Bachman & Turner with special guests Paul Rogers, and Blue Oyster Cult at the MTS Centre on September 24, 2011.
Starting off the evening with a 35 minute set was Blue Oyster Cult of Long Island, New York. Playing their hits including Burnin’ For You, and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper, the crowd didn’t take long to fill in.
It wasn’t until 20 minutes later, Paul Rogers, who is mainly known for his work with ‘Bad Company’ hit the stage with his band. Being introduced as “God’s Favourite Vocalist” out came Rogers with Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love. Twisting the microphone stand, and jumping all over the place, Rogers belted out his heart to Winnipeg, and put what looked like, all his energy into his set. Staying on for an hour and fifteen minutes, I’m sure he played a large part in filling up the arena that evening.
Just after ten o’clock, both Randy Bachman and Fred Turner hit the stage. Bachman and Turner, reunited from Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), are originally out of Winnipeg, therefore it was no struggle to fill the stadium with 5500 hometown fans of the two.
With long time friends and family present, they made sure to play the many of the same songs they would have at a concert from near 40 years ago when they were just starting out. Making sure they played their hits, they awed the audience with Hey You, Let It Ride, and the hit encore of the night, Taking Care of Business. While Bachman continuously awesome the stadium with his guitar riffs and solos, including one solo being played with a drum stick, Turner kept everyone in line with his bass melodies.
A key point of the concert was when the duo brought 14 year old Kyle Zachariw, winner of 92 Citi FM contest to play You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet while rocking on beside Randy Bachman. Kyle even managed to hit the solo in result of thousands of people screaming and clapping for him, and at that moment, him alone.
All in all, the night ended just before midnight, to the proud city of Winnipeg of hometown heroes Randy Bachman, and Fred Turner. Continuing off to tour through the rest of the country, I imagine this show won’t be topped for them.
