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Originally Posted by seafarer62
Hi Louise. Yes, I enjoyed meeting you and saying a quick hello that night at the Barnes and Nobles before the recent Minneapolis concert. You asked some questions about Gord's Twin Cities appearances over the years that others may enjoy.
Gord played the large Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota from the early 1970's until 1988. So I was there with you in 1979 somewhere. Since then, he has used smaller venues (e.g. 2000 seats) such as the State Theatre, Orpheum Theatre and O'Shaunhessy Auditorium at the College of St. Catherine's in St. Paul in 1995. Gord has been regularly performing in the Twin Cities since 1967 and his recent concert was the 40th anniversary, although he hasn't come back every year. In his early years, he played the Guthrie Theatre which has since been torn down. There was a stretch during the 70's and 80's when he was here every year.
Long time Twin Cities promoter Fred Krohn has been involved with bringing Gord here for probably 35 years now. I noticed he got a thank you acknowledgement in the liner notes to the "Songbook" CD set. I met him once at a concert when I was able to get backstage in the early 1980's when it was truly tough to do so.
In 1979, Gord was so popular that he filled Northrup Auditorium for two shows the same night. Both sets were casino-length shows. The first show started at 7 or 8 and the second show was really late like starting at 9 or 10 p.m. The Good Brothers, who backed Gord on the "Old Dan's Records" album, was the opening act and I remember them singing Alberta Bound.
Wayne's website at lightfoot.ca has concert dates and locations back to 1974, I think. The set list posted for Apr. 27, 1979 was the first concert of the two. I remember in the second set he did "All the Lovely Ladies" and two new songs from the upcoming Dream Street Rose album but for some reason I didn't make any notes of the second show.
Young and dumb, I think.
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John~~~~~~~
Oh! The memories......especially the Northrup. His music just filled the venue and must have echoed out over the campus. I worked for years on the campus and thought that Northrup was the most "magical" place in the city.
......and the State Theatre, The Orpheum, and O'Shaunhessy Auditorium at THe College of St. Catherine. isn't that where you have to go up a stairway to get to the auditorium?? So we have gone every time since he was here since 1979 with the exception of one year (because of a family emergency)
We ended up in the emergency room with the tickets. Ironic.
But, what a couple "decades +" it has been!!!! It's just hard to put into words what an influence Gord has had on our lives. But it's been a continual ongoing experience of love of his music, respect for the man, and just the pure enjoyment of listening to him and the band. His music is woven in and out of our lives, so it becomes almost the very fabric of our lives. Thank you Gord. God bless you. We hope that you know how much you are loved. And, at this point in your life, I really think that you do.