CANFIELD FAIR Vince Gill wasn't electric, but fans didn't take rain check

The short-but-sweet set reminded listeners of the depths of Vince Gill's talent.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
CANFIELD -- When it comes to music, Canfield Fair returnee Vince Gill believes in quality over quantity.
"We don't like to cancel," country star Gill told the thousands who gathered at the grandstands Monday night for the final concert of this year's fair.
The amount of rain that fell long before Terri Clark's 30-minute opening set not only turned grassy parking areas into automotive quicksand, it also kept Gill's band offstage and their instruments draped in sheets of clear plastic. It simply wasn't safe to use so much electricity in those conditions, Gill announced.
Acoustic set
Instead, Gill gamely performed a 30-minute, nine-song, mostly solo acoustic set. While the audience -- especially those in the track seats -- was cold and wet despite their rain gear, imagine how Gill must have felt -- cold, wet and naked without his musicians.
"Well, you guys are crazy, officially crazy," Gill told the crowd. "But I guess, so am I. ... God bless you for sticking around in this mess."
In the end, Gill's peace offering served as a reminder of the depth of his talent, both as a musician and a performer.
The humorous lyrics of his guys-will-be-guys hit song, "One More Last Chance," rang out in his opening number. Heart-aching songs such as "Whenever You Come Around" and "When I Call Your Name" took on added poignancy in this format.
Members of his band took turns providing backing vocals during "When I Call Your Name" and "Go Rest High On That Mountain," the latter a bluegrass-tinged song about his brother's death a decade ago.
Gill made a running joke about the pork chops and potatoes he ate before the show. He seemed to be sincere about both the quality of the dinner and the quantity he ate, having helped himself to an extra serving. "I'm in pretty severe pain right now," full-faced Gill told listeners at one point.
What was missing
Gill also let his audience know what they were missing during each song. "Right here there would be an incredible piano solo," he said while he boogied through one of his new songs, "Next Big Thing." It's the title track from his latest recording, on which he mocks the insatiable hunger of the industry and the public for something -- or someone -- new.
He did it again during "When I Call Your Name," saying, "and then the steel guitar was going to come in here -- wah, wah, wah -- make you cry like a dog."
Gill's strength has always been in the way he plays guitar, as he demonstrated between verses of "What the Cowgirls Do."
His self-deprecating humor and gentle voice are assets as well. He sounded much more tender than did Johnny Cash when performing "Ring of Fire," which was written by the late June Carter Cash shortly after she met her husband. Gill said he's wanted to perform it ever since she died in May.
His final song, also from "Next Big Thing," was "This Old Guitar and Me." He doubted that most of his followers had heard it, but "it just seems appropriate to sing this tonight and say good night," he said. It's an autobiographical tune about a young man who "spent all my college money on a half-dozen strings," then worked at making a living with it.
Gill may have been a bigger household name during his two previous appearances at the Canfield Fair, but this may have been his finest half-hour.
Clark said during her time onstage that Gill was "in rare form" Monday night. Meanwhile, this Canadian singer demonstrated her worthiness as a Country Music Association female vocalist of the year nominee. Hers was an upbeat set, from the twangy fun of "Pain to Kill" to more current chart-climbers "I Wanna Do It All" and "I Just Wanna Be Mad."
Clark also performed a medley of hits from the last eight years -- "If I Were You," "A Little Gasoline" and "When Boy Meets Girl" among them. She's made "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me," a song written by rocker Warren Zevon, her own.
Clark's only mistake was in trying to get the audience to clap along to songs such as "Better Things To Do." Like the song says, fans who were seated in the open air had better things to do, such as trying to shield themselves from the rain.