Went to see the show in Ottawa, great show and the audience really seem to enjoy it, for guys in thier sixties they have a lot of energy. Great songs that have lasted a long time.
Published Thursday June 25th, 2009
The many hits former bandmates Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings will highlight weekend concert
By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Randy Bachman doesn't paint a rosy picture of his relationship with longtime, on-again, off-again musical partner Burton Cummings.
Burton Cummings
Randy Bachman
He says there are still things to this day that the former members of The Guess Who, who currently tour as Bachman-Cummings, disagree on.
But, ultimately, Bachman says there comes a point where the legendary duo sees the light and realizes they have music people still want to hear, some 30 and 40 years after the songs were written.
"So to see us back together, putting aside our differences, and we still have some, relevant or irrelevant, some are stupid ... to put that aside and let the music be the magnet, the spiderweb that holds us together on stage and playing the music and smiling at each other ... it is an addictive thing for us," Bachman, 65, says.
In a recent interview with the Times & Transcript, Bachman said reunions between the two have come after they've received offer after offer to perform together.
The many offers have made it clear to Bachman-Cummings that their music is cherished.
"People really care; well, then we really care, and to see that our music has lasted and become milestones and soundtracks to life in Canada and the U.S.A. and a lot of other countries in the world, it means so much to us, you can't say no to that," Bachman explains.
The legacy of rock 'n' roll classics that Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, 61, have behind them is astonishing.
Between solo careers, their work in The Guess Who and Bachman's work in Bachman-Turner Overdrive, the hits include These Eyes, Laughing, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet, Hey You, American Woman, No Sugar Tonight and dozens more.
Bachman promises that Metro music fans will hear all those classics this Saturday when Bachman-Cummings performs along with Bon Jovi at the Magnetic Hill Music Festival's Summer Kickoff event.
"It's a trip down memory lane for every Canadian and every American who is at the show," he says. "We play every hit like you know it in your heart and soul, just like the record. We play stuff from (Bachman-Turner Overdrive), we play stuff from my solo (career), we play stuff from (Cummings') solo albums.
"Having the moniker 'Bachman-Cummings,' we're free to do stuff from all the different bands, all the different eras and decades of our life."
Bachman and Cummings won't have much time to enjoy their stay in Moncton this weekend. The duo is flying in from a gig in Regina, Sask. the night before and they're leaving immediately after the show to head out to Winnipeg for a show the next day.
"It's real rock n' roll to play a gig, get in a jet, fly somewhere, pass out, go play with Bon Jovi, get in a jet, fly back, pass out, get up and do another show," Bachman says.
While Bachman-Cummings is touring up a storm this summer and each performer tours solo as well, they haven't recorded any new material together in some time.
Last year saw the release of Jukebox, with Bachman-Cummings doing covers of the very songs that made them want to get into the rock n' roll business in the first place.
But Bachman gives off no signs that the duo may record new original material any time soon.
"Radio is so busy playing our old hits, they don't seem to want to play a new song," he says.
He would like to see a radio format where a band's classic hit is played and then followed by one of their newer tunes, which the public often never gets to hear.
"I have a new CD out, Burton Cummings has a new CD out," Bachman says. "I don't think it's getting airplay anywhere. When we play it at the concert, it'll be the first time people hear it."
In his many decades in the music business, Bachman says things have changed many times over. But in some respects, things have come full circle.
"I started out in this business not making any money from records," he says. "Basically, you're getting a penny (per record sold). You made your money by playing a gig for $400. Now it's gone back to you're not making any money from records, but you're still making your money from live gigs, but it's a lot more than $400," he says with a laugh. "It's kind of come full circle in a way."
The legendary rocker is looking forward to once again playing for Metro music fans.
"There's no words to describe the feeling of connecting to 1,000 or 10,000 or 30,000 people," he says. "It's beyond any dream I had as a kid, or Burton Cummings had as a kid."[/QUOTE]