The Spring of 09 has been full of great shows, bewteen Joel Plaskett, Bruce Springsteen and the Tragically Hip, all three of which coincidentially had no opener. But that got me thinking, what was the best show i've ever seen? That is not an easy question to answer, becuase every concert is a different experience. Some of the concerts i've been too were legendary, others were just a great time, and others just satisfying because you finally got to see that artist in person, even if their show was relativley shitty. Bob Dylan was definitley the latter, being a fan of Bobby his was a show i had to go to, i heard he wasn't much of a showman... i didn't realise how true that was, the sound was awful and you could only understand every seventh word. He did not move away from the keyboard all night, which would have been okay if i had been sitting opposite of where i had been, so i had a great view of his back all night. Luckily the FooFighters opened and introduced me to the wonders of a triangle solo, so the night turned out pretty well. On the other hand Bruce Springsteen is ever the showman, as well as an engaging lyricist, i've had the good fortune of seeing him four times now, and the shows are never the same, and you always puts everything into it. Another great show was see Down with Webster at the beaches rec centre next to Glen Ames, i went to both shows, but the first one was best. They only did one set, which was disappointing, when the concert ended, i thought it was jsut an intermission so i was hanging around afterwards, wondering when they were coming back on. But that was a great show because the crowd got so into it, and everyone was jumping and dancing and knew all the words, and it was so hot, and everyone was jsut drenched with sweat, it was super grimy, and just a totally different concert experience. Every summer for the past 3 years i've been volunteering at Mariposa Folk Festival, which is one of the oldest in Canada. I have had the opportunity to see and meet many great musicians. Like Feist before she came out with "1234" and got on the i-pod commercial, and Ron Sexsmith who i got to talk to for a good 10 minutes back stage, before his set. It was at Mariposa where i first saw Joel Plaskett, doing an acoustic set, and now i jsut saw him at Massey Hall, and man can he put on a show. He is quickly becoming the pride of Nova Scotia, and maybe even Canada before long. But i would personally say the most awe inspiring person i've ever seen or met in my life is a man by the name of Gordon LightfootI remember it had been drizzling all day on and off, and there would be patches of sun, followed by dark clouds that would always blowover and give way to more sun. By evening the pattern had changed, the small drizzle clouds were being pushed aside by huge storm clouds, which did not look good, because Gordon Lightfoot was the Sunday Head Liner, returning to his home town of Orillia to play at Mariposa Folk Festival. Gord rolled up in a limo, drove right into the back stage area, treated as V.I.P. , he shook a few hands and then we escorted to his trailer, along with his band. Now here is just some back ground information so you can truly appreciate the magnitude of what Gord did at Mariposa. Gordon Lightfoot was born November 17th 1938, making him in his early 70's, in 2003 he underwent four abdominal surgeries and was in a 6 week coma. He made remarkable recovery though and was playing again by july 2004.Gord took the stage to storms clouds and tremendous applause, he started with a song i had never heard, but i like the way his band played, and i was digging his voice, and his lyrics. By the second song it had started spitting rain, nothing too bad, but a few people left. Gord didn't mind though, he just kept playing, in the middle of hte fifth song; a huge flash of fork lightning split the sky, and the rain began to pour, a few unfaithfuls left, but most of the people jsut beared the brunt of the storm, and moved closer to the stage to occupy the vacant spots of hte people who had left. Gord didn't mind hte rain though (the stage did have a roof) he just kept playing. He was captivating, no one could take there eyes away, clapping and seeing along. The wind picked up, the rain came down harder, every 5 seconds there wouldb e a flash of lightning always followed by the boom of the thunder. Gord said "just one moment please, we're having some technical difficulties up here" as they took a moment to lower the roof of the stage a little, after the short intermission, and in the midst of the worst part of the storm, all i can remeber is hearing the mournful intro of "The wreck of the edmund fitzgerald" and as he played that song, i remember thinking, that this was exactly the kind of storm those poor people would have been in, on the Edmund Fitzgerald, it was almost as if Gord was the captain of his own ship, and standing tall on the bow, playing through the storm, and giving his crew; the band hope, that they would make it out of there okay, that they would brave the storm, and see another day, In the end Gord played for a good 45-60 minutes, non stop other than the two minutes to lower the roof. I remember he went back to his trailer after the show, to change, dry off and hopefully let the rain subside. I remember i caught his eye ashe was making his way back to his limo, and he stopped, and let me come over, i shook his hand and said "Sir you really are a trooper" and he smiled and moved on, making his way to the Limo and eventually getting in, and driving away, maybe to go visit some family of his that live in orillia, or maybe he still has a house there. But of all the concerts i have been to, i have never seen anyone that dedicated, or happy to play for his home town, it was really an incredible experience, and one i will never forget.