Gordon Lightfoot Forums - A Happy 80th to Gordon Lightfoot-CD news and Birthday Concert in Orillia

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November 18 · 2018

Gord All Day
By John Swartz

Before Gordon Lightfoot could even say hello Saturday evening, The Orillia Opera House full-house audience broke into Happy Birthday. It started on the left side of the house and quickly spread like a wave to include the almost 700 on hand.

After a pause, he began the concert with Sweet Guinevere, followed quickly by Cotton Jenny before he spoke.

“Welcome to my birthday party,” Lightfoot said. The occasion marked his 80th birthday in his home town, in a theater named for him.

He mentioned receiving a giant birthday card signed by dozens of people, referring to one Mike Rothwell and Robert Gonfors had been encouraging people to sign at Alleycats Music & Art during the day Saturday and they got it to Gord's official Facebook page administrator, Char Westbrook, who delivered it to the Opera House before the show. He expressed his thanks and surprise so many would take the time to sign the card.
“We played here before,” he said to laughter.

During the day, Alleycats held the 80 Songs and Stories About Gordon Lightfoot event, a video project which Greg Thomson assisted in live streaming (watch at https://www.facebook.com/pg/Alleycat...=page_internal).

One of the people who dropped into the store was Rick Most. He just happened to be in town, visiting from Dallas, Texas, to see a concert. Of course that would be Gord’s concert, and he’s been to enough he was invited backstage afterward.

“I’m just a big fan and I follow Gord where I can and when I can,” Most said. “This is number 6 show this year. It’s about 45 or 46 for my life. I became a fan when I was a college student and have followed him ever since.”
He tracks where Gord is playing on the lightfoot.ca website, which has the most comprehensive information about Gord, and saw the announcement for the show in Orillia.
“I waited too long and got some seats upstairs,” he said, mentioning his knees. “I was waiting for a standing ovation so I could stand up, I never sat that high. Maybe I should (choose the balcony) because the sound was perfect, his voice was excellent even though he says he has laryngitis he sounded great.”
Coming to Orillia was worth it in his opinion.
“I enjoyed it immensely,” he said. “Hearing I Used To Be A Country Singer, you never hear that anywhere, but because it was a hometown guy it was great to hear that.”

Backstage, Steve Eyers also had something to say about the concert and that song.
“The crowd loved him. We honoured the legend, and he played the song by Even Steven,” Eyers said of I Used To Be A Country Singer. It was written by Eyers’s Even Steven partner, Steve McEown.

After singing Beautiful, Gord unhooked his guitar and wandered off stage. There were signs he was getting a sniffle. He came back, wiping his face with a white towel.
“I feel like Luciano up here,” he said, getting a laugh.
“You’re cooler Mr. Lightfoot,” shouted someone sitting near this writer.
“I can get through it, “ Gord responded.

Gord’s granddaughter, Kristina Lightfoot, had some thoughts on Beautiful. She was happy to hear it two nights in a row, being at the concert in Oshawa Friday night. It’s her second most favourite song of his.
“He never does this song, my favourite by him is Miguel,” she said at the backstage party.
A 90 minute performance was planned, and with the air being somewhat dry in the Opera House, Gord’s voice was starting to get raspy after an hour, but not enough to detract from the performance. Like he said, he’d get through it.

Much credit has to be heaped on Leslie Charbon who was running the sound mixing board. Of all the concerts Gord has done in the Opera House, the band and Gord never sounded better. His voice was very present in the mix and crystal clear.

Even more credit goes to the lighting designer and operator, James Spilsbury. The set consisted of overlapped drapes forming triangular palettes on which Spilsbury played different coloured lights on each panel, creating some stunning effects.

During the song A Painter Passing Through one effect was breathtaking. As Gord sang the line, “for I am just a painter passing through in history,” it looked like a giant invisible paint brush was dragged diagonally across the backdrop from one top corner to the opposite bottom corner and the several colours already in view changed to new colours with the brush stroke.

Time flew by, Gord spoke of when he went to see Elvis perform at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Elvis had just recorded Early Morning Rain (and of course, you knew that was the next song Gord would sing). Gord told a funny story about trying to go against the exiting crowd to get backstage in time to meet Elvis, who had expressed the desire to meet Gord, but Elvis was notorious for leaving venues like he had an appointment he was late for. It turned out Gord missed the meeting.
“Sorry Mr. Lightfoot,” Gord said Col. Tom Parker told to him, “Elvis has left the building.”
And with that, Gord and the band played a very different arrangement of Early Morning Rain. The words and the significant chord changes were the same, but not anything else. It was a refreshing take.

And then it was over. He came back for the encore, Waiting for You, and everyone left feeling excited to have been a part of this historic concert.