Blue Rodeo, Burton Cummings, Tom Cochrane, Murray McLauchlan and others performed on a night that was as poignant as it was upbeat
If one were forced to choose the highlight of the Gordon Lightfoot tribute concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Thursday, there would be no wanting for contenders. The late singer-songwriter played the venue on more than 170 occasions, and it is hard to imagine his compositions sounding any better than they did on a night when major and minor chords were struck, familiar melodies hummed and memories celebrated.
Allison Russell’s intense rendition of Black Day in July, Lightfoot’s response to the Detroit riot of 1967, resonated emotionally. The Grammy winner seemed to be living the song’s protest, not reciting it. — Live Music Canada 💙 May 24, 2024 My personal favourite moment was small and subtle. Blue Rodeo, one of the concert’s two house bands, backed Julian Taylor on Lightfoot’s All I’m After. At times, as Taylor crooned, Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy mouthed lines to himself: “Ain’t it funny, life feels different with each new passing day/ All I need is my reflection in your wild and windswept ways.”
Sylvia Tyson, who with Ian Tyson recorded covers of Early Morning Rain and For Lovin’ Me in the 1960s, offered her own At the End of the Day, an elegiac ballad. “When I think of the good times,” she sang, “all the hard times fall away.”
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