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charlene 06-19-2012 11:26 PM

TRIP REPORT & pics-Ottawa-2 nites, and 1 in Montreal..June 2012
 
Gordon Lightfoot
National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16, 2012

SETLIST – Friday June 15, 2012

1. Sweet Guinevere
2. The Watchman’s Gone
3. Waiting For you
4. Never Too Close
5. 14K Gold
6. Let It Ride
7. A Painter Passing Through
8. Rainy Day People
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful
11. Carefree Highway
12. Hangdog Hotel
13. Ribbon Of Darkness
14. Sundown
15. Cotton Jenny
BREAK
16. The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
17. Early Morning Rain
18. Clouds Of Loneliness
19. In My Fashion
20. Minstrel Of The Dawn
21. If You Could Read My Mind
22. Restless
23. Canadian Railroad Trilogy
24. Song For A Winter’s Night
25. Baby Step Back
ENCORE
26. Blackberry Wine



Gordon Lightfoot
National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16, 2012

SETLIST – Saturday June 16, 2012
Standing "O" as he walked onstage.

1. Did She Mention My Name
2. Carefree Highway
3. Sea Of Tranquility
4. 14K Gold
5. Never Too Close
6. A Painter Passing Through
7. Let It Ride
8. Christian Island
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful
11. Watchman’s Gone
12. Ribbon Of Darkness
13. Sundown
14. The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
BREAK
15. Sweet Guinevere
16. Cotton Jenny
17. Ringneck Loon
18. Restless
19. Home From The Forest
20. Waiting For You
21. Fine As Fine Can Be
22. Don Quixote
23. If You Could Read My Mind-Standing "O"
24. Baby Step Back
25. Early Morning Rain
26. Rainy Day People
ENCORE (2)
27. In My Fashion
The band and Lightfoot left the stage but the ovation brought them back.
28. Old Dan’s Records


Gordon Lightfoot
Place des Arts, Montreal, Quebec
Sunday June 17, 2012

SETLIST – Sunday June 17, 2012
Standing "O" as he walked onstage.

1. Did She Mention My Name
2. Carefree Highway
3. Sea Of Tranquility
4. 14K Gold
5. Never Too Close
6. A Painter Passing Through
7. Christian Island
8. Let It Ride
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful
11. The Watchman’s Gone
12. Ribbon Of Darkness
13. Sundown
14. The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald
BREAK
15. Sweet Guinevere
16. Cotton Jenny
17. Early Morning Rain
18. Restless
19. Home From The Forest
20. Waiting For You
21. Make Way For The Lady
22. If You Could Read My Mind
23. Don Quixote
24. Baby Step Back
25. Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Standing "O"
ENCORE (2 in a row without leaving the stage)
26. Song For A Winter’s Night
27. In My Fashion

charlene 06-22-2012 07:06 PM

some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
38 Attachment(s)
Ottawa and Montreal-June 15,16,17,2012

loveabiggibson 06-22-2012 10:12 PM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Awesome pix!

curiousmoonbeam 06-24-2012 07:42 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
These pictures are great! Gord is looking better and healthier all the time. Thanks!

Yuri 06-24-2012 08:29 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Beautiful Char!
Thanks for sharing.
Y.

charlene 06-24-2012 11:46 AM

Re: TRIP REPORT - 2 Ottawa setlists -1 in Montreal
 
Gordon Lightfoot
National Arts Centre-Ottawa, Ontario – Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16, 2012
Friday June 15, 2012 – Night One in Ottawa

I flew from Toronto to Ottawa on Friday afternoon and after a 40 minute flight I walked out to a beautiful afternoon in Canada’s capital city. My friend Gwen from California had been spending time on the east coast and in Vermont for a week or so prior to the concerts and picked me up at the airport. We headed to the hotel after many twists and turns on Ottawa’s one way streets. We were a 10 minute walk from the National Arts Centre and after a quick bite to eat when we were done checking into our room we headed to the Centre. What a beautiful hall but oddly there wasn’t a centre aisle despite the rows being very, very wide!

Walking through the lobby/bar area I heard a familiar voice call out my name and there was my dear Ron sitting on a stool having a brew and looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. He was vibrating with excitement in anticipation of the night’s events. Diane from Boston was also there so it was great meeting up with her again too. Before long we were taking our seats and waiting for The Man.

Our seats were in the front row directly opposite Carter so we had great views! I spoke briefly with the stage manager and he said he, Gordon, Barry and Mike had arrived in Ottawa at 2:00 a.m. after flying in from New York and the Songwriters Hall of Fame event.

I’ve posted the set lists but will briefly re-cap some comments made during the evening..

After the 3rd song, Waiting For You, Gordon talked about seeing Kenny Rogers singing The Gambler the previous night in NY and how great it was. He hadn’t seen him since the Rolling On The River days. Gordon seemed thirsty and was drinking from a bottle of water on his stool. I had noticed his shaky hands as he placed the bottle back on the stool and was surprised when he acknowledged it by saying “It’s not nerves – it’s AGE!”..
After the 6th song, Let It Ride, He shouted out, “Will the energy never stop?” “Not right now!” lol.. He was still wired and on a high from the night before. He was all smiles and sounding amazing.

When Gordon finished the 8th song, Rainy Day People he spoke about Stevie Nicks and her hand movements as she sang “The Rose”…he said, “God it was alluring, she has the allurement factor!”…and then he tried making the hand movements she did while the band and audience laughed. Lol

After Beautiful, the 10th song, he leaned over after having a drink and then said, “It’s a middle ear thing but don’t worry about it – I’m old!”

The 12th song was introduced as the Chick a choo pow pow song and then he sang Hangdog Hotel after the band stopped laughing as he kept repeating it. There was an ease and relaxed feel about the whole night as Gordon seemed to be so comfortable and happy to be there. He called the Centre a second home and remembered opening it back in 1969.

After he sang The Wreck as the 16th song and first after the break he mentioned that Anne who runs the office had told him that Bette Midler had tweeted about him from the night before. He seemed quite tickled that she did that and said, I’ve been tweeted by Bette Midler!” I had posted her tweets as they happened that night. I wonder if Anne saw them here. She was at the event and cameras etc. were not to be used…I forgot to ask her when I spoke with her.

Band intros were funny – Mike was Keyboard Man, Rick was Bassman, Barry was the sports statistician and on guitar was Carter…

After IYCRMM, the 21st song there was a standing ovation and Gordon had the band take a bow.

Restless was number 22 and he said it was ethereal which reminded him of cereal which meant he needed more sleep that night. lol

Number 23 was CRT and he was a bit breathy in parts. After the song he said he let his hair grow long especially for the event last night! lol (altho it was shorter than he’s had it at times in the last few years)

After Baby Step Back they left the stage and then came back to a standing ovation to sing Blackberry Wine.. “We were coming back anyway.”

Concert #1 in Ottawa was in the books!…the sound system was impeccable. Even in the front row all instruments were clear and loud enough and there was no issue with Gordon’s voice being too low. It was wonderful!

After the show and when everyone else had spent a few minutes with Gordon he walked a few steps towards me and said, “We have to do that chat!, We’ll get to it Char!” And I said, “OK!” Arrangements will be made in the next couple of weeks. He spoke again about Stevie Nicks and Kenny Rogers and Phil Ramone and several others who were at the SHOF show, along with how great Bette Midler and Bob Seeger were. Rick also said she was amazing and funny in giving her speech after receiving the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement award and he said he thought Stevie Nicks hadn’t sounded that good for 20 years. The event sounded like controlled chaos at the venue with press, red carpet, rehearsal and setup etc. but was a memorable night for all of them. During rehearsals the three backup singers in the house band started singing along and it sounded great so they were told to do it for the show. There were about 10 on stage singing SUNDOWN. Shortly after things wrapped up they had to scoot out to the airport and head to Ottawa for the 2 shows there and one in Montreal over the next 3 days. They arrived in Ottawa at 2:30 a.m. after a short 40 minute flight from New York city. It was a hectic day of travel, rehearsals, large crowds, red carpet interviews and photo ops but you’d never know it by the energy they all had onstage in Ottawa the next night.

charlene 06-24-2012 11:50 AM

Re: TRIP REPORT - 2 Ottawa setlists -1 in Montreal
 
Gordon Lightfoot
National Arts Centre-Ottawa, Ontario – Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16, 2012
Saturday June 16, 2012 – Night Two in Ottawa

Thankfully the Ottawa shows did not start on a Friday the 13th because there would not have been any show due to Lightfoot’s superstition!

After a very late night, and a bit of sleep Gwen and I headed out to see some of the city. Ottawa is the Capital of Canada and is gorgeous. We walked over to the Parliament Buildings which were 2 minutes from the National Arts Centre and walked around the grounds taking pictures of the beautiful architecture and surroundings. The back of the buildings look over the Rideau Canal and across to Hull, Quebec. The weather was amazing and we toured around the area seeing the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier and walking along the pedestrians only streets enjoying the buskers and having a bite to eat. Our pal Ron Jones was busking in a different area of the city but unfortunately we never got over that far as a nap was desperately needed to get us through the night. Feeling refreshed after our nap we had dinner and headed out for the 10 minute walk to the theatre. It was a gorgeous evening and we were anticipating another fabulous concert. We talked with Ron and Diane and her husband who had come in from Boston. And I got a quick hug from Myk after the concert too!

The hall filled up again and before we knew it the band was walking out and to a standing ovation Lightfoot sauntered to centre stage with a definite spring in his step.

After the 3rd song, Sea of Tranquility he said it was ‘ethereal’ and that it got the adrenalin going! “Now something ‘delicate’ as he launched into 14K Gold.

He recalled opening the NAC back in 1969 and like the hall his songs have held up well. He worried about that, writing songs and performing them and how they would go over in front of a crowd. 4 – 5 years performing in bars and coffeehouses smoothed things out - “I like to perform!”

After Beautiful it was time to introduce the band. Well that’s when things got hilarious. Gordon stepped to the mic and said, “The aggravate, aggregggggg, aggravation ..he could not get the word aggregate pronounced properly and ended up saying, ‘The Aggravations are” and then introduced them after the audience and band burst into laughter and applause at this new name he had for the guys. He was laughing pretty hard himself. It was wonderful to see them all having a moment of levity like that and of course the audience loved it too. From now on it will be “Gordon Lightfoot and The Aggravations” will be performing at a venue near you! Band intros will never be the same. It would be interesting to hear how things would go at the next concert.

After Sundown Gordon turned to the band and had them take a bow after a huge reception from the audience. The first night in Ottawa was a bit quiet as far as the audience went but tonight was more vocal and appreciative.

If You Could Read My Mind received a standing ovation and the band rose again.
After song 26, Rainy Day People Lightfoot and the band left the stage but came back for an encore – “thank you…we were coming back anyway!”– he then sang In My Fashion.

They left the stage again but after sustained applause and cheers came back to do another tune – Old Dan’s Records. As he left the stage Gordon went along the front and shook hands with some very happy fans, waving to the crowd as well. Wow – it was quite something for him to do 2 encores, especially coming back after the first one. I’ve seen him do two songs while still onstage for the first encore song then launch into another but can’t recall coming back to do a second. It’s possible I have seen it but don’t remember!

After the show we talked with the band and watched Gordon greeting his fans, signing albums and pictures and getting his picture taken numerous times as he does after every show. The man has boundless energy at 73 ½! He kindly asked after my daughter Lisa (how’s the young one??) who did not make the trip and was genuinely concerned when I mentioned she was recuperating at home after a car accident 2 weeks earlier. The guys in the band all asked for her and told me to tell her they were thinking of her and hoped she felt better soon. Very, very sweet.

We snapped a few pictures and told him we’d see him in Montreal. “Well alright!” and he once again mentioned we’d be doing that interview soon!

Again the sound system was awesome and Lightfoot was sounding terrific. He was funny and really having a fabulous time onstage – he seems so happy and energized. The band was spot on and the dynamics between all of them as they play is lovely to watch. You can’t help but smile the whole time! The next night would have us at The Place des Arts in Montreal, Quebec and I was quite anxious to see him perform there. The two incredible nights in Ottawa would be hard to beat.

niffer 06-24-2012 01:16 PM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Awesome reviews! I can't wait to see Gordon and the Aggravations in November, or hopefully before if the tour schedule fills out a bit more.

BILLW 06-25-2012 01:11 PM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Thanks Char!

Bill :)

Suze 06-26-2012 12:42 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
I love reading your informed and newsy posts!!! You must really tickle him, I don't think I've ever seen a photo where he had a BIGGER or more delighted look than he did with you!!!!

jj 06-26-2012 07:33 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Suze (Post 178972)
I love reading your informed and newsy posts!!! You must really tickle him, I don't think I've ever seen a photo where he had a BIGGER or more delighted look than he did with you!!!!

Well put, Suze. And if you could have had a retake with Mike, you would have quite the quintet of pics:)

You must have dozens of band member pics in your collection now that you could make a wonderful collage with! That one of you and Barry is beaming!

I haven't read the write up(s) in full yet but the concert pics are also your clearest yet. Thanks for sharing and glad you on Ron and the gals all had fun and traveled safely. Super troopers...

charlene 06-26-2012 08:06 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Some of the pics were with my little camera and a couple were with Gwens super camera. She shot some and I think Warren shot a couple as well..
Barry Keane is always full of smiles and always takes a super picture.. One day I will compile all of my pics and make a collage... and I'll make one of my 'other' guys - Aengus,Jory and David..lol LOTS of those too!
Kitchener report still to come...

Liza Frommer of GLOBAL TV's MORNING SHOW is interviewing Gordon tomorrow at his home for a feature piece to be presented in the fall. I met and spoke to her in Kitchener after the concert. (her hometown)

lighthead2toe 06-26-2012 11:18 AM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Very comprehensive coverage of the wonderful Gordon Lightfoot Summertime Dream Weekend here in Ottawa Char.
Thanks also guys for the kind comments.

Yes, that would be me penned to tee as Char describes "looking like the cat that just swallowed the canary." I'm still carrying that beaming cheshire smile, floating on by with a laugh and a sigh, drifting along, singing a song. Life doesn't get any better than this.

RJ.

charlene 06-26-2012 08:37 PM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
48 Attachment(s)
fab photos from 2 nites in Ottawa and 1 nite in Montreal by GWEN G.

patybear 06-28-2012 09:56 PM

Re: some pics from Ottawa and Montreal..June 2012
 
Oh wow! What a great bunch of photos! I particularly like number 23.Thanks for posting these,Char.
patybear

charlene 07-07-2013 08:52 AM

Re: TRIP REPORT & pics-Ottawa-2 nites, and 1 in Montreal..June 2012
 
finally got around to loading these to you tube:
CANADIAN RAILROAD TRILOGY -

SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT -
HOME FROM THE FOREST -
DON QUIXOTE -

T.G. 07-07-2013 04:40 PM

Re: TRIP REPORT & pics-Ottawa-2 nites, and 1 in Montreal..June 2012
 
Whew, a great treasure trove of pics and video there, thanks for posting.


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