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GALLERY: Lightfoot delights Timmins fans
By John Emms, The Daily Press-freelance
Thursday, August 27, 2015 12:40:33 EDT PM
TIMMINS - The path that led Gordon Lightfoot back to Timmins may have been over 45 years old but the iconic troubadour and his band mined the gold of his extensive song catalogue at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex last night.
The long winding lineup across the parking lot said it all.
It's one of the biggest concert crowds at the Sportsplex since possibly the Jeff Healey concert in the 1990s.
It was good times, good memories and good vibes.
It was and is the Gordon Lightfoot we know.
Before he sung even one note the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
“The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” he said with a laugh.
The connection is still there.
Great art does not have a shelf life.
And if anyone has written the Canadiana songbook and much more, it’s Lightfoot.
All of us have been Rainy Day People and drove down that old Carefree Highway at one time or another.
Don't get me wrong that strong baritone voice has lived a life and a half.
And there are some notes that are tough to hit this many years down the road
Yet, Lightfoot's voice is never out of tune and at 76 years old, the Orillia native and his band are in sync as Lightfoot counts off the songs — songs that you and he have lived in.
Singing and playing his songs is at his very core.
People love Gordon Lightfoot and the crowd in Timmins came to listen. I mean really listen.
The reason is simple. Many people who never had the chance to see him perform his Yorkville solo shows, his annual Massey Hall performances or his international classic shows from the ’70s when his outstanding songs were being covered by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley saw him last night.
Classic Lightfoot came via a medley “of four shortened songs” as Lightfoot explained at the end if the first set with which included Sundown, and Carefree Highway.
Mega hits The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald (in its 40th anniversary) and If You Could Read My Mind stood on their own and brought instant extended applause in the second set.
The acoustic sound on this night was the best I have ever heard in the Sportsplex.
Lightfoot also talked about his friend Stompin’ Tom Connors and Shania Twain.
" I think Tom wrote a song about every town in this country. You know I was up here on some canoe trips back in the day and got sloshed in some bar but I'm not sure if it was the one where Stompin' Tom carved up his chops.
“As far as Shania Twain goes, I know you guys love her. She wrote some good songs,” he said. “I almost met her once but I think she sent her sister out for the Juno Award. Heck, I didn't know she had a sister,” he said with a chuckle before launching into Couchiching, a song about his home town of Orillia.
It was a stand out song of the evening as was The Canadian Railroad Trilogy with all of its eight-minute lyrical power and beauty.
There were many standouts including superb work by Lightfoot's band, especially lead guitarist Carter Lancaster.
Bassist Rick Haynes, drummer Barry Keane and keyboard man Michael Hefferman put each song into the pocket.
Other highlights included Baby Step Back, Shadows and A Painter Passing Through.
In the end, Early Morning Rain did not make the night's list and neither did Cotton Jenny and Summer Side of Life.
But that is way beyond the point.
Gordon Lightfoot sent everyone home happy.
His music has touched a generation and continues to be real honest thing.
John Emms is a local musician and long-time writer of Timmins music scene.