SWMBO and I went to see him in concert last night.
OMG!! What a show. From the moment he walked out and said, “Hi, my name is Gordon Lightfoot and the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” to his closing encore, it was awesome. The man is a consummate professional and he had us all spellbound. He’s 75, still going strong (although he doesn’t quite hit the high notes as easily as he used to) and likely to outlive us all.
Gordo, you rock, man. Thanks for the memories and the magic.
Long time fan here too and glad to know he’s still out there doing concerts. I’m not a concert-goer but Gordon Lightfoot is one artist I wouldn’t miss for all the world if I had the chance. Glad you got to see him perform!
I saw him in '76 in Vancouver. Great show and I believe he debuted '‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’'there. I remember him commenting that the song was not on the radio yet. Great songwriter. I do a couple of his regularly.
Love Gordon Lightfoot. Saw him once, probably in the 70s, and he was terrible (mostly forgetting verses literally everyone in the building could have supplied him). Shortly afterwards, his backup singer inadvertantly killed Belushi, so I’m thinking gordo may have been battling drug issues of his own at the time.
An old man in my church choir gave me a bunch of his old Gordon Lightfoot LPs (among other CANCON classics), which I converted and threw onto my iPod. Some real gems I absolutely loved.
Saw him at the Ottawa Folk Festival this summer; he was a last minute replacement for Neil Young, of all people! What a charmer, voice isn’t as powerful as it once was but it was an amazing night.
He was my fav in the 70’s. Even got my old Dad to like him. We went to see him in Chicago on a stormy, snowy night in 1977 I think. Drove from Wi, because they said they would not refund our tickets due to snow. It totally sucked.
He never finished a song, forgot the words, appeared to be drunk and then castigated the audience for coming to see the show in a snowstorm. We left before the show was half over. Bleh, never bought an album again.
One of the privileges of living in Toronto - Gordon Lightfoot plays Massey Hall every year. According to the current CEO of Massey Hall, he has performed there more often than any other individual artist in the hall’s 117 year history.