Billings Montana Concert last night review.

[paddletothesea]

Went to the concert last night in Billings. It was sold out and the audience very respecible and extremely quiet as Gord was very winded and sang so softly it was hard to hear some of the words he was singing...so having the audience so quiet made it more pleasant. No yahoo's clapped before he sang out " too silent to be real" at the end of CRRT!
I had not seen him in about 10 years since his health issues a few years back so it was good to seem. I do have to admit he looked really frail and didnt have the power in his voice he once had...but..hell...its Gordon Lightfoot!!! Didnt matter to me at all other than the fact of watching one of the music great getting old reminded me of my own life ageing.

He played some songs I had not heard LIVE before such as Ring Neck Loon, If Children Had WIngs and one off of his last CD which i cant recall at this moment. RIng Neck sounded just like the CD and Gord made a joke at the end that "sometimes we hear loons after we play that"...meaning someone making a call of the loon from the crowd.

HE was very humerous at times mentioning each of two of his ex-wives after singing the song he had written for them. He also told how he missed his first two kids when he they went to Europe to live with their mom after he split...and then writing "IfChildren Had WIngs" about them...makes sense now when hear it played.

Talked about "RIboon Of Darkness" and how Marty Robbins made a hit out of it and that he and the boys saw Marty play about 5 or six times but Marty only comming to see HIM only once! That got a good laugh!

Talked briefly about writing CRRT in Three days and sort of stealing the format from a famous CIvil War film documentary and the "trilogy" aspect....and how we quickly recorded it before anyone could say anything.

He commented a couple times about his "capo'd" Music and that Mike Heffernam has his work cut out for him trying to play along to such odd keys and tuning. He said he and Terry both use capos and he started doing it during the 60's folk scene and kept it up to this day. It was nice to see him play both 6 and 12 string guitars. At one point he sort of tripped and bobbled when drabbing a drink of water...it reminded me of his "drinking" days when he would have a bottle up on stage with him. However we all though those days are over.

Sorry I dont have a set list but Im sure it similar this this current summers list. He did open the 2 set with THE WRECK...and encored with BlackBerry Wine.

I got to talk with Gord and the band afterwards once I waited out near the rear of the place. Everyone else stayed up front by the bus but the rest of them snuck out the back. Talked with Terry and Rick for awhile, they have always been nice to chat with me in the past. Mike and Barry always seem to leave or disappear when Ive seen them before which again happend last night. Gord finally came up the stairs with his manager who called him "boss"....Gord seemed and was really tired and said he wanted to get some sleep. He didnt talk to much while I commented on the album covers i had him sign for me. He did seem really frail but a wonderful trooper and musician that he is and always will be. They are playing three more shows in Montana this week ending in Butte on Sunday.
Thanks Gord and road warriors!!! You were fantastic!

[Cathy]

Your comment on Mike having to transpose songs into different keys because of Gord using a capo struck me. I go to New Brunswick (Canada) for fiddling lessons. After lessons, we have a jam session. By that time, I'm ready to put the fiddle down (which I'm really not very good at playing) and ready to get the old D15 out. Most of the songs the fiddlers play are in the key of A, D, G or C, so the capo stays in my pocket. When it comes my turn, I'm usually asked to sing a Lightfoot song. So, the keyboardist, who is an amazing musician, plays a keyboard that changes keys with the push of a button. I often play IYCRMM, but capo it on the fifth fret to match my vocal range. Larry has got it down to a science. He gives the button 4 or 5 pushes and he's automatically in my key. I suppose, in a way, a seasoned musician would say he's cheating. But then again, a seasoned guitarist would also say using a capo is cheating. It works for some of us. We've worked up quite a nice arrangement of IYCRMM, and have played it often during performances.
I wonder why Mike doesn't have one of these rigs on his keyboard? Hmmmm... I guess he probably doesn't need it, after playing these songs for 35 years.

Cathy

[BILLW]

Gord AND Montana, wow! Nice recap / review. Thank you for posting it.

Bill

[Jesse Joe]

Great to read your review paddletothesea !

As far as looking frail, I've been hearing this about him for maybe 20 years or more now, ever since he drop so many pounds after giving up alcohol. And of course we are all aging.

[QUOTE] He also told how he missed his first two kids when he they went to Europe to live with their mom after he split...and then writing "IfChildren Had WIngs" about them...makes sense now when hear it played.[Quote]

I also did not know this of this beautiful gem... I will definetly give it a listen before this day his done.

[New 12 String Mike]

Some guitar instrumentalists call a capo a "cheater bar."

That's OK. Singers have to do what they can, to play and sing at the same time.