Last night I attended the Gordon Lightfoot concert here in Kansas City. I won the tickets through a radio station contest and had a few of Gord's songs in my collection, so I thought it would be a decent concert to see - especially for free. I was wrong.
It's not that I hated the concert. I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to stand up, clap along, or sing with the crowd. I especially enjoyed that my ears weren't ringing when I left the theatre (and we were only 5 rows away from the speakers on the stage). But it was apparent from the first song that the 68 year-old Lightfoot should have hung up the touring boots a long time ago.
Anytime a song called for a high note or even a forceful inflection in the voice, Gordon got that look on his face that you get when you are sitting on the toilet trying to relieve yourself of some constipation. Singing shouldn't be that hard.
I have 5 of Lightfoot's songs on my iPod and those were the only 5 I knew at the concert last night. (I'm still not sure there is a better story-telling song than Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald) I was hoping to hear some new songs that I would want to add to my collection, and I think I did. But they will be added only because they sound infinitely better in their original recording than they did last night.
I don't know if Gord is out there touring because he squandered the money he made in his heyday and has no choice or if he just loves being on the road and singing. Only if it's the former do I feel sorry for him, but in either case, I feel sorry for his audience.
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This is sad to hear since "golden" is a good word for Lightfoot's classic voice.
Let me say this in praise of Gord: I initially read this review a couple days ago and even though it never mentions the song "Sundown", I immediately thought of this song when I thought of Lightfoot and now I haven't been able to get the song out of my head: "Sundown, you better take care, if I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs..." It's weird to be suddenly and continually humming a song I haven't heard in years. Testament, I guess, to an endearing song and performance.
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