Attended the Greensboro, NC. concert Friday night. Gord was in a very good mood and very chatty. Began the show with "Sea of Tranquility", then "Don Quixote", then talked about how silly some phone interviewers can be...not being familiar with him mainly. Then played "Shellfish" which he said was a bout maintaining confidence in yourself. Sorry guys, I don't keep up with complete set lists. He did say he had four new songs, but only played three that night...besides "Shellfish", he did "Nightime"...observations about home and family and feeling cozy. The third new song he played was "No Hotel"...about a surrealistic run down motorcourt with broken sign, bugs, and wierdos. Inspiration for the song was from trip he took and had dropped off a friend to stay there.
The band was in good form...Terry got a big ovation during "Sundown"; at the end of the guitar solo he gave the crowd a wide-eyed evil grin with the final lick, and they showed their appreciation. Gord was in good voice most of the night...a little weak on "Painter Passing Through", but as clean as the album on "Heaven Don't Deserve Me".
The crowd called out numerous requests, often drowning out Gord as he tried to banter. He explained that he had to trade out songs year after year since there were so many. To a request for "Steel Rail Blues" he said, "My voice has dropped five keys since that song!"...mentioned playing Cherokee Bend at a casino in Michigan, which offended the elders of the Indian tribe.
Did "Ribbon of Darkness" (not the medley version), "The House You Live In" (his mom's favorite), and "Never Too Close". Again, my apologies for not having a complete set list.
The main ommissions were "Carefree Highway" and "Song for a Winter's Night". And sadly, he didn't play "Minstrel of the Dawn" which he's been doing particularly strongly in concert in recent times.
Closed the show with "Old Dan's Records", then an encore of "Early Morning Rain". We didn't stick around for autographs, though I saw a crowd waiting for him. Also noted that the band travels on a lavender tour bus, and has a tractor trailor for the gear.
Over all a most enjoyable evening...never seen Gord so upbeat.
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