Gordon Lightfoot in Duluth

Last night I saw singer songwriter Gordon Lightfoot perform at the DECC's Symphony Auditorium. It was a really great show, as the again minstrel opened up is amazing song book in a sophisticated atmosphere (soft colors and intriguing patterns projected around the band on curved slices of white drappings) with a truly fantastic backing band. Gordon is now 72 and walking center stage at 8 o'clock sharp, he certainly looked it. His voice has certainly fallen with age, hardly matching the rustic muster of those defining 60s and 70s recordings, but I would hardly describe it as lost; he's certainly still worth admission and the old timber still rises to the top of his voice from time to time.

The show was fare from a sellout, I didn't see how packed the balcony was but the main floor was about 2/3 full, but those in attendance certainly make up for those absent with roaring applause and cat calls following each and every song. Gordon seemed to enjoy the warm admiration quipping twice, "We love the work." The Twin Ports crowd gave the loudest applause following intermission (after 45 minutes Gordon took a 20 minute break and than played an additional 50 minutes) when Gordon launched into the immensely loved "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The song has become something of a Northland anthem since being released in 1976, depicting a sea wreck on Lake Superior. Outside of the lyrical content, the song's atmosphere feels amazingly Duluth-y (if such a description is valid) and the crowd roared at the song's conclusion. Gordon knew where he was playing this night.

Overall it was a great show, seeing Canada's most famous songwriter was in kin to catching an ancient minstrel near the end of his long road; I never tire of seeing these old legends in the flesh. I was a little disappointed with the setlist omission of "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" but Gordon made up for it with his performance of "Sundown", my favorite Lightfoot track. At the end of "Ribbon of Darkness" Gordon and the band stop playing stare at the crowd for a minute and than launch into the amazing opening riff of "Sundown"; awesome.

Bonus:
Before playing "Song for a Winter's Night", Gordon was storying how he wrote the song in Cleveland during a summer rainstorm musing, "Songwriting is a strange animal." To which someone in the crowd responded, "You do a great job!," as the rest of the crowd again erupted into applause.