Met the man(!) + Edmonton set list

[Glenmark]

My wife and I just got back to Spokane from Edmonton via a stop-over in Radium Hot Springs last night. Thursday night's concert was fantastic and I got to meet Gord and Terry and got to say hello to Rick and Barry and Mike after the show and thank them all. More about that later. Here's the set list from the show:

1. Cotton Jenny
2. Carefree Highway
3. Sea of Tranquility
4. 14 Karat Gold
5. Never Too Close
6. In My Fashion
7. A Painter Passing Through
8. Rainy Day People
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful
11. The Watchman's Gone
12. River of Darkness
13. Sundown
14. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
INTERMISSION
15. Alberta Bound
16. Hang Dog Hotel Room
17. All The Lovely Ladies
18. Clouds of Loneliness
19. Make Way For The Lady
20. Waiting For You
21. If You Could Read My Mind
22. Don Quixote
23. Canadian Railroad Trilogy
24. Baby Step Back
25. Blackberry Wine
26. Early Morning Rain
27. (Encore) Old Dan's Records

Concert notes:
Gord wore a dark long sleeve shirt for the first half of the show but came out in short sleeves and braces for the second half. The crowd was enthusiastic throughout, but not a lot of shouting out or loud singing along. There was a bit of clap-along during Alberta Bound and Old Dan's Records, but it tailed off after a few bars.

When he introduced "Clouds of Loneliness" Gord said it is his favorite song off "Harmony", which surprised me a bit. He told about his recent mini-stroke and apologized for only being able to use his thumb to play. He reminisced about playing the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium back in 1967 right after it opened and mentioned some of the people he used to play and party with back then, giving special kudos for partying stamina to Jerry Jeff Walker, whom he also credited for inspiring him to write "Hang Dog Hotel Room". He talked about Elvis' modification/improvement of the words to "Early Morning Rain". He seemed to be having a great time all through the show. When he introduced the band he said Mike is a piano master and that playing his (Gord's) stuff is child's play for him (Mike shook his head in disagreement), and that's when he made the comment about only knowing five chords that is mentioned in the Edmonton paper review. He introduced Rick as the "straw boss" and credited Barry with the many projects he works on and joked about how he "sits down on the job too much". Terry he credited with making him sound good and for being with him since 1970.

After the show I and about 20 others (most considerably younger than yours truly [44]) milled around outside the rear auditorium exit and waited and visited with each other. Terry was the first to come out after about 25 minutes to smoke on a cigar and chat and sign autographs. He went back in and then Mike and Barry came out along with Terry and after more autographing and receiving of thanks the three of them piled into a small Toyota sedan ("our limo" Terry joked), and after about 45-50 minutes Gord and Rick came out. Gord signed autographs (well, I got him to initial a book my wife had handy) and had his picture taken with several people. He again commented about "only five chords" and when one of the women told him I had come up from Spokane to see him he said "we love playing in Spokane!" and mentioned that he had played the World Fair there in 1974. I thanked him and Rick and Terry for a great show and left with my wife to catch the train back to the hotel. It was a fabulous time, and I will have fond memories of Edmonton from now on.

[DJ in MJ]

Gord is not only an incredible musician, he is also very courageous with his health challenges.

Edmonton is a great city, and Alberta is one of my favoruite provinces in Canada.

Thanks for the review, G. Made me feel like I was there.

[brink-]

What a great review, thanks. So glad you got to meet everyone, kind of the icing on the cake isn't it? I always have been surprised at the memory Gord has of when and where he has played. I think, for me, it would all be a blur.

[Moosedog]

Very cool! Thanks for posting your story.

Vickie

[Peter Bro10]

Thank you Glenmark. I really appreciate your taking the time to update us in such detail.
I admit that I'm getting a bit envious everytime I hear of someone getting to meet Gord.... but on second thought I'm really happy for you and not envious.

[myk]

Thanks very much for posting your evening in Edmonton. Also, greatly appreciated the set list.
Waiting impatiently for the Ottawa and Massey shows. Thanks again

[charlene]

great trip report and concert review!!
it's quite amazing at Lightfoot's recall of places he's played and people he's met...astounding actually...

[Glenmark]

You're welcome to all who posted thanks. It's my pleasure to report on such a wonderful concert to others who know and love Gord's work. Another detail I forgot to mention before is that amongst the people he mentioned while he was reminiscing about the old days was Allen Ginsberg, and I never knew there was a Gord connection there, although a little reflection might have allowed me to guess since Albert Grossman managed both Gord and Dylan for a time and Ginsberg is definitely associated with the latter.

[louisemnnpls]

Originally posted by charlene:
great trip report and concert review!!
it's quite amazing at Lightfoot's recall of places he's played and people he's met...astounding actually...

Was just thinking back to a few posts ago, where someone remarked that Gord still enunciates all his words so clearly. The same obviously can be said about his memories about people, venues played and ALSO dates. (Especially remarkable after being in a lenghty coma). You're right....it is, (he is) astounding!!

Louise

[Borderstone]

Glenmark,as someone who has also met him,I have to ask,it's a great "rush" isn't it?

I've now seen my top two favorites in concert and that's "rush" enough but Gordon is the only one of the two,that I've met in person and got autographs.

(Mariah Carey is the other but meeting her in person is about as likely to happen as snow over the south pacific! :D )

Great concert review too. Look for mine when he comes here to Phoenix Jan. 28th,2007. Tickets went on sale this past monday. Later!

[Glenmark]

Borderstone, it was indeed an exciting event for me to get to say thanks to him. He was very approachable and polite, and seemed rather surprised and apologetic about so many people being willing to stand around in the chill Edmonton air to wait for him.

[Hydroman]

Glenmark,

And my wife and I thought we were the only ones who drove all the way from Spokane to see Gord in concert!! We attended the Calgary concert on Friday the 6th. We had 3rd row seats right in the center. Awsome show, though Gord struggled through CRT a bit. I had the distinct feeling that Gord was very glad to be alive, on the stage and very appreciatative of his audience. My wife shed tears during Beautiful just like she did when I took her on a date to see Gord at the Universal Amphitheater in 1978 where we had 3rd row seats then too by sheer luck (only the press got that close back then).

We saw Gord's bus behind the auditorium earlier in the day and thought of hanging out there after the concert, but just thought we needed to give the man his space.

We planned to go through Radium Hot Springs too but instead spent some time at Lake Louise and Saturday night in Revelstoke instead.

[Glenmark]

Hey Hydroman, it sounds like a great trip! We were originally planning to go to the Calgary show but when I went to buy tickets, none were available. I decided to go ahead and spend the extra gas and three hours and booked the Edmonton tickets just to make sure I got to see him. Here's hoping he comes to our town soon!