This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
The Lightfoot Days Festival starts Thursday, October 30 with a concert by the Lightfoot Band at the Opera House (tickets).
Having seen Gord many times and the band with Andy Mauck singing last year I can say the musical experience is not diminished without Gord being there. Yes, we all wish Gord was still here and we could see him in concert, but that won’t ever happened again.
To be able to hear the guys who recorded with Gord and a stand-in who effortlessly sings in the same manner is a gift to us all. A gift for those who knew Gord, and those who attended his concerts to remind ourselves of something no one can take away, the memory.
That said, you will hear things differently. Gord was particular about the sound he wanted to hear, which did not take advantage of modern concert sound capabilities. It was fine at the time, no one left a show thinking their hearing had been assaulted, but you will hear things for real in real time like you get from the recordings. Sometimes you had to imagine the things that weren’t as present in the PA mix you’d previously heard when pressing play.
When Gord was front and center, you would be hard pressed to say you heard any backing vocals like you hear on the records. No one seemed to notice, I didn’t, in concert they were non-existent. That was the biggest difference I got when I saw the band last year, I heard backing vocals from Rick Haynes and Carter Lancaster, In fact, I could see them singing, which is something I never noticed before.
The overall sound is louder, comfortably louder. Don’t get me wrong. I and his ardent fans never complained, but we do notice the difference.
And that’s just the bit for the ears. We now see the band. Before they were in the background, we focused on watching Gord. That was by design and Barry Keane spoke to this point in an interview recently. The band has stepped into the spotlight.
We never knew much about the individuals before, but they have been doing interviews, they do have an online presence, and they do meet audiences after the performance (which they never did before).
And they talk about their long careers being in the band and about Gord. On this count you can find out for yourself when they do a workshop at Creative Nomad Studios Friday afternoon. There are two sessions, 1 p.m. and 2:30, and you can add your name to the list by email neergriggmain@yahoo.ca and you can pay at the door. The author of, The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, John U. Bacon is also participating.
All other Lightfoot Days events are admission free, including the Memories of Lightfoot storytelling and music event Friday at 7 p.m. at Creative Nomad Studios. With the band are Ken Jiggs McDonald, producer John Corcoran (Lightheaded: A Gordon Lightfoot State of Mind), renowned musician Gary Lucas (Me and Bobbie McGee video with Gord, Kris, Ronnie, and Willie), and Bacon telling tales, with musical performances by Steve Porter, Don James, Jack Nicolle, and Samantha Windover.
Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bacon will be at Manticore Books to sign copies of his book. Also at 11, Mayor Don McIsaac will be out front of the Opera House to proclaim Gordon Lightfoot Day. At 11 a.m., and you can watch Lightheaded: A Gordon Lightfoot State of Mind at Creative Nomad Studios at 1 p.m.
There will be music at Apple Annie’s and Alleycats Music by Don James and Jack Nicolle, and Geoff Booth. Even Steven will be playing at Lake Country Grill in the evening.
Sunday St. Paul’s Centre has a memorial service with Jakob Pearce performing and a new choral arrangement by Jim Lewis of If You Could Read My Mind at 10:30 a.m.
The closing ceremony is at Mariposa Market, with cake, at 12:30 p.m. followed by a 1:30 p.m. wrap up party at Picnic with the High Steppin’ Strutters doing all the Lightfoot tunes they know.
Benefit Concert
The timing is right for a benefit concert happening at St. Paul’s Centre Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The mostly classical repertoire features Jacquie Dancyger Arnold, Ross Arnold, Hugh Coleman, Blair Bailey, Laura Kelly, and Gail Spencer performing.
Jacquie Dancyger Arnold 
Hugh Coleman
Jacquie is doing the 3rd movement of Saint Seans’s Concerto in G Minor With Blair Bailey playing organ, Hugh Coleman on clarinet and Ross on tympani. Just before that they will play Dance Macabre with Laura Kelly singing, Ross will be on Xylophone and Jacquie on piano.
In the second half, Laura,, with Blair accompanying, will sing Anything You Can Do. Jacquie and Blair will duet on piano with Wilheim Ganz’s Grand Galop. Hugh is featured on Victor’s Tale (from the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal) and Gail is featured on Moonlight Serenade.
There will other pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert. The concert closes with Sing, Sing, Sing.
This is all to raise money for the Orillia Museum of Art and History and you can get tickets online, or at the door.
Reviews
Last Friday Creative Nomad Studios was the venue for a fundraising concert with Roger Harvey, Ronnie Douglas and Angie Nussey performing. The show was done in workshop style, with each performer taking turns singing one of their songs.
Workshops are an interesting thing because some people go because of one performer and then get exposed to the music of the others. In this case it also provided a contrast in style since Roger and Ronnie did their tunes with their guitars, and Angie with a keyboard, so the sounds were varied.
The next night at Paper Planes Play Café Roger and Alex Kaye Black played in a venue that hasn’t seen a musical performance since The Brownstone, which occupied the same place, closed. It’s was kind of like homecoming for some of us in the audience, except in pink (the walls). I kind of missed the huge blackboard that used to on the wall to the right of the stage.
This was the first opportunity for me to hear Alex, despite her performing several times in town. There always seemed to be a conflicting event preventing me for hearing her. She sang her own tunes and I thought her voice and delivery was a bit of a cross between Stevie Nicks and Alannah Myles. I had to leave after Roger did three tunes because of another concert, but he at least sang two of my favourites of his, Cowtown, and Blue Mountain (which he has been singing at concerts for years but is only recording it for his next album).
Over at St. Paul’s the Orillia Concert Band played the front half of a concert. They did a number of pieces tailored for concert bands, including a medley of tunes by Chicago.
I have to say, having heard several medleys based on Chicago’s tunes, this one is the best arrangement I’ve heard. I do not know who the arranger is, but I’d like to buy him a coffee. He kept the unique sonorities of the original music, sent the lead lines to the right instrumental voices, and kept the balance of how Chicago structured and played the chords. The band even got the attitude right for each of the songs included in the medley.
The second half was with the Orillia Big Band. They played very well, but having Milli Schop along to sing Careless Whisper and At Last was perfect. She knows how to sing in front of an ensemble like this (she is also in a rock band, Mill and the Thrills, and most singers don’t know how to transition from one to the other).
The Shorts
- Harriet Todd, Stephen Graham and Dick Johnston are being inducted into the Orillia Hall of Fame Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. It is open to everyone to attend.
- The City is taking submissions for new displays of art at the Orillia Recreation Centre. There are two exhibits. One is the Stack Gallery (next to the check in counter) and the focus is art made by those in the ‘all abilities’ community. That’s the new term for those who have disabilities and submissions from the disabled are what is being sought. The other is for a change up of art in the Indigenous display and the work considered is obviously from Indigenous artists. You can find more details and how to submit by Oct. 31 online.
- MAT’s Film Night at the Galaxy has Meet the Barbarians playing at 4 and 7 p.m. at the Galaxy Nov. 12; Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight plays Dec. 3. I hope you have tickets lined up for MAT’s Jesus Christ Superstar which opens at the Opera House Nov. 6 There are so many good tunes in this musical and wait until you hear Maggi Robertson, who plays Mary, sing .
- Mariposa Folk Fest 2026 tickets, at 2025 prices, are on sale; you can also get tickets for their Nov. 29 concert with Aysanabee and JD Crosstown at St. Paul’s Centre online.
- Derick Lehmann has a 90s Dance Party on Nov. 15 at ODAS Park and you can get tickets here.
- Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation has a gala happening Nov. 15 at Lakehead University. Music is by John Amato singing jazz standards. You can get tickets online.
- The Orillia Concert Association has season tickets on sale now (still only $90) and their lineup is: the Elora Singers Nov. 8, Terry Lim And Friends Feb. 22, Daniel Vnukowski March 22 and The Brooks, Ronai, Teske Trio May 3. All concerts are at 2:30 p.m. You can get the season tickets online.
- Quayle’s Brewery has Rebekah Hawker playing Oct. 30; and Chris Lemay plays Oct. 31; Kyle Moning Nov. 1; Kitty Unplugged Nov. 2; Jakob Pearce Nov. 6; Gen Cyr Nov. 7 … the Hog ‘N Penny has an afternoon jam session every Sunday with Sean Patrick and others… Picnic has Michael Martyn playing Oct. 30… the Griddle Pickers do brunch at the Common Stove Nov. 2… the ANAF Club has a Halloween dance Oct. 31 with Mil and the Thrills; Outcast is in Nov. 1… … Brewery Bay Food Company has the Big Bad Jug Band and Terry Savage and the Wonky Zombie playing a Halloween gig Nov. 1 (don’t miss this, (tickets).
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: The Lightfoot Band plays the Opera House October 30 to open the Lightfoot Days Festival.
