Bachman Cummings

Sunday: Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings

The third concert of the weekend was probably my favourite overall, maybe because it was such a great surprise. Cheryl and I scored some floor seats which got us fairly close to the stage and luckily the audience was generally of an age that they may stand up to applaud a song, but they are very quick to sit back down, either out of respect for people behind them or because their hips are about to give out (I am not sure which it was). This was the first concert that I attended where I saw two different men in the audience wearing suspenders -- in a non-ironic way. Cheryl and I also enjoyed seeing the stage lights shining through one lady's blue-rinsed hair in front of us. We felt like youngsters in this crowd!

I was blown away by Burton Cummings's vocal ability, even after his 40 years in the biz; I don't think they keyed down any songs (which is typical for older singers to be able to sing the songs) and he was able to sustain high notes for a long time. Burton's piano playing was extraordinary and I appreciated his showmanship and the gratitude that he and Randy expressed numerous times during the performance. Randy did not disappoint with his performance either, playing his guitar flawlessly and enjoying the songs that he sang, both with The Guess Who and with BTO. The whole band seemed to really enjoy themselves and so did the entire audience. The opening act was a female solo singer/guitar player who had quite the impressive voice. As with the Joel Plaskett concert, we were late getting to the show and only heard the opening act's final song, but it was quite good.

Randy and Burton talked quite a bit in between songs, about their careers together and as independent acts, their relationship was music partners that had its ups and downs, and the stories behind the songs, which was neat for the fans to hear. For the finale, everyone was on their feet for the whole song and there was a definite feeling of love and admiration going both ways to and from the stage. Good times.

Three concerts and a wedding (with a concert)

Wow. I am going to see three concerts in four days. First up, Philson and I are going to Dartmouth's Alderney Landing Theatre to see Joel Plaskett Emergency with openers: Peter Elkas and the Elkaholics (great name!) whom I read about in Exclaim! -- I picked up the magazine for Joel and learned about Peter too. Check out his website!, local Jenn Grant, and ex-Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson. What a start!

After my eardrums recover from that, Cheryl and I are attending Dave and Jenn Finlayson's wedding reception. They got married today, but Saturday is the big bash at Pier 21. They are having a local band named Big Fish who are a favourite of Sigs since they performed at a few Sweetheart dances (sorry, I can't call them Sweetheart Balls). They mostly do cover tunes but they mix it up and put their own stank on them!

On Sunday, Cheryl and I are going to the Halifax Metro Centre to see Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, the two creative forces behind The Guess Who and BTO. We have floor seats in the "Gold Circle." Oooooh! I saw these guys at the Sarsfest concert on TV a few years back. At that time, I thought, "I should really go see these guys if I ever get the chance." Originally, I was planning to head up to Toronto on Sunday night to see the next concert, but it was almost $400 cheaper to fly up on Monday, so I decided to do that and spend part of the money I saved on these concert tickets for Cheryl and myself. I am looking forward to this show because I hope they talk about their inspirations behind writing the songs that they perform.

Monday morning sees Philson and me jetting off to T-Dot to see The Police!!! This was one band that I never even thought about going to see since they had already broken up by the time I was of concert-going age, not to mention the fact that they never came close to Halifax. Now that I am older and have discretionary income, I have taken the opportunity to see one of my all-time favourite bands perform live (perform live -- is that redundant?). As I mentioned to a friend a few weeks back, this concert will be better than most since The Police broke up when they were at their best, with only strong material behind them, no unfortunate creative lapses or disappointing albums here, so the songs should all be fantastic.

Philson and I will be in T.O. until Wednesday. On Tuesday, we are going to see a Blue Jays game and I am going to the Skydome Hard Rock Cafe to add another shot glass to my collection. We have no other plans for the 48 hours we are there, but I am sure some adventure will present itself.

Originally, Alistair was supposed to attend the show with Dave Dawood, Dean and me, but Alistair got double-booked by work and I took the opportunity to bring my oldest son to see a band that I am not sure he really likes, but it is the chance of a lifetime. Alistair's loss is Philson's gain, although Alistair has the chance to see The Police elsewhere and I hope he does. Plus, I think Alistair likes the idea that Philson is getting this chance and that he was part of it.

So four concerts and a wedding reception! I think I will be tired next week...