October 26, 2022 – Calgary Alberta
The kids had some difficulty understanding why we would attend a concert performed by an 83-year-old. I explained that we didn’t go to hear an old man sing, we went to witness a legend.
Gordon Lightfoot has been part of our lives for more than half a century. When I mentioned his name to my siblings a year ago, they were enthusiastic about a chance to see the Canadian icon perform. We reserved tickets and made a date to get together in October 2022.
A year is a long time in octogenarian terms. There was a legitimate concern that Lightfoot might not be well enough to perform when the time came, but he was true to his mantra; I’d Rather Press On.
Most of our family lives in Saskatchewan, so the day before the concert they were Alberta Bound on Carefree Highway #1. Everybody arrived before Sundown, in time for a meal and pre-event cocktails.
We arrived at Grey Eagle Centre as the sun set behind the Rockies, casting a Ribbon of Darkness over the venue.
Gordon Lightfoot ambled awkwardly to the front of the stage displaying evidence of a musician’s taxing lifestyle and a hard life on the road. His delivery lacked impact, but every song Gord sang is engraved in the collective memory of the audience; we simply filled in the blanks when Lightfoot couldn’t deliver on the high notes.
Brother Brad is a big fan. He was looking forward to Early Morning Rain, from Gord’s 1966 debut album Lightfoot! He was not disappointed.
Kevin and Jayne had to wait until almost the end of the show to hear the oft-told story of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I have listened to the ballad a hundred times, every time hoping for a different outcome, but all 29 sailors aboard the freighter perished at the end of Lightfoot’s rendition again tonight.
Val and Glen asked Bear and I which were our favourites. I told them; “If You Could Read My Mind you would already know”. Bear chose Pussy Willows Cat-Tails, she plays a mean rendition on the piano.
Clearly, this will be the last time any of us see Lightfoot in concert. This show almost didn’t happen when Gord was forced to abandon the very first song. A chair, some oxygen, and side-table medication were enough to revive him to the point that he was able to complete the set, but Gordon Lightfoot looked like a Ghost From a Wishing Well throughout the performance. Lightfoot delivered a shaky showing from a seated position, with assistance from other band members and stagehands, but no one in the house was disappointed.
At a post-concert gathering we chatted about what Gordon Lightfoot and this concert in particular, mean to us. None of us could adequately describe the impact he has had on our lives but a number of words kept popping up:
Canadian Pride, Harmony, History, Nostalgia, Melancholy, and The Frailty of Life.
There seems to have been a Gordon Lightfoot song at every pivot point in my life. In the early 1970s Lightfoot sang me through a rough patch with “Sit Down Young Stranger”.
At a high point he sang A Song For a Winter’s Night.
Listening to Gordon Lightfoot performing today, in his 84th year, I am reminded that we are all in a Race Among the Ruins. Lightfoot tells us, if there is anything left undone,…
… Do It Soon.
Away you will go sailin’
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon.
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