Hi All:
My wife and I just returned from Harris, MI. One weird weekend. It is our wedding anniversary today and we had looked forward to the trip to the U.P. of Michigan for about the past 6 months. We left Friday morning expecting a weekend full of fall leaves and Gord in concert.
Anyway.. Friday night we walked into a tent adjacent to the Island Resort Casino in Harris, Michigan about 15 west of Escanaba off U.S. Highway 2. Our seats were front and center, 8th row. Allright !!
The band came out Friday night and Gord shortly followed. He looked great but almost immediately, something was obviously wrong. Gord strapped a 12-string on but was not playing Cotton Jenny but only singing. He kept fumbling with guitar picks, switching his hold on the pick, etc. After Carefree Highway, I think he recognized he needed to provide some explanation.
He said that he had had a "mini stroke" and that he had intermittent muscular movement of his right arm. He said that it had happened before while at home but never while on the road. He said he was struck right during sound check Friday afternoon. He said they decided to go ahead with the concert and were considering flying home to Toronto immediately after the concert to get checked.
The songs continued and on one level, Gord provided a gutsy performance, strumming occasionally but I believe his guitar mike was turned off more than it was on. He moved around the stage a lot directing and adjusting the band on the fly. Once in a while, it looked like he was starting to play again only to be interrupted by a painful grimace and again he stopped.
After 30 GL concerts in nearly 30 years, I had never seen anything like it. I had never seen Gord dance on stage like he did. I was dying for the guy inside, at once inspired that he was doing the concert but also terribly concerned by someone who I have met, talked with, and who has meant so much to me through my thicks and thins.
The lyrics in "14 Karat Gold", "In My Fashion", and "Painter Passing Through" were positively haunting seeing our revered poet performing with one arm. Gord did everything he could to keep rhythm including slapping his thigh, encouraging the audience to sing on familiar refrains, encouraging Terry on solos, etc. He made only one major lyrical goof, singing the 5th verse of Edmund Fitzgerald twice. As he repeated the verse, he held one finger up and nodded his head acknowledging the mistake but kept the song going right to the end. One thing I thought was so interesting was that he switched guitars for the songs as he normally would have.
The band looked very concerned about Gord and were doing their best to adjust on the fly. Before beginning "Let It Ride", he and Mike decided how they were going to do the intro. Gord said that Mike was going to have do the rhythm piece.
With these casino shows, he does not take an intermission and the voice was growing more hoarse as the concert progressed. I will never question that integrity and perseverance of this man after he said I know you want to hear the Trilogy and I will try it. The high notes at the end were tough but he plugged through it.
He did "Old Dan's Records" and the band walked off. Rather than an encore, Gord simply came back himself, thanked the audience and said goodnight.
Here is the set list:
1) Cotton Jenny
2) Carefree Highway
3) Sea of Tranquility
4) Never Too Close
5) 14 Karat Gold
6) In My Fashion
7) A Painter Passing Through
8) Spanish Moss
9) Shadows
10) Rainy Day People
11) The Watchman's Gone
12) Ribbon of Darkness
13) Sundown
14) Wreck of the E.F.
15) Beautiful
16) Let It Ride
17) If You Could Read My Mind
18) Don Quixote
19) Baby Step Back
20) Blackberry Wine
21) Canadian Railroad Trilogy
22) Old Dan's Records
We had no idea what to expect Saturday. We checked in at the casino a couple of times during the day and everything was still on. When we arrived at the casino for the show, there were large signs saying that structural problems were discovered with the tent and the performance was cancelled. The sign I read said that the cancellation "was not related to Mr. Lightfoot's illness." When we looked at the tent, it did appear that part of the roof looked sunken. Refunds were offered and those who had paid by credit card would have refunds done automatically.
So we are back here in the Twin Cities after a 6 hour/ 325 mile drive. I have tickets to the show in Minneapolis tonight and plan to take my 17-year old son as he has been learning guitar. Don't know what to expect tonight. I will search some local websites and the State Theatre website to see if the show is still on for tonight.
If the show goes on, I will post a set list and observations in the morning.
Everyone should say a prayer for Gord and his condition.
John- Suburban Twin Cities, MN
|