[seafarer62]

Hello Niffer and Others:

Nice job on the set list - matched mine exactly.

The brief instrumental between verses of "Now and Then" was performed beautifully. Very elegant. And yes, I think it was Michael's riff.

You were right about the strange event after "Drink Yer Glasses Empty." The song was done very emotionally, with some nifty, subtle lyric changes. But then Gord walked off stage left, as Rick, Carter, and Barry walked on stage. He was gone maybe a minute. Not enough to use the privy or anything. My wife Debbie guessed it might have been to clear his throat or take a spray or something of that order.

The guys started to fiddle with their instruments when he walked in, a little out of breath. He must have walked up some stairs, because he said, "I'm bet you're glad I wasn't taking an elevator." He grabbed a swig of water, and then looked sheeplishly when he said his hand was wet and needed to dry it on his left pants leg. Must have been some moisture on his water bottle. (It was warm and humid in there.) What a guy thing to do!

Spanish Moss segued into Shadows, without applause. Similar to Ribbon of Darkness and Sundown.

He appreciated the audience coming out on a Sunday night and said that it was the 8th of 8 concerts in nine nights on this tour. He said it has been fun to deal with all the work permits and tax filings, working both sides of the border.

I thought he was struggling with the vocals a little, because parts of Restless seemed to be spoken, rather than sung. He was clearly struggling through "Painter". There were a couple of garbled lines, as he quickly reset himself. When he was done, he took another drink of water and said that there were some "close calls" with that one. Then he quipped, "I have never sung three consonants at the same time!"

How he remembers all the lyrics, with few errors, is a challenge for all of us aging boomers!

Before Trilogy, he apologized for weak vocals that would come towards the end of the song, but said that it would come back before the end. He actually did pretty well through those higher notes, with some rearrangement. (He does this with "Beautiful" as well. )

For an encore, the crowd received a quick "Rainy Day People", and then the Canadian minstrel was gone. I'm sure he was pooped after the rigorous tour and wanted to get home.

The people we talked to on the way out were very appreciative and said they enjoyed it.

Our usher said that the concert halls seats about 2,000. We were in the second level, Row One. Great seats, overlooking the stage, with no obstructions. There were empty seats in our area, more on the mezzanine levels above us. My best guess had the place about 2/3 to 3/4th full.

Only negative for the show was some oaf behind us who insisted on singing along with some drunken slurring. Good gracious, why pay $55 or more and do this? Not to mention to ruin the experience for other people? The poor guy's wife was even trying to shut him up. Debbie thanked me for not having to put up with a husband like that.