An Unforgettable Night at Uptown Theater (III)
tcqu...@yahoo.com
Part III of III
The concert is over. Time to leave. I had that familiar positively
blissful feeling that always settles over me after seeing Gord
perform. My family and I are weaving back & forth through the crowd
on the way out of the theater. We thought of waiting around to try to
meet Gord but decided that since we had done that once in our life (7
yrs prior) that we would just get back to the hotel. Plus we wanted
to get the kids into the hotel pool to get them tired out so mom & dad
could get some sleep. On the short drive back to our downtown hotel,
each of us talked about what was special about the concert. We all
had some really great memories.
We get back to the hotel, and the kids quickly change clothes so they
can enjoy an hour in the pool before it closes at 11 PM. While
changing clothes, my son shouts out: "I FORGOT MY SHIRT!" He left a
shirt under his seat at the theater (he was wearing two shirts and had
taken one off). Don't ask me why he was wearing two shirts, he is a
free spirit when it comes to fashion choices. He was absolutely
distressed that he left the shirt behind, and even more distressed at
the thought of losing it. He demands that we return to the theater to
get it. Cindy and I want to just dismiss this ridiculous request, it
was $10 at WalMart, tops. Young Tim raises such a fuss that I finally
relent. My wife and daughter will remain at the hotel and Tim and I
take the elevator down to the basement garage, get in the car and
drive all the way back to the theater. I have my doubts that we would
even be able to get back into the theater, but we'd never hear the end
of it if we didn't at least try.
Traffic wasn't too bad on the 10 blocks back to the Uptown. The
parking lot was nearly empty. We park and jog up to the front
entrance and bang on the door. An usher in the lobby opens the door
after some initial hesitation. We explain that we left a shirt up in
the balcony. He lets us in, and Tim sprints up the stairs to where we
were sitting and finds his shirt underneath his seat, right where he
left it. He grabs it and sprints back down to the entrance lobby
where the usher and I are waiting. Success! He retrieved his shirt.
With luck, we could get back to the hotel and Tim could enjoy at least
30 minutes of swimming before the hotel pool closes at 11 PM. On our
way across the street to the car, we noticed about 2 dozen fans
milling about behind the Uptown Theater. Tim and I looked at each
other. Without a word, we knew what they were waiting for, and
without a word, we changed direction and joined the small crowd.
"Are you waiting for Gordon and the guys to come out?"
"Of course, what else?"
I knew there would be no other choice but to join this small, loyal
group and wait. Perhaps it was meant to be. We waited with the group
on the sidewalk by the street. In the alley behind the theater I
could make out a few cars and a tour bus waiting in the night. A
small security detail prevents us from walking down the alley toward
the backstage door and the tour bus and other cars. A couple of young
ladies make sure the rest of the group knows that they were "here
first" and practically demanded that the line form behind them. I
didn't mind, I knew if we saw Gord, he would stay there and greet
everybody. We got behind the young ladies when this middle-age lady
who, um, had a few too many, in a gravelly voice slurred out "Hey I've
waited 25 years." Again, we didn't care, we just thought it would be
neat to parlay this "shirt retrieving" operation into an opportunity
to meet The Man again. Young Tim sends me across the street to get
the digital camera out of the car. I sprint back and grab the
camera. Just before closing the door, I notice our "Harmony" CD on
the seat (we were listening to it on the drive out from St. Louis). I
grab the CD and a pen from the car and sprint back across the street,
my heart pounding in anticipation.
We peer down the alley and in the darkness I'm sure I make out Rick
Haynes walking about. I tell my son, and Tim yells out "Hey Rick!"
without hesitation. Rick Haynes turns and waves. A car with four
shadowy shapes pulls down the alley and drives past our small crowd.
I wave to the car and two of the "shapes" wave back. I was to learn
later that ¾ of Gord's band were in that car. Rick remained at the
theater.
Then I notice the unmistakeable profile of that lean figure with
glasses. After a brief moment of conferring with Rick Haynes, it
happens. Here comes Gord, a smile on his face as he approaches our
diverse group.
I turn my digital camera on to record a short clip. We were about 6-8
people behind in line, but we are close enough to hear some of the
conversation. Young Tim is just about bursting with anticipation and
whispers in a shaky voice "That's really Gordon Lightfoot!!" I hear
Gordon discussing John Denver with some of the fans. Gord himself
brings up the sad occurrence of Mr. Denver building his own
experimental plane and then crashing and dying in it. The fans slowly
make their way through the line. Some of them tell Gord that they met
him years ago. All of the fans are extremely appreciative of him.
The tipsy lady was immediately in front of me. When she got to Gord,
I could barely understand what she was trying to say. But I did
clearly see that the Gentleman Singer from Orillia was very attentive
and kind in his attention. She actually asked him (and this is no
joke) "Did I see you this afternoon in a yellow polka-dot suit walking
around the parking lot?" Gord hesitated, gave a slight snicker and
said "No, I'm too normal for that." After some further unintelligible
comments, she gives him a hug and moves aside. I felt a degree of
sadness for the lady.
Then my son and I are face to face with The Man. "Gord, thanks so
much for playing "Hangdog" tonight, it meant a lot to me. (in a
previous post, I discussed that I left a note on stage requesting that
song for my recently deceased father, who absolutely loved that
song). Young Tim quickly asks: "Did you get our notes?" (Tim had
requested Carefree Highway or Summertime Dream). Gord replied: "Oh
yes, I certainly did! I hit two of the three songs you asked for." I
hand him the cover to my "Harmony" CD which he signed and handed back
to me.
We both thank him, then young Tim says: "Gordon, I met you 7 years
ago and it's nice to see you again. I'm playing the guitar." (Tim
holds up his finger tips) See my calluses? Gord answers: "Oh yes,
they're pretty good." Then he tells Tim: "You sound like a
singer." That was about the best compliment anyone could have ever
given my son, and coming from an artist he admires so greatly, was a
gift beyond measure. Sensitive to the line of people behind me
waiting to talk to The Man, I try to conclude things by asking:
"Gordon, would you mind if I get a picture of you and Tim?"
"Of course!" I snap the picture of the two of them, and then move
aside.
"Thanks so much, Gordon, lets go, Tim" I turn and walk a few steps,
but young Tim lingered long enough to say: "You are a musical genius,
thanks for the opportunity to meet you." When I turned around I saw
that my 14 year old son, and the greatest composer in the world, were
in an embrace. It brought an instant lump to my throat. I regret
that I didn't have my camera ready, but was content with the thought
that some moments are better left uncaptured. This was one of them.
One last "thank you" and we slowly, reluctantly, walked away.
Tim
"Children are all that the Earth has to show,
Children are all that the Earth wants to know"
johnfowles
> An unforgettable night at Uptown Theater
> Part III of III
>
> The concert is over. Time to leave. I had that familiar positively
> blissful feeling that always settles over me after seeing Gord
> perform.
> but young Tim lingered long enough to say: "You are a musical genius,
> thanks for the opportunity to meet you." When I turned around I saw
> that my 14 year old son, and the greatest composer in the world, were
> in an embrace. It brought an instant lump to my throat. I regret
> that I didn't have my camera ready, but was content with the thought
> that some moments are better left uncaptured. This was one of them.
> One last "thank you" and we slowly, reluctantly, walked away.
>
> Tim
Brilliant Tim
Part three was something else and a most enjoyable read
Now I have request for you.could you possibly distill your three
parter into a single concise summary and post it on
corfid. Although I have posted a link to this the third part there Ron
Meason from Tucson is keeping a tally on the number
of corfid contributors who have attended the recent series of concerts
and makes it now 27 attended out of 34
one of the "missed" ones was Kansas City and that goes for you to
AnneOK since you were also at Kansas apparently
the corfid topic is entitled
"How are we doing ? (revisited)"
and is at:-
http://www.corfid.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004716;p=1#000012
It goes without saying that despite some of the opinions expressed in
that topic Newsgroupers and all genuine gordlovers
are always most welcome at corfid. we even have a most efficient and
hard working moderator a most CHar-ming person who
strives mightily to keep on top of the hordes of stoopid spammers who
too frequently register and post irrelevancies