ForeverAutumn
03-07-2004, 02:10 PM
Alternate title: Yes, we have red bandanas.
Why do aging rockers think that they can pull-off looking good in leather pants? You know the kind of guys that I mean…the guys who could wear spandex and look good in the 80’s. Now, in their late 40’s and early 50’s, these same guys have adopted a fashion trend of leather pants with flowing, silky man-blouses untucked and hanging loose around their hips covering their stout paunches. This was the fashion of Loverboy, last night.
When I heard that Loverboy were coming to town I thought that it would be a fun concert to see. They were playing at a casino about an hour's drive from here and I was offered complementary tickets, so I thought, sure what the hell. I was just starting high school when Loverboy hit the scene and their music always triggers lots of great memories of that time in my life.
Well, last night I learned that sometimes you just can’t go back. The band is still the original line-up with the exception of Bassist Scott Smith, who was killed in a boating accident in 2000. Smith was replaced by Spider (Kim) Sinnaeve. Spider played with Paul Dean and Matt Frenette in Streetheart in the late 70’s. Paul and Matt left Streetheart to form Loverboy, so Spider seems like a natural replacement. However, although they are the same guys, it wasn’t the same band, if you know what I mean.
The music was decent enough. The songs were the same. But Mike Reno’s vocals have suffered over the years. Not that he was bad (although, admittedly, he was never the best singer in the world), but his voice has changed. It’s higher. So much so, that I had to confirm with my husband that it was actually him. Maybe the extra weight that he’s put on over the years has compressed his vocal chords. I don’t know. But at least he was still able to hit the high notes that I didn’t think he would be able to hit. :D
I’ve seen more than a few 80’s bands now, 20 years later. Most of them were still enjoyable and could still rock. But, not only were the leather pants and man-blouse on Mike Reno just wrong. But for one song, he came out wearing the leather pants, a sleeveless t-shirt, red (trademark) bandana around his head and dark sunglasses. This outfit looked great on him in 1980. 24 years later it just looks like a mid-life crisis gone terribly wrong.
It was Matt Frenette’s (drums) 50th birthday yesterday. The band sang Happy Birthday to him. That’s fine. The crowd liked it. But then they made the audience sing it too. Not once, but TWICE, because the first time wasn’t loud enough.
During the encore, Reno just rambled on for what seemed like 10 minutes or so about nothing. Just talking. Leading into a song, but taking forever to get there. At that point all that I could think was that Loverboy, once one of the biggest Canadian rock bands, would now seem schmaltzy as a Las Vegas lounge act.
The Loverboy fan club was out in full force too. A group of about 20 – 30 people storming the front of the stage. Singing, dancing, waving their Loverboy LPs in the air and throwing red bandanas on the stage! I wish that someone had told me that they were going to do that. There I was, in the midst of a mid-life crisis, and without my red bandana.
:rolleyes:
Why do aging rockers think that they can pull-off looking good in leather pants? You know the kind of guys that I mean…the guys who could wear spandex and look good in the 80’s. Now, in their late 40’s and early 50’s, these same guys have adopted a fashion trend of leather pants with flowing, silky man-blouses untucked and hanging loose around their hips covering their stout paunches. This was the fashion of Loverboy, last night.
When I heard that Loverboy were coming to town I thought that it would be a fun concert to see. They were playing at a casino about an hour's drive from here and I was offered complementary tickets, so I thought, sure what the hell. I was just starting high school when Loverboy hit the scene and their music always triggers lots of great memories of that time in my life.
Well, last night I learned that sometimes you just can’t go back. The band is still the original line-up with the exception of Bassist Scott Smith, who was killed in a boating accident in 2000. Smith was replaced by Spider (Kim) Sinnaeve. Spider played with Paul Dean and Matt Frenette in Streetheart in the late 70’s. Paul and Matt left Streetheart to form Loverboy, so Spider seems like a natural replacement. However, although they are the same guys, it wasn’t the same band, if you know what I mean.
The music was decent enough. The songs were the same. But Mike Reno’s vocals have suffered over the years. Not that he was bad (although, admittedly, he was never the best singer in the world), but his voice has changed. It’s higher. So much so, that I had to confirm with my husband that it was actually him. Maybe the extra weight that he’s put on over the years has compressed his vocal chords. I don’t know. But at least he was still able to hit the high notes that I didn’t think he would be able to hit. :D
I’ve seen more than a few 80’s bands now, 20 years later. Most of them were still enjoyable and could still rock. But, not only were the leather pants and man-blouse on Mike Reno just wrong. But for one song, he came out wearing the leather pants, a sleeveless t-shirt, red (trademark) bandana around his head and dark sunglasses. This outfit looked great on him in 1980. 24 years later it just looks like a mid-life crisis gone terribly wrong.
It was Matt Frenette’s (drums) 50th birthday yesterday. The band sang Happy Birthday to him. That’s fine. The crowd liked it. But then they made the audience sing it too. Not once, but TWICE, because the first time wasn’t loud enough.
During the encore, Reno just rambled on for what seemed like 10 minutes or so about nothing. Just talking. Leading into a song, but taking forever to get there. At that point all that I could think was that Loverboy, once one of the biggest Canadian rock bands, would now seem schmaltzy as a Las Vegas lounge act.
The Loverboy fan club was out in full force too. A group of about 20 – 30 people storming the front of the stage. Singing, dancing, waving their Loverboy LPs in the air and throwing red bandanas on the stage! I wish that someone had told me that they were going to do that. There I was, in the midst of a mid-life crisis, and without my red bandana.
:rolleyes: