Went and saw APRIL WINE as part of the BTO ‘Back In Overdrive‘ tour. I will say I was not there, so much to see BTO, so I won’t comment on them. I did include a few photos I took (apologies for quality, but hopefully you get the idea). The HEADPINS were also on the bill; the Headpins were the first band I ever saw when they opened for Loverboy in 1983, at the CNE in Toronto. This version of the Headpins doesn’t include Darby Mills, and sadly, founder/guitarist Brian McLeod passed away years ago, which leaves original members Ab Bryant and Bernie Aubin. They sounded good to me, as they played a short set of favorites like “Feel It (Feel My Body)”, “Line Of Fire” (outstanding!), “People” and closer “Turn It Loud” (plus a few others). Singer Kat Lawrences did a solid job on the classics, would be interesting to see if this version of the band records anything new. (Headpins pics)

Now… I really was interested in seeing APRIL WINE, who I first saw in 1984. I saw them again in ’92, oddly enough also in St Catharines, at a place then called ‘Route 66‘, about 2 blocks away from the arena, and no longer there. From those days only guitarist Brian Greenway remains. Bassist Richard Lanthier and drummer Roy Nichol have both been there for years, and upon retiring, band leader Myles Goodwyn (RIP) picked his replacement in Marc Parent. I last saw April Wine in 2018, a good show, but a bit tired at that point. While Goodwyn had a fairly distinctive voice, easily recognizable to fans, and hard-core fans may take issue with a new guy stepping in, Parent brought a lot of energy to the show, sounded great, and got the crowd going. Judging from crowd reaction, fans were enthused and happy to hear those classics again. And for anyone who likes April Wine it is mainly about the songs; the band has a huge catalogue, and a long list of hits in Canada, starting in 1971, and anyone that grew up listening to the radio here has heard all the hits (and more). They only played 45+ minutes, but it was packed with the hits that Canadians are familiar with most — “Oohwatanite” (w/ Brian Greenway singing) “You Could’ve Been A Lady”, “Bad Side Of The Moon”, “I Like To Rock”, “Say Hello”, “Sign Of The Gypsy Queen”, “Just Between You and Me” (with Parent making a brief speech about Myles Goodwyn, then bringing out Myles’ guitar to play), “Enough Is Enough”, “Before The Dawn”, and the inevitable closer “Roller”. For the time allotted, I don’t think the band could’ve chosen a better set-list! BTW, dug the Trailer Park Boys intro for the band, and the Littlest Hobo theme song playing as the band left the stage…..

Most impressive was the turn-out for this show, a nearly full arena. Hopefully promoters or whoever will take note and put together more such tours featuring a number of Canadian acts.

*April Wine returns to Europe, in October, to open for Uriah Heep (on their farewell tour)

https://aprilwine.ca/