Originally Posted by Andy T.
Okay, I'm back from the show!
10/25/08 - Albuquerque, NM, Kiva Auditorium
First of all, from the other thread where I mentioned I was going to this and had an "AA" series front row ticket... it was discussed it might be a balcony. Well when I got to the venue, part of the convention center here I guess - I learned it was already on the upper level of the building. So definately no balcony level.
The show was far from sold out, unfortunately. I'd guess the place was maybe a little over half full.
Now, my seat, it was about 10 feet from the stage, just one seat over from center - Gord was right there in front of me, slightly to my right. Nice!
Gord's long hair... actually, kind of scary looking actually. hah! My Dad's let his hair grow out too - might as well while he still has it, I'm thinking is his reasoning. I wonder if that's Gord's as well?
Albuquerque is the same elevation as Denver, so I thought Gord might be a little hoarse - that plus this being next to last stop on the tour this year. And I was right, he was.
I'll stop and digress a moment. I'm going to my Dad again for a bit -he is about a year younger than Gord - and he's had a number of medical problems this last year. Without going into all the details, he's had to go into the hospital for a lot of various procedures, some serious. This is my point - each time he has something done, his voice gets pretty hoarse for a while afterwards. Then about the time he has his voice back close to normal, he goes back in for something else. So I'm kind of used to hearing that thin voice.
Still.... Gord's voice was probably the thinnest I've ever heard it tonight. Even on songs I've gotten used to hearing him sing the last decade, it was almost a whisper at times. I'm not complaining, (yet) just observing. Some songs were definately better than others.
The songs - no surprises tonight.
1. Cotton Jenney
2. Carefree Highway
3. Sea of Tranquility - I've always thought the band does a good job in recreating the studio arrangement of this song.
4. 14K Gold
5. Never Too Close
6. APPT - The pauses between sythesizer "hits" were more noticable than I've ever noticed them being before. Maybe it was where I was sitting with mostly just one speaker not too far from me to my left providing a lot of the sound.
7. In My Fashion
8. Rainy Day People
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful. This is one song I don't care much for. The only thing I really like about it at this point is Rick bass-work. And sitting where I was, I got a nice view of it. And despite my disdain for this song, Gord sang it pretty well tonight I thought.
11. The Watchman's Gone - I like the song quite a bit, but I hate to say it, but I think Gord's past the point where he can sing it properly anyomore, and he should drop this one from the rotation.
12. Ribbon of Darkness... leading into
13. Sundown
14. Wreck
Intermission.
Set 2
1. Triangle. Maybe it was my ears or his whispery voice, but I thought he he pronounced Bahama "Bah HAH mah" one of the times it comes up in the song.
2. Hangdog Hotel Room
3. Restless
4. Clouds of Lonliness
5. Waiting For You
6. Make Way For the Lady. Has Terry always played his part on this live on the acoustic?
7. IYCRMM
8. Don Quixote - No kick in the pause anymore?
9. Baby Step Back (Gord pretty much whispered this one - those who did not already know the song I'm sure would not have been able to understand it)
10. Early Morning Rain (pretty good job)
11. Blackberry Wine. At first it seemed to me like the song was a slowed down a little.
12. Encore - Old Dan's Records (what else?) When they exited prior to the encore, Gord's 6-string fell over. So GL and Mike had to do a bit of retuning before starting the song. Gord joked something like he'd just kick (or was it throw) the guitar "in the corner" after the show anyway.
I'm not sure if I missed any songs, this was one of the few GL shows I've taken notes during but I tried to get them all.
It was a decent show. I'm glad I went. (Every GL show I see I think may be the final one for me) It was a nice drive down here, and it should be a nice drive back to Wyoming the next day or two. Haven't decided my route yet to get back though.
and, well, that's about it!!
-Andy
|