Let's get this clear from the start, I bought the tickets to this concert because I wanted to see Gordon Lightfoot before he died. Years of listening to him, yet never seeing him required this. I was wondering why that was until he mentioned that he hadn't been east in 17 years or so. That might be it.
There was no opening act, and Gordon and his old but talented band started up the show with Daylight Katy and kept going from there. He played a lot of the old faves, and in about a half hour, you started becoming almost in awe at the size of his body of work. He has been responsible for the creation of so many gems, classics, favourite songs, and memory evoking tunes and lyrics.
I still recall always having Carefree Highway in my car cassette player for long drives, and that stretch of the 104 where Barney's River cuts through the mountain pass outside of Antigonish always come to mind when I hear that tune.
The show had about a half hour intermission. Gordon needed the break. His voice is no longer that of a young man, and tended to the wispy character of someone who is tired, but still has something of value to say.
That said, the sound system was sorely not up to the task of moving the air in the Metro Centre. This was a show that would have been totally awesome in the Cohn, but was almost lost in the atmosphere in the hockey arena. That was alright for us, as I had bought seats as close as were available. But there were those in the end of the rink who were yelling "turn it up!" all night.
Too bad, really. Two or three nights at the Cohn would have been far better than this one in this location.
In the end, Gord gave gold, and that was why we came.
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