Burton Cummings – Both Mellowing With Age and Commanding the Stage

No tariffs levied on the delivery of this classic Canadian rocker’s songs

Burton Cummings was arguably the most important part of the most important band to come out of Canada. The Guess Who charted fourteen Top 40 singles in the United States and more than double that at home. For a country that has sent many entertainers south for greater success, The Guess Who never hid their origins.

Cummings delivered a thoroughly satisfying set at The Belly Up; it was a deserved victory lap after cleaning up last year’s debacle he often referred to as “the fake Guess Who.”

The setlist was understandably packed with Guess Who hits, and Cummings seemed humbled acknowledging the success of that those hits he wrote and sang have withstood the test of time.

He was quick to point out that the five musicians assembled onstage were not quickly thrown together, three have been in the band for 24 years (drummer Sean Fitzsimons, bassist Jeff Jones, percussionist Nick Sinopoli), guitarist Tim Bovaconti for 17 years and newcomer Joe Augello has been handling guitar duties since last year.

All five band members supported vocal duties by Cummings, who took front and center on electric keyboards. Cummings handled pretty well the delicate upper register vocals of “Laughing” after kicking off things with three deeper cuts: “Bus Rider,” “Clap for the Wolfman” and “Hand Me Down World.”

Throughout the evening Cummings presented himself as a polite Canadian. When I asked my buddy if that was a redundancy, my buddy pointed out having seen Cummings myriad times before Cummings used to be a bit more feisty onstage, often down talking his former writing partner Randy Bachman.

The evening’s highlight was “These Eyes.” Cummings described writing it at his grandmother’s piano with Bachman. Finally hearing it live after an untold number of times on the radio, I am now convinced it is the prettiest sad song. I was too young a man when I first heard this song to understand its emotion firsthand; only in subsequent years would the emotions hit home.

Cummings was ebullient that at 77 years old he is still onstage, pointing out several times that “not many writers have songs on the radio for 50 years.”  He is solidly in command of his music; no reliance on lyric monitors often seen with performers from his cohort.

Admitting he was no Ian Anderson, at the introduction of “Undun” he brought out his flute for “8 bars in the middle of this gold record.”

Looking around the room, I smiled seeing something you don’t see a lot of in one place in SoCal: hockey jerseys. (At least not until the LA Kings and Coachella Valley Firebirds found ice rinks to spin their magic, there you see plenty of hockey jerseys).

As the nearly two hour (no intermission!) show began rounding the clubhouse turn, Cummings dropped in some Doors riffs, and then like a locomotive churned into “American Woman.” Cummings then eschewed his keyboard and strapped on a Gibson Les Paul for a rousing take on “No Time.”

How great that an artist has created music that hit home decades ago, which still resonates for an audience willing to spend many dollars, with everyone in the room not necessarily paying homage, but reliving and revisiting. Clearly Cummings was tapping the emotions stirred when the songs first wafted from the AM radio eons ago. More power to him.

(live photos by Brad Auerbach)

Burton Cummings’ show at the Novo in downtown Los Angeles scheduled for this Friday, January 17, has been cancelled due to the ongoing fires in the area. Cummings, who called Los Angeles home for decades, has been heartbroken watching the news of the wildfires. He sends his best thoughts to everyone impacted and to the brave first responders.