A Lean Gordon Lightfoot Plays the Greek Theatre

Gordon Lightfoot kept it simple Saturday night at the Greek Theatre. Now approaching his 50th birthday, the songwriter laureate of Canada was well aware that a five-piece band, a few strategically placed spotlights and his own warm baritone voice were all he needed for a pleasant evening of musical reminiscences.

Looking healthy and lean, his self-acknowledged drinking problems of the early ‘80s well behind him, Lightfoot seemed content to amble through the highlights in his vast catalogue of material. The topical songs--”The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Christian Island,” “Alberta Bound”--were as atmospherically evocative as ever. Lightfoot was almost as good on the ballads--especially the now-classic “If You Could Read My Mind,” but also the more recent “Lesson In Love.”

There were no announced new songs, and the next scheduled album is a second collection of greatest hits. Though Lightfoot’s position as a pop songwriter-performer whose work has transcended both era and style is secure, it was hard not to wonder--amid the concert’s persistent waves of nostalgia--if the once-prolific Lightfoot songwriting spring has dried up.