[Tim]

At the risk of continuing this thread beyond it's usefulness, I'd like to add a bit of perspective. I was at the Aurora Concert on Sunday, Sept 16. It ended up being a very special family experience which I will post as soon as time permits.

The Aurora,IL show on Sunday, Sept 16 was the last show prior to the Milwaukee performance on Sept 19. At the Aurora show there was not a single instance where Gordon forgot any lyrics, or seemed "out of it" in any way. With regard to his voice, I thought it was fine throughout the performance. Was it exactly like it was 30, 20, or 10 years ago? No, it was a bit weaker, but very pleasant to listen to, and very much in tune.

Something that also amazed me was Gord's memory for lyrics. At a Joan Baez concert a few years ago, I noticed that she brought out a music stand during the performance and jokingly said "The memory is the first thing to go." After 30 years of Gordon concerts, I never remember a single instance of Gord making the concession of bringing out a memory crutch.

I have to wonder about the expectations of the original poster with regard to Gord's voice. My dad (God rest his soul) had a beautiful Irish tenor voice. For many years we loved to sing as a family, and I remember his strong voice gracing our family gatherings. (one of his favorite songs was "Hangdog Hotel Room"). Anyway, as he go into his 70s, it was obvious that the voice wasn't quite as strong or clear as it had been. But, I cut him some slack, with the realization that time does not freeze for everyone as we age. Maybe we need to do the same for Gord. It is not reasonable to expect Gord to sound just like his recordings from 30 years ago.

Speaking of "years ago" I remember Gord sharing at a concert in 1978 that he likes to do a string of shows and the take a few days off, and that the first concert after a few days off is usually the toughest one of the string. After the Aurora show on Sunday, he flew back to Toronto for a couple days before returning to Milwaukee to start the next portion of his tour. Maybe, the difficulty of the layoff contributed to whatever sluggishness that might have been perceived. I will be curious as to the reviews of the follow-on shows from the Milwaukee performance.

I apologize for the delay in posting a detailed review of the Aurora performance, but it will indicate a somewhat higher level of performance than what was reported at Milwaukee. And I am very confident that the follow-on shows (to the Milwaukee performance) will also be somewhat better than what we heard here.

Thanks for listening.