LIGHTFOOT, FANS SHARE THE LOVE AT NAC
Gordon Lightfoot wrapped up his 80th birthday weekend battling a scratchy throat and trimming his songs at the National Arts Centre.
At one point, the legendary singer-songwriter coughed and blew his nose, joking that he felt like Luciano Pavarotti, who used to cancel shows when he had a cough.
Not Lightfoot. A little cold wasn’t going to slow him down. He soldiered through it with his usual good humour Sunday night, even though his voice carried an extra rasp and lacked some of its former power.
In his 81st concert of 2018, the iconic Canadian singer-songwriter delivered two generous sets of music, although he tightened up many of his tunes to squeeze as many songs as possible into the evening, a technique that made for perfunctory versions of some of his biggest hits.
The elderly musician made his entrance to a standing ovation, and a crowd keen on singing happy birthday to him. He inadvertently cut them off, instead jumping into Waiting for You, its wintry imagery, “Up here in the northland, up here in the snow,” striking an apt note in snow-covered Ottawa.
In the next lull between songs, the crowd resumed the birthday song and Lightfoot let them sing, apologizing for interrupting the first time. The adulation didn’t stop there. “We love you, Gord,” someone yelled.
“We love you,” he responded. “That’s why we’ve been doing this for 57 years. Fifty-eight now,” he corrected himself, reminiscing about quitting his bank-clerk job at 24 to take a gig as a square-dance singer.
Any weakness in Lightfoot’s vocal delivery was smoothed out by the talents of his longtime band members. Rick Haynes handled the bass heartbeat, Barry Keane had a light touch on the drums and Mike Heffernan supplied colour and texture on keyboards. Guitarist Carter Lancaster
was a treat to watch, filling in the songs with his flamenco-inspired acoustic stylings and fluid electric runs.
Between songs, Lightfoot remarked on the success of the Grey Cup-bound Redblacks, mentioned his 80th birthday party in hometown Orillia the night before, and kept up a running commentary on his guitar tunings and adjustments.
The Canadian Music Hall of Famer alternated between six- and 12-string guitars, and unfurled a song selection that went back to the early days, including such nuggets as Cotton Jenny, Too Many Clues in This Room, Never Too Close, Shadows, Let it Ride and Beautiful. Also shoehorned into the first set was a slightly speedy version of his classic story-song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
A highlight of the second set was Lightfoot’s tale of almost meeting Elvis Presley, and a satisfying version of Early Morning Rain, which was covered by Elvis.