Review and Photos by Fred Kuhlman
Promoter: Danny Zelisko Presents (https://www.dannyzeliskopresents.com/ )
Venue: Talking Stick Resort – Showroom (https://www.talkingstickresort.com/ )
Date: Friday February 21st, 2020
Sorry for the pun, but I hope you got it. Burton Cummings was the former lead singer and keyboardist for the Canadian rock band The Guess Who. During his 10 years in the band, from 1965 to 1975, he sang, wrote or co-wrote many of their hit songs. Since then he has had a solo career with his own band.
It has been 48 years since I originally saw Burton Cummings. It was 1972 and he was with The Guess Who and they played in Toledo, Ohio. It was my first rock concert (I had already seen a number of shows and non-rock performers in Vegas and New York). At the time, The Guess Who were one of the biggest artists that visited the Toledo area. I remember that the show was amazing. All of the fans standing, cheering and singing along with the hits. Well it is now 48 years later and the fans are a little older but they still show the same enthusiasm as in 1972. They were standing and singing along and at the end of the show, a large number of women rushed the stage.
For most of the show, Burton sat behind his keyboard and sang. For a couple of songs, Burton came out and grabbed a mic and sang or picked up his guitar and played. His voice was very strong and with the other members of the band, they were able to harmonize to recreate the original sound of The Guess Who. Joining Burton on stage were guitarists Michael Zweig and Tim Bovaconti, percussion Nick Sinopoli, drummer Sean Fitzsimons and bass player Jeff Jones. They all provided backing vocals.
Like most older artists, Burton knows what the fans want and they played all of the mega hits. They started the show with “No Sugar Tonight” and moved into “New Mother Nature”. They also played “Share the Land”, “Laughing”, “Star Baby”, “New Mother Nature”, “These Eyes”, and “Clap for the Wolfman”. They ended the main set with 2 of the biggest hits, “American Woman” and “No Time”. Intermixed in the set were a couple of his solo hits, “Stand Tall” and “My Own Way to Rock”. If you were a The Guess Who fan then you will love this show. Burton and the band do a fantastic job of recreating the original sound of those hits.
To find out more information about Burton Cummings and his band and their upcoming shows, please check out their website: https://www.burtoncummings.com/ or his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/burtoncummings/ .
Photos © Fred Kuhlman 2020, All Rights Reserved
Setlist:
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature (The Guess Who song)
Hand Me Down World (The Guess Who song)
Clap for the Wolfman (The Guess Who song)
Laughing (The Guess Who song)
Clementine (solo) (Bobby Darin cover)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (solo) (followed by band intro) (Jerome Kern cover)
My Own Way to Rock
Stand Tall
Trouble in the City (J.J. Cale cover)
These Eyes (The Guess Who song)
Baby, Come Back (The Equals cover)
Albert Flasher (The Guess Who song)
Star Baby (The Guess Who song)
American Woman (The Guess Who song)
No Time (The Guess Who song)
Encore:
Louie Louie (Richard Berry cover)
Share the Land (The Guess Who song)
