For the fourth time in my life I went to see Gordon Lightfoot perform in concert. I first saw him perform at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in the fall of 1993. A dozen years later, I saw perform at The Orpheum in Boston. In 2013, I saw Lightfoot perform again in Boston this time at the Schubert Theater. At the time, I reviewed Lightfoot's performance for
The American Spectator. Alas, that piece like so many of my other pieces have been scrubbed from their website. Fortunately, another opportunity came around to see him live and in person.
Tonight I saw him perform at New York City's Town Hall in Times Square with my Dad. This was his first occasion seeing Lightfoot in concert. Now 80 years old, Lightfoot is showing every bit of his age. His voice at times barely registered above a whisper. This was true when I last saw him in Boston. But now the mind has begun to wander. He shortened songs, forgot lyrics, lost his train of thought several times when talking and twice went to the curtain to sniff something leaving the audience to wonder if it was an illicit substance. If only we could read Gordon Lightfoot's mind.
But with all that his spirit was still willing, his sense of humor was intact and a vast majority of the audience was simply happy to be in his presence. Indeed, many of the audience members were or are approaching their 80's and don't find it so easy to get around. So when an audience member complained, "We can't hear you Gordon," the audience audibly groaned and became protective of the Canadian born troubadour and shouted encouragement throughout the remainder of the evening. Indeed, an audience member gave an assist when he sang the final bar of "Ribbon of Darkness".
Lightfoot managed to get through the show and found his footing following intermission. During the first half of his set, Lightfoot noted the Town Hall was the first venue he ever performed at in New York City. He was the opening act, but could not remember the main attraction. But after 20 minutes of rest and changing into his Saturday clothes, Lightfoot recalled that he opened for The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
The momentum truly shifted after he sang "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". I suppose discussing the death of 29 young men whose bodies remain at the bottom of Lake Superior helps Lightfoot appreciate the long life he has led and how he managed to escape death from
a near fatal aortic aneurysm in 2002. The song would give him his first prolonged applause of the night. However, the song to which the audience responded most deeply to was "If You Could Read My Mind". I could hear the gentleman sitting next to my Dad singing it aloud. It produced a prolonged standing ovation which moved Lightfoot. He noted that he's probably played that song 5,000 times, but that it feels different every time he plays it.
Among the other Lightfoot classics performed were "Beautiful", "Did She Mention My Name", "Sundown", "Don Quixote" and "Minstrel of the Dawn", the song which revived him from his six week coma following his aortic aneurysm. It was originally arranged by Randy Newman. The only other time I've ever been to the Town Hall was in March 2011 to see -- Randy Newman. When Lightfoot introduced "Early Morning Rain" he beamed with pride that Elvis Presley had recorded the song. He spoke of nearly meeting Elvis backstage in Buffalo, but that Colonel Tom Parker told him he had left the building. The one song he wished Elvis hadn't recorded is "For Lovin' Me". Lightfoot dismisses it as "a chauvinistic song" and has removed it from his setlist. The audience was momentarily disappointed, but otherwise went home happy to have spent two hours with a music legend.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention this tidbit. In most settings, the line to the women's bathroom is bigger than the men's. The exception to this rule is at a Gordon Lightfoot concert and I repeated this to Dad this evening. Sure enough after returning from the bathroom during intermission Dad told me it was the longest line to the men's room on which he had waited. He said the line went all the way down the hall and up a flight of stairs. It's good to know that legend lives on.
As for Gordon Lightfoot,
he has several dates remaining for the Northeastern leg of his U.S. tour which continues during the summer and will perform in Canada during the fall. If you have a chance to see him, take it.
