The Metal Files

If you’ve paid attention to this page over the years, you’d know I like more than just metal and last week’s concert here in Austin took me down a wonderful carefree highway (pun intended) from my youth.

My mom was a big fan of the easy listening 60s/70s rock and motown and because of that I’ve always had a soft spot for the stuff.  Gordon Lightfoot is certainly high on my list of those golden throated 70’s crooners.

He came to town a couple of years back and I couldn’t make it.  When I saw he was coming to the Moody Theater, I decided to pull the trigger and just go see him.  I’d watched some recent live footage and he still sounded decent.  Good enough to see anyhow.

He came one stage and said, “I’m Gordon Lightfoot from Toronto, Canada and I don’t smoke crack cocaine.”  Nice dig on the mayor of Toronto!  Now let’s just get it out there that Gordon is 75 years old.  That being said, his voice wasn’t what it once was.  He was an octave or so higher and was even a little shaky at times, but the dude stood up the whole time playing guitar and did over 25 songs.  And what’s more, NO TELEPROMPTER!  He wore black jeans a dark blue/blackish crushed velvet jacket in the first set and a red one in the second set.  Cool daddy.

He was energetic, comedic and entertaining giving a few stories here and there.  Before Edmund Fitzgerald, he said, “In 1975 I wrote a song for a folk album that became a rock hit.  Seriously.”

He mixed his hits in with some tracks that I didn’t recognize and even a newer one or two, but it was just a relaxing time.  The highlights for me were If You Could Read My Mind (which got me a little misty) and Don Quixote.  I love his phrasing and he’s a great storyteller with his lyrics.  Unfortunately I didn’t remember the whole setlist, but he split it into two sets with a 15 minute break in between.

Good times.