“Awww don’t make her sit back down, man!” – and that’s how just one person started the chain reaction that got everyone in the reserved seat section off their butts and onto their feet at the PNE’s Tom Cochrane show!
(A bit of context 🙂 A lady fan was standing slightly in the aisle and security asked her to stand in front of her seat and keep the aisle clear – all good.. Tom Cochrane saw this from the stage, had seen a handful of us stand up and then sit down again, had seen people ‘chair dancing’ and just ITCHING to stand up – so took the opportunity to get us ALL on our feet at this week’s show at the PNE.)
And what a great show it was! All the fan favourites, the radio hits, and some songs even myself as a die-hard TC fan haven’t heard before! Tom and band had a great mix of dance tunes, anthems, and softer ballads which allowed for each band member to shine in their own way – and Lunatic Fringe especially, gave guitarist and keyboard Kenny Greer the spotlight for slide guitar – haunting and eerie in the pure white stage lights, with the PNE Playland ride lights breaking up the darkness on the edges of the 8,000+ crowd.
Red Rider (Cochrane’s band) have been together forever it seems – and it shows! The band is well versed in not just playing the instruments and playing to the crowd, but in all the subtle nuances of where Cochrane wants to take a particular song on that particular night – depending on the energy the crowd feeds back to him – which to us he commented, “I can see you have the potential tonight to get crazy!” (many cheers and whistles from us).
Playing for nearly two hours, drenched in sweat, and smiling like the proverbial cheshire cat, Tom Cochrane brought not only his A-game but everything he had. Not all the high notes were hit, some of the jumps were not quite as high, but the man and his band never let up, telling Vancouver this is where the band got its start, naming venues that mostly only locals know, and generating that camaraderie with the audience that has secured him a spot not only on the big stages for 30+ years but in the hearts of fans for just as long.
With a show that was just the right length, and too short as well, he sang us out into the warm summer night air with great memories of another Tom Cochrane & Red Rider experience.. can’t wait for the next one!
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