The star-studded Gordon Lightfoot tribute concert at Massey Hall was an homage to the Canadian songbook

Meredith Moon performs Oh So Sweet at Celebrating Gordon Lightfoot, a tribute concert to the Canadian musician, in Toronto, on May 23, 2024.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.

Though the all-Canadian evening was often poignant, there were just as many upbeat moments. Burton Cumming’s imitative imagining of Lightfoot singing Rod Stewart’sby the Good Brothers and Blue Rodeo was so convincing that I felt the urge to book a train trip to Medicine Hat., 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.with Blue Rodeo was a maple-blooded occasion for the ages.

My personal favourite moment was small and subtle. Blue Rodeo, one of the concert’s two house bands, backed Julian Taylor on Lightfoot’s. 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.”

Done off microphone and with a sly smile, this was not performance. It was private joy in plain sight; a salute to a fellow professional’s perfect lyricism; a tribute as meaningful as any. The concert, filmed for future broadcast on CBC, was divided in two. The first half featured solo presentations and others backed by Lightfoot’s old band, which starred the long-time rhythm section of bassist Richard Haynes and drummer Barry Keane.. It is a classic that had to be done. But if Cochrane drew the short straw, his rendition with Lightfoot’s former sideman was strong and faithful to the original..

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