Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Drummer Barry Keane and co-members of The Lightfoot Band (TLB), almost didn’t make their Opera House at Boothbay Harbor gig Thursday, July 23.

I asked Barry by email if this year’s Boothbay Harbor concert was still a go. Last year TLB’s Boothbay Harbor show was canceled because of a family emergency.

Tuesday night, two days before this year’s show, TLB in Canada had not been granted work visas to come to the States.

Barry replied, “We will be leaving tomorrow (July 22) for Maine, however, we are still waiting for visas. …[Y]ou may want to check with the venue on Thursday to make sure the show is on.”

I checked the Opera House events page a few times. No mention of a cancelled show.

On Thursday, Eileen and I drove 90-minutes and arrived early at the concert venue.

Ticket holders were already in line outside waiting for the doors to open.

When Gordon Lightfoot toured, he and the band flew to gigs. A road crew set up, broke down, and transported the instruments and sound gear.

The Lightfoot Band travels in large SUVs with minimal gear. I didn’t find out exactly what each band member carries, or what equipment is supplied locally.

Barry traveled with his sleigh bells (“Song For A Winter’s Night”) and his chimes. That’s it. The unfamiliar drums, cymbals, and hardware he played that night came and went with the venue.

When the Opera House doors weren’t opened on time, venue staffers outside told people in line, TLB was finishing its sound check.

Not ten minutes later, a black minivan stopped near the Opera House entrance. New TLB guitarist, Bill Bell, stepped out on the passenger’s side. The van hatch opened. Bell grabbed two travel cases – one, a guitar case – and hurried inside.

A few minutes later, the Opera House doors open, ticket holders filed in.

With everyone seated, a woman onstage introducing TLB, told the audience they had Maine U.S. Senator Angus King to thank for getting the musicians their work visas.

As Barry told me, except for Bill Bell, TLB band members left home, driving east towards Maine, with no work visas, hoping for the best.

Bill Bell, we learned during the concert, was working on three hours sleep. He performed Wednesday in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Then he flew four hours to Montreal where airport authorities would not let him board his plane to Boston. No work visa.

Twenty minutes before takeoff, Bell’s visa was cleared through a phone call.

After a 90-minute flight to Logan Airport from Montreal, Bell hired an Uber driver for the three-hour trip to Boothbay Harbor from Logan Airport.

Dedication?

Eileen and I sat in the balcony, stage left, to the side of, and slightly in front of, Barry’s drums.

Instead of Barry’s signature seven-piece black Premier kit, I was surprised to see a five-piece red-sparkle Yamaha kit. But Barry’s familiar folded white cloth on the snare batter head was comforting.

Between songs, Rick Haynes, Mike Heffernan, Andy Mauck, and Barry shared Gordon Lightfoot stories with the audience. Musicians would call them “road stories.”

Hopefully, someone is keeping a record of these memories. Otherwise, once they’re gone, they’re gone.

The band sets included songs familiar to Gordon Lightfoot concert goers, and favorite Lightfoot songs not often played in public.

For example, TLB’s second set opened with the trio of singer/guitarist Andy Mauck, bassist Rick Haynes, and Bill Bell playing Lightfoot songs done originally by the trio of Gordon, Haynes, and either Red Shea or Terry Clements on guitar.

Talking after the show with Barry, I learned the red-sparkle drums were provided by the Opera House.

“Did you tune them?” I asked Barry.

“I did what I could,” he said. “How do they sound?”

“They sounded good,” I answered.

When I first took my seat and looked over at the five-piece drum set, my first thought was, “How’s Barry going to play his tom-tom drum intro on “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?

But, as you can see and hear on the accompanying video, Barry nailed it.

When The Lightfoot Band performs in your area, do whatever it takes to see them.

Because The Lightfoot Band will do whatever it takes to see you.