Last night was the big night, as Tom Cochrane brought his “Songs & Stories: The Duo” tour to the Anne Portnuff Theatre in Yorkton.
I’d been looking forward to the show every since it was announced, and was even more excited, as I got to introduce him onstage!
Speaking of which, if I may digress for a moment… Back in Grade Nine, around 1991 or ‘92. We were doing some little skits at Outlook High School. I don’t recall the class, or what it was for, exactly. But in this scenario, I was the MC, introducing the headliner, played by one of my classmates. For some reason, I adopted a bad English accent, and said “Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Cochrane!” At which point, my buddy ran out, air-guitaring, jumping around, and singing “Life is a Highway.” (Later that same class, I broke out my Stevie Wonder impression, but that’s another story for another day!)
Fast forward to last night when, all these years later, wouldn’t you know it, I got to introduce Tom Cochrane again. But this time, it was the real deal.
It’s funny how things work out sometimes, eh?
Back to last night’s show. Tom and his onstage cohort, Bill Bell, opened with “Big League,” telling the story about how has permanently changed the third verse to forever honour the Humboldt Broncos lost in the April 2018 bus crash.
After that, he was off and running with big hits from his solo years and time with Red Rider, including “White Hot,” “Avenue A,” “Human Race,” “Good Times,” “Northern Star” (in honour of his daughters, who he spoke of with pride throughout the evening), “No Regrets,” a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Bird on a Wire,” and one of my favourites, “Sinking like a Sunset.”
Of course, no performance would be complete without his biggest hit, “Life is a Highway,” and closed the evening with an encore of anti-racism anthem “Lunatic Fringe” and “Boy Inside the Man.”
It was an outstanding evening of music, storytelling and humour, by one of Canada’s greatest singer-songwriters, presented by Dauphin’s Countryfest.
All I can say, is that if you weren’t there, you missed out on an amazing night!
