Fat Guy Follies

Saturday Night was the best night for me at Nakusp Music Fest. It was Bachman and Turner - EX-BTO closing the show. If you grew up in Canada in the 1970s you could not escape BTO. They broke up in 1979 and reformed in various incarnations through the 80s and 90s, including the Infamous "Half a Ton Of Rock and Roll" tour with Van Halen in 1986 forever endearing them into our Big Boys Club. C. Fred Turner is a skinny guy now, claiming he has dropped a C-note for this tour.

But I digress, after our day on the beach, it was time for the 5:00pm Mudslides.

Then everyone put on their best attire....
Carlos!!!!

Fortunately it was not quite as hot as last year, but Glenn's comment still stays with him.

As a kid, I spent hours in Scottie's living room listening to BTO, with John and Pete Swan. When they released Looking out for number 1, the Swan family was split. I don't remember which Swan sided with Rob and which with Randy, but the lines were drawn. When the band finally split The Swans blamed Rob for the break up. I really don't know what happened with the band in reality but Pete was the Rock god at that time, so it must have been Robs fault. By 1979 they had stopped making new music, and as the years went by, I still listened to the songs, but they were so worn into my psyche that I didn't really listen to them.

I almost fell over when Fred belted out that first, "Let it Roll". That guy has one hell of a voice. He may not be able to hit the high notes, but he can knock over trees.


It seem his voice has gotten stronger over the years. Listening to Fred and Randy play all the hits, brought everything back to a sparkling new reality. These guys rock. This was their first show together in 20 years, and they performed without a hitch. I thought John "The Ox" played a mean bass line but Fred plays lead in your face bass. He carries the melody, hammering at the strings. Randy is still awesome on the guitar, and his voice has not lost anything over the years either.

I left the show with what can only be called a sh** eating grin on my face..

and judging from the pictures, everyone else seemed to enjoy the show too.


If you are Canadian, you grew up in the 70s, and Bachman and Turner are playing near you, you owe it to yourself to go see the show!

Cheers
I ain't seen nothin yet Bryan