What a beautiful day for a GO train ride and then car ride heading west out of Toronto to Buffalo New York. Kinda cloudy with an autumnal coolness but with an appropriate sweater on I was ready for the trip. My daughter Lisa, as usual was tagging along..
We arrived in Buffalo around 3 p.m. and checked into the hotel, greeting a few familiar faces with big hugs and the shared excitement of a Lightfoot concert only hours away.
We had dinner in the lobby restaurant/bar and enjoyed watching the Oakland Raiders players walking around and sitting amongst us. They'd lost to Buffalo in the last few seconds of that afternoons game so were kinda low key for some VERY big an impressive looking, football playing, sharp dressed guys!
Some guy from Buffalo (BIG guy) was entered into the Hall of Fame earlier in the day at the game. - Bruce Smith was his name..and I haven't a clue who he is..but he smiled and said hello to us later that night..
We headed out and walked a couple of block to the lovely re-furbished Shea's Auditorium for the 7 p.m. show. Line-ups were out the door as folks were buying tickets and picking up 'will-call' tickets. We met with Dan and Nanci who live a short distance from Buffalo and made our way to our 2nd row seats but because the first row is shorter than the 2nd and 2nd row curved we were basically in the front row with no one in front of us....just to the side of Mike Heffernan on keyboards. There was a 'front' stage with a curve that kept front row about 15 feet from the slightly raised stage that Gord and the band would be on..
While walking to our seats I heard my name being called out but not expecting to hear that in Buffalo I didn't really pay attention until I heard it again and Lisa told me someone was calling me..it was Harold and his family sitting a few rows back from us! Hello Harold!!
lol
THe auditorium/theatre seats around 3 thousand people on wide comfortable, red velvet covered padded seats. There were around 2300 people in attendance I think..The artwork on the ceilings, moldings, carvings, side balconies, chandeliers were all stunning. What a gorgeous place..
We took our seats, the lights went down shortly after a short intro and out strode the boys, taking their places as The Man himself swaggered on out with a wave and huge smile..En masse all 2300 of us stood for a loud and prolonged ovation. Well it would have been longer if Lightfoot hadn't launched right into the first tune "Triangle", forcing us to stop the adoration and listen.
He had on his reddish coloured velvet waist jacket, pale blue dress shirt and black trousers with black boots. His hair was a few inches longer than it was back at Massey in May..He looked thin but healthy and rarin' to go.
During the evening he spoke about being back for the first time in 25 years and how he loved going to the old, refurbished and renovated theatres and seeing what had been done with them. As you read in the newspaper review at another thread he also recalled the days when as a young boy he drove all the way to Buffalo to go to a movie and later as a teen to go to Club Moonglow,, laughing as he said "back when we were stupid."..
He sang a shortened version of Rainy Day People and said it was so he could talk more..lol
He was a slight bit raspy and breathy at first but that gave way and his voice grew stronger after each song.
The band intro was done all at one time and he also introduced the sound guy and stage guy, also thanking them for the lovely new backdrop. He sang 14 songs and took a short break.
Lisa and I took the time during the break to change seats and move to the very centre of the floor in the second row...I was sitting dead on to where Lightfoot's mic was..great seats..
As mentioned in the newspaper article there was a hissing white noise throughout the 2nd set that diminished a bit after Rick adjusted something.
He came back out with a white shirt, wine/burgundy coloured vest with small diamond pattern and black pants of a dressier version than the first pair..
7 songs into the 2nd set he sang If You Could Read My Mind..when he was finished he received a huge, loud ovation, taking bows and smiling with obvious pride in that monumental song. There was one encore song and after he left the stage he came back for one last wave, thank you and gracious bow to his fans..
We were escorted to a small waiting room until Gordon, Mike and Barry came to chat up some radio folks, fans and friends..
The place emptied out and I had a few moments with Gordon with just a few folks there, giving and getting a nice Hi Char and hug..I brought him a new T-Shirt that I thought he might enjoy as an early birthday gift but alas and alack I hadn't thought him to be as small as he is..I bought a LARGE that was meant for a 5'10"/160 pounder..Gordon explained that he was a "medium - 148 pounds!" and I told him I would exchange it for a medium and possibly drop it by the office. That was good because he "really liked it - it's a nice shirt" he said. He mentioned that he attends his health club five times a week, saying he's pretty regular..I laughed and told him that was nice..lolol. oh dear. (Leslie thought it rather funny too)
While Gord spoke with all the folks I noticed that Leslie (new tour mngr) stayed very close to Gordon..I had printed out the article regarding the Lightfoot Tower in Nova Scotia and told Gordon he could take it and read it later.. Leslie was right there to hold it for him..lol
I noticed that Gordon was using a retractable Sharpie pen like the one I gave him at Massey..I asked him if it was that one and he said 'oh no, but I've had Leslie get me several more since then!" Glad to know he liked it! I had brought him another in case he didn't have one..lol
He said he's feeling great overall but was tired and would be heading up to his room when I asked how he was feeling..I said well tomorrow is a day off and he laughed and said well there's no show but I'll still be working..they were flying out at 1 p.m. today for Indiana, Pennsylvania..
I also asked about the LIVE Massey stuff.. ohmigoodness he did a quick look around and pretty much said 'they're not being released, I haven't done anything with them, they'll come out when I'm ready and that's not now."
I mentioned about the possibility of another phone chat and he seemed amenable to that. Yeah, yeah that might be alright...
I said I'd call him later next month..we'll see..I said there's a lot of folks with lots of questions about the music..
The last thing I did was show him my tattoo!! ..well he was quite surprised and impressed and was quite taken with it..He proclaimed it to be "very, very nice...tasteful, very tasteful!"
We said our goodbyes to Gordon and headed back to the hotel for a drink and sit with some folks before heading to our room at midnight.
Another wonderful road trip, gorgeous weather for the day of autumn, fabulous friends, and Lightfoot and his orchestra making new memories for us..
with apologies to The Man:
Oh the gist of it all is the first day of fall
Is the day when my memories don't fail
The best of all friends will say good-bye again
We've had that one last glass of ale
We'll wave away proudly, our backs to the wall
With kisses and lots of good cheer
And when we look onward and forward
We'll be in Toronto next year.
Set List
1. Triangle
2. Cotton Jenney
3. 14K Gold
4. Never Too Close
5. In My Fashion
6. A Painter Passing Through
7. Rainy Day People
8. Shadows
9. Beautiful
10.Carefree Highway
11.Hangdog Hotel Room
12.Ribbon of Darkness
13.Sundown
band intro
14.Watchman's Gone
INTERMISSION
15.The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
16.Alberta Bound
17.Don Quixote
18.Clouds of Loneliness
19.Waiting For You
20.Make Way For The Lady
21.If you Could Read My Mind
22.Restless
23.Baby Step Back
24.Canadian Railroad Trilogy
OVATION
ENCORE
25.Blackberry Wine
Here's some photos..I'm waiting for more pics from Dan.. last one in thumbnail format is my TATTOO...