LEGENDS TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS, EVERYWAY

– GORD KURENOFF PHOTO
Randy Bachman, left, and Burton Cummings opened their show Friday night at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre with their Guess Who hit Running Back to Saskatoon, and for the next two hours belted out some of the best music ever written or performed in this country.


Hey Abbotsford, we have to break it to them doubters gently – we have arrived as a legitimate entertainment mecca.
For the first time since the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre opened its spanking-new doors, scalpers were busy outside the facility hawking tickets to see two Canadian icons perform their memory lane song magic, hit after hit after hit.
Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, who seem to have nicely repaired their on-again, off-again relationship, orchestrated a hit parade lovefest, reeling off tunes from the Guess Who, BTO and their respective solo days.
They gave props to Winnipeg, the Prairies, our soldiers, our flag, the West and an American woman, while a near sold-out crowd clapped, danced and sang along for the nearly two-hour show.
At one point in the entertaining evening, Cummings told the fully engaged audience that it was only the second stop in their summer tour and that he was a bit nervous.
When he asked if fans liked what they had heard so far, the hall of fame musicians received their first of many standing ovations.
They also made a point of singling out Susan Jacks in the crowd, the former Poppy Family star who had the monster hit Which Way You Goin’ Billy?
They performed such classics as These Eyes, Takin’ Care of Business, Let It Ride, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, Clap For The Wolfman, Undun and No Sugar Tonight.
Booker T. opened the show, performing a number of his early hits and tunes that have found their way on to movie soundtracks.
Read Gord Kurenoff’s column in Tuesday’s Times for more on Friday night’s superb show.