Tailor-made suit reference to Never Too Close, Jerry Jeff Walker-Kris Kristoferson for Hangdog, Flying above North America for Waiting for You.
So it was a fun trip. But being the 8th concert in 9 nights was a little bit of a bummer. I know entertainers want to minimize their time away from home and I imagine the expenses of a tour are minimized by night after night. But I wonder if Gord has reached the point where he shouldn't do that many nights consecutively. I say that in love, not in disgust.
All that said, we still plan to catch his Minnesota tour in September.
John/Minnesota
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