October 27, Westbury NY show

[harlean]

No one has chimed in on the 10/27 show in Westbury New York. Surprisingly, the building was half empty but I was in the third row about twelve feet from Gord's boots so I was happy. The set list was pretty similar to what I've seen listed in the other posts for the other shows over the past weeks, except that he played The Watchman's Gone. That's something that he wasn't plaing at shows 25 years ago and something I never expected to hear now. The set was 22 songs, two parts with a 20 minute intermission. As I have repeatedly read, Gordon's voice was not very powerful in the first half but his voice was much more present in the second half. The crowd generally did not sing along or participate too much, which I greatly appreciated but I was amused when one member took over the whistling in the Ghosts of Cape Horn when it was clear that there was no sound coming from Gordon's lips as he tried to whistle. The audience member was dead on key, and no it was not me. I had prevously seen Gordon play 3 times before in 1980 and 1981, when I was still in high school, so I absolutely appreciated hearing half of the Shadows album as it has always been one of my favorites and only very recently was released with Salute and Dream Street Rose on CD. Needless to say, his voice could not handle anything from Salute. Other than a few songs from Harmony, only two title cuts and Ring Them Bells were included from the previous 4 albums. It was great seeing him again, especially living two miles from the theatre. The show may not have sold out because it was a last minute add-on and I literally was two seconds from purchasing tickets to the Town Hall Show, after deciding against Atlantic City, when the show was suddenly added to his tour list with tickets going on sale the next morning. I still had to get a hold of a "member" of the theatre to get tickets as close as I did because the first four rows were held back for members only. The sound quality of the show was outstanding so I suppose I lucked out. No yelling from the crowd, no buzzing AC units, and no foreplay. My girlfriend loved it and she was not aware of anything but the most popular of his songs. The bottom line is that the show was better than two of the '81 shows I saw, and his voice was much better than I had expected or hoped for; stronger than what I had seen on the Reno DVD. I wish him the best of health and hope to see another album some time. Interesting sense of humor he has. He spent over 2 hours on the stage, more than most younger people.

[johnfowles]

Originally posted by harlean:
No one has chimed in on the 10/27 show in Westbury New York. theatre. I still had to get a hold of a "member" of the theatre to get tickets as close as I did because the first four rows were held back for members only.

Great review Harlean

OK I am going to chime in here too Ding Ding ("Ring Them Bells")
Firstly I note that Wayne has now added the full setlist at:-
http://www.lightfoot.ca/051027.htm
The Music Fair at the North Fork "Theater" in Westbury Long Island is unusual because it is a theatre in the round with a revolving 30 foot or so diameter stage

Because of this and as I overheard in an explanation by a local the overhanging canopy which contains all the stage lighting and on top all the loudspeakers effectively masks the sound for the first three/four seat rows hence the box office considers that row D (the fourth) is the front of the premium seating.That explains why despite being on-line as the box office opened we were allocated seats in row D (the first three rows all round were neverheless all occupied) .It also meant that the stage crew were delighted as they only had to unload/reload the bare minimum of equipment (band gear only) and also afforded a rare rear view of Barry Keane's neat and precise footwork (he complained after the concert that now we knew how little he did)!!
The revolving stage actually reversed direction at about half way around every 15 minutes or so (to avoid over-twisting of the extensive cabling)
The layout of the venue gave a whole new meaning to Gord's oft repeated quip aboot certain songs being"in rotation" and the basic location carpet that is used obviously proved slightly too large so that the corners were folded and held away from the gap by that marvel of the Heating and Ventilation industry that I worked in for nearly 30 years... Duct Tape!
Reminds me that for some time we received regular orders for Duct Tape from the Plymouth Devon UK chewing gum factory of Wrigleys and every time we delivered the van driver was offerred a free handful of Gum packets. I never did find out what they used so much tape for but it also reminds me of the graffiti sometimes seen on condom vending machines to the effect that the purchaser considered that the packet's contents proved to be the worst chewing gum he had ever tasted!!
John fowles
Wheels of love go ’round Love go ’round, love go ’round
If I find you been creepin’ ’round my back stairs
Sights and sounds of the people goin’ ’round Everybody’s in step
There's a lonely tear that falls and it falls 'roundmy door
Keepin' on moving a round

[Sheryl]

Thanks for the nice review, Harlean. Ain't it great seeing Gord? I long for next year in Vegas....