THUNDER BAY -- Growing up in the generation that came before me, there really was but one musical question – Beatles or Stones?
Not that you couldn’t like both, but you generally sided with either John and Paul or Mick and Keith. It’s just the way things were.
For my generation, in Canada, it was Blue Rodeo or the Tragically Hip.
You probably enjoyed both a lot, I mean come on. That goes without saying. But you likely leaned toward one or the other.
I belonged in the Hip column and saw them every chance I could, always saying I’d catch Blue Rodeo the next time they were in town.
It was pretty hard to miss them, especially in Thunder Bay. They might as well be known as the house band at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, where on Wednesday night they launched the 2017 leg of their tour in support of their latest album, 1000 Arms.
Yet somehow I always did.
I’m not sure why it took me until their 2011 appearance at the Thunder Bay Blues Festival to finally catch them live on stage.
They blew me away that night.
Their latest trip to the shores of Lake Superior was decidedly more subdued, as the band, fronted by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, wove its way through a catalogue dating back to Blue Rodeo’s 1984 beginnings.
“No refunds,” Keelor joked while he tuned his guitar as the house lights dimmed.
None were necessary from Canada’s most popular country rockers.
The two-hour, 24-song set opened strong, Cuddy belting out the lyrics of the radio-friendly Til I Am Myself Again, the first single from their 1990 album Casino.
The six-piece band quickly turned to new material, offering up Hard to Remember, the lead track from 1000 Arms.
In total five new songs were tested out, a list that also included Jimmy Fall Down, 1000 Arms, Dust to Gold and Superstar, the latter a catchy number I’ll vote most likely to stick around in their repertoire as Blue Rodeo propels its way into its fifth decade in the business.
Cuddy and guitarist Colin Cripps – formerly of Crash Vegas and Junkhouse – provided a treat with the acoustic One Light Left in Heaven, then were joined by Keelor on Over One.
“We’re going to try something new. It’s our future as a bluegrass band,” Cuddy joked as the trio gathered at a single mic.
The cuts were mostly deep for the first three quarters of the show, Cuddy and Keelor trading turns singing songs like You’re Everywhere, Dark Angel, Palace of Gold and I Can’t Hide This Anymore, sprinkled with hits like Diamond Mine.
The lack of familiarity for casual fans played out, as it usually does at most shows just about anywhere.
“Play some oldies, please,” shouted one fan, politely of course.
Blue Rodeo obliged, finishing with a slew of hits, starting with What Am I Doing Here, which morphed into 5 Days in May and a semi-karaoke version of Hasn’t Hit Me Yet, the two leads leading a sing-a-long, sans microphones, from the edge of the Auditorium stage, a fitting song for a cold, albeit January, night.
Try and the finale, Lost Together, with openers Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins, sent the crowd home happy, yet another Blue Rodeo triumph in the books.
So what do you think? Should we do it all over again next year? I know where my vote stands.
