Glenside PA article

[charlene]

Glenside PA paper
article:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...7-1337619.html

Lightfoot happy to be alive

By ED CONDRAN
Bucks County Courier Times

Gordon Lightfoot isn't touring behind a disc on his current jaunt, which brings the Canadian singer-songwriter to the Keswick Theatre for a sold-out performance tonight.

“I'm just doing shows,” Lightfoot said while calling from his Ontario home. “I'm just pleased to be able to go out and perform before my fans.”

If the folk music world gave out a comeback award, Lightfoot, 69, would have scored some hardware. In 2002, he suffered a near fatal abdominal hemorrhage that left him in a coma for two months. Lightfoot recovered and recorded his 20th album “Harmony,” which was released in 2004.

However, Lightfoot will always feel the effects of the hemorrhage. His lung capacity has decreased. As a result, he can't sing all of the songs from his canon.

“The long phrases are difficult for me,” he said. “I have no room to breathe on some of these songs. I had muscle damage. I can't do songs like "Race Among the Ruins,' which has such long phrases. Every line in that song is a long sentence.”

But there are enough tunes in Lightfoot's massive repertoire that there will be plenty of tracks for him to choose from when he performs at the Keswick.


“I have many songs to draw from,” Lightfoot said. “I have 40 songs that are always instantly available. I'll do about 25 songs in (Glenside). Performances go by very quickly. I'm just glad to be out there able to do anything. I survived a burst artery. I could have died but I'm still here playing my songs. I'm very fortunate.”

Expect Lightfoot to render such classics as “Sundown,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “Early Morning Rain” at the Keswick.

“I know what people want to hear and I know what's going to work best with the crowd,” Lightfoot said. “Performing is a two-way street, which I have walked for a long time now.”

More than 40 years have passed since his debut disc “Lightfoot!” dropped.

“Longevity is a great thing,” Lightfoot said. “I've been able to do what I love for a long time. Whenever anyone can do that, it's a great life.”

Gordon Lightfoot appears tonight at the Keswick Theatre, Easton Road & Keswick Ave. in Glenside. Tickets are $39 and $46, although the show is listed as a sellout. Show time is 8 p.m. 215-572-7650.

[jj]

Originally posted by charlene:
“Performing is a two-way street, which I have walked for a long time now.”

well, we hope he's walking On Yonge Street (ie. he's still got a long way to go )

thx for the article, char...great to lurk and read so many articles and personal reviews from new and long time fans south of the border...nice stuff

hey Ron, congrats to your boys...some great hockey going on but I'm too weary to endure those 5 period Pacific time zone marathons! I'm trying to watch some playoff basketball, but i find it's only captivating to me when the my team is winning, lol...and when I flick over to baseball, man, it sure seems slow...i think curling moves quicker

hoping Gord continues to keep that canon well-loaded, enjoy & savour

[formerlylavender]

We, jbt and I, attended the concert in Glenside last night. I'll post the setlist and review tomorrow. Today's my son's birthday, so right now party preparations take precedence...

[formerlylavender]

Jbt and I got on the road at about 4:30 heading to Glenside. Surprisingly we didn't hit much traffic, but a construction detour delayed us just a few minutes, and we arrived in Glenside ten minutes early for our 6:00 dinner reservation. We ate at Athena Restaurant, a Greek restaurant accross the street from the Keswick theater. The meal was delicious, and, judging from the conversation, the place was packed with concertgoers.

We took our seats 4th row on the left, and the show started promptly at 8:00. Gord was wearing black jeans, a white long sleeved shirt and vest. He looked raring to go. His voice was noticeably hoarse, but seemed to even out as the show went on. He mentioned that this was show #8 out of 10, and that they used to play at the Academy of Music in the '70s. He mentioned sharing "some suds" with four Flyers players one of which was Bill Barber, back in the day.

The setlist is as follows:

Triangle
Cotton Jenny
14K Gold
Never Too Close
In My Fashion
A Painter Passing Through
Rainy Day People
Shadows
Beautiful
Carefree Highway
Hangdog Hotel Room
Ribbon of Darkness
Sundown
The Watchman's Gone

Set 2 (Gord changed into a blue shirt)

The Wreck
Alberta Bound
The Pony Man*
All the Lovely Ladies
Clouds of Loneliness
Waiting for You
If You Could Read My Mind
Ring Them Bells (two takes)
Baby Step Back
Don Q
CRT

Encore
Blackberry Wine
Old Dan's Records

*Someone must have requested The Pony Man, and Gord said something like "you're sure you want to hear Pony over Ladies?" Everyone clapped, so he started The Pony Man. He mentioned that he wrote it for his kids and said he has "six kids and four mothers". Everyone laughed. Then, about two verses into The Pony Man, he abruptly stopped, said his ear was stuffed up, and launched into All the Lovely Ladies. I heard some murmurs, but knowing what a perfectionist he is, I wasn't worried. However, five songs later when he started Ring them Bells, he abruptly stopped again, paused, and then began again and played the song flawlessly. The two false starts were a little disconcerting to say the least. Other than that, the show went on as usual.

Overall, it was a fine show. The band sounded great and the crowd was very appreciative. We had a great time, and are thankful to have been able to experience a Gord show once again.

[Long River]

Thanks for the article Char. I attended Friday night also and Lavender your review was very good. I was kind of surprised but very happy to hear Canadian Railroad Trilogy as I read in a few other posts that he hadn't sang that in the last few concerts.

He did seem to sound better after a few songs. I think he sang All the Lovely Ladies really well. It looked like a packed house.

Unfortunately I didn't wait after as I usually do, we hadn't eaten dinner so we left right after the concert. I remember last time he was seated behind a table & the security was rather strict, very little time with him and not able to take a picture with him.

[formerlylavender]

Thanks, Long River. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Canadian Railroad Trilogy too - I wasn't expecting it. All the Lovely Ladies and the Watchman's Gone sounded particularly good IMO.

We didn't wait afterward either, but when I was pulling out, there was a small crowd, so I drove over to check things out. Gord was in the center of about 15 people. He had his leather jacket on and was posing for pictures. We idled for a while and watched until he hopped into a car and drove away. Jbt thought Rick Haynes was driving. There didn't appear to be a table set up, but they could have put it away by the time we got there. I agree, the table set up was a little "formal" - I prefer the more casual setting too.

[BILLW]

Hopefully we'll join jbt and fl next time at The Keswick. (I'm bummed but glad you had a good time.)

Bill

P.S. Did you see the people sitting in my former seats ? LOL

[formerlylavender]

Bill, hopefully next time will work out for all of us. Hopefully there is a next time period. It feels weird not having tickets for an upcoming show. I had the Keswick ones for almost a year. I guess we'll have to wait until next year now.

Best to you and your wife...

[gwen snyder]

to all,
when we fell back out of the Keswick that wonderful evening, one of the first things everybody saw was a large bus/rv with a HUGE screen tv inside and the tv was tuned to the hockey game.
The security guys said Gord would be coming out and going straight to the bus, but, he and Rick Haynes got into a Chrysler right there next to the stage exit and left.
The concert was fabulous.

[Long River]

Suebee, just curious, was it an hour after the concert when Gord came out or did he come out sooner? The last few times I've waited, it was a good hour before he & Rick came out. The other guys came out in about a 1/2 hour or so.

Also, did he go straight to his car or stop to sign & have some pictures taken?

Thanks

[gwen snyder]

LongRiver,
Perhaps it was an hour after the concert when he came out. The evening was perfectly beautiful, so, we just milled around loitering close enough to the small group to hear what security was saying but, far enough away to not get in the way of equipment etc.. I believe Rick came out first and then Mr. Lightfoot came out and began chatting with the "fans" and signing "items". Security said before he came out no personal photos with Mr. Lightfoot, tonight. We did take a few very good pics with a little 7.? megapixel camera I picked uprecently. He looked quite good or should I say, well. It was the first time I ever stopped to visit the artist, so, like you all report here it was an awkward and exciting moment. thanks.

[Rob1956]

You know, I keep comparing Gord's career to Neil Diamond's. Neil is a much more polarizing music entity than Gord, people seem to dislike or love Neil much more than like or dislike Gord, but here's two guys, just 3 years apart in age, who have been on the road doing countless concerts since the 1960's. Both are/were heavy smokers, I believe Neil stopped some time ago, and unfortunately Gord, I think, continues to smoke. Both were fairly heavy partyers in their day (yes, Neil did his fair share of partying). Gord's problems with his voice started before the burst artery, but Neil has been able to maintain his voice pretty well. Even a very revealing recording like "12 Songs" only shows a minimum of aging damage. I would love to hear each guy comment on the other's longevity. They both have shared many of the same people in the recording process and may have sat down and pondered each other's contributions. Gord will be 70 in 2008, Neil in 2011. Who will give up touring first?

[gwen snyder]

Gord kind of alluded to the fact that as lng as an audience shows up he will continue to perform. I believe the same is true of Neil Diamond. But, the truth is Gord does have a more intimate concert and musical repertoire, so, will these go out of style is the question? I hope not. But, I have never been to a Neil Diamond concert and never want to go because it is that intimate element of Gord's concert that keeps me coming back. I have never wanted to go to the loud and large concert that Neil Diamond performs. So, for me (IMHO) Gord is the Restless element on a low key that I like... if he ever had a large auditorium/hall concert would you go? I do like Neil Diamond's music and maybe the live albums I have of his are the reason I feel like this... h-m-m-m!

[charlene]

I've been to the big shows Neil puts on...when he sings those old ballads it's very intimate-even if there are 20 thousand people there with you!

He creates the atmosphere from the stage and goes from that quiet intimacy to the power songs that blow the roof off the place.
He put on some fabulous shows...high energy and consumate pro all the way...never a disappointment..

[gwen snyder]

char, you might talk me into something... I only have enough vacation and dough to do Lightfoot this year. I definitely hear the pro in ever song he does.