What to know
- Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings performed a sold-out show at Scotiabank Arena on May 30.
- The concert came months after the pair won a legal battle over The Guess Who name.
- It marked the band’s first Toronto performance as The Guess Who since SARSfest in 2003.
- The set featured classics including “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” “No Time” and “Share The Land.”
- Bachman and Cummings received a standing ovation before playing a note.
The Guess Who, the first Canadian band to ever chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the U.S. in 1969 with “These Eyes,” and the first to hit No. 1 in 1970 “American Woman,” must’ve been thrilled by the response to their sold-out Toronto show at Scotiabank Arena Saturday night (May 30).
It was packed to the rafters, and even side stage sections, and they got a standing ovation before even playing one note.
The Guess Who, the first Canadian band to ever chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the U.S. in 1969 with “These Eyes,” and the first to hit No. 1 in 1970 “American Woman,” must’ve been thrilled by the response to their sold-out Toronto show at Scotiabank Arena Saturday night (May 30). It was packed to the rafters, and even side stage sections, and they got a standing ovation before even playing one note.
Winnipeg-born Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings only won their lawsuit in September 2024 to reclaim their name from other members who were touring without them for years as The Guess Who — misleading people into buying tickets to see a “fake band” and “cover band,” as Cummings said — the singer-songwriters behind such classics as the aforementioned Billboard hits, as well as “Laughing,” “No Time,” “No Sugar Tonight,” “Undun,” and the medley “No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature.”
They did not let it ride and took care of business.
The two have toured as “Bachman-Cummings,” most recently in 2022, but the settlement enabled them, after 23 years, to finally hit the road as The Guess Who on the Takin’ It Back Tour.
Bachman, 82, and Cummings, 78, now have a very busy summer ahead.
After making their debut return in late-January at the 5000-capacity show at OLG Stage in Niagara Falls, and two more one-offs — in February on the Rock Legends Cruise XIII, and March at Hard Rock Live Hollywood in Florida — a week into almost 40 dates, heading from Moncton, NB, where it kicked off May 26, and dipping into the US for 23 dates, bouncing back up for the odd Canadian stop. They will wrap up Aug. 25 in Victoria, BC.
The Guess Who finally return as The Guess Who
The Scotiabank Arena date was their first in the city as The Guess Who since July 30, 2003, for the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto benefit concert, a.k.a. SARSfest. Bachman and Cummings got a standing ovation as soon as they stepped on the stage, perhaps a congratulations too on winning the lawsuit.
The entire floor stayed on their feet, as they launched into the instrumental opener “969 (The Oldest Man),” featuring Cummings on flute, while the stands mostly stayed seated — likely not for lack of enthusiasm, but the audience was filled with older men and women, some appearing to be in and around Bachman and Cummings age. Even Bachman, who has had health issues in the past, and is in his eighties, stayed seated the entire concert, but still played guitar superbly (but in comfort).
A night of hits
But there were people of all ages there to see a band whose songs we know without knowing how we know them, plus the songs they included in the set from what Cummings called Bachman’s “other band,” Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO), which he started after he left The Guess Who, namely 1974’s “Let It Ride” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” and the final song of the night, 1973’s “Takin’ Care of Business.”
Just two songs in, Cummings reminisced about playing Toronto for the first time.
“Randy and I have been coming here to the big city since 1967. When Randy and I first came to Toronto, the tallest building in town was the Royal York Hotel. You can hardly see it anymore. That’s how long we’ve been coming here.”
Throughout the hour-and-45 minute show, Cummings was the chatty one. He introduced the other players on stage, the “boys in the band” — drummer Sean Fitzsimons, bassist Jeff Jones, percussionist Nick Sinopoli, and guitarist Tim Bovaconti and Joe Augello, all of them contributing backing vocals — and before many of the songs, he gave us a brief intro.
For example, before “Clap for the Wolfman,” he pointed out the Midnight Special t-shirt he was wearing and said and The Guess Who appeared on the TV variety show five or six times, each time becoming better friends with host Wolfman Jack.
A grateful homecoming
Before “Laughing,” he told the story of how he and Bachman wrote it in 45-minutes on their highway bus, waiting for the ferry ride from Victoria to Vancouver, and finishing it before the ferry even left.
“We got a beautiful gold record for this song, too,” he added.
“And who did we get the record from? Dick Clark on American Band Stand. First band from Canada that ever did that. I hope this stirs up some memories for you, because Randy and I have great memories associated with this song.”
Before, “These Eyes,” he said, the song “changed their lives.”
But it was before the first of the two-song encore, “Share The Land,” that Cummings talked about Toronto again, first calling the whole night “sensational” and thanking the audience multiple times.
“Randy, can back this up: When we used to come to Toronto in the early days, we were nervous. We were nervous as hell. There were bands down here with silk suits and horn sections, and that’s where the term ‘Wheatfield Soul,’ came from,” he said, referring to Thereferring The Guess Who’s 1969 breakthrough album that contained “These Eyes.”
“Because they used to look at us like we were just farm idiots, and I was always a little intimidated coming to the big city. But, boy, tonight has sure erased that,” he said to cheers.
“Thank you for everything. Thank you for tonight. Thank you for all the years. We’ve been on the radio now for almost 60 years. That’s unbelievable. Thanks for buying all those 8-tracks and cassettes, folks.”
He then got subtly political. “I wish every single one of your long life, good health, happiness, friendships, and above everything, folks, don’t ever forget how lucky you are to live in a place like this,” bringing it back to The Guess Who again.
“Without a crowd or an audience, a band has nothing. You’re everything to us. Thank you so very, very much. We’ll leave you, and we’re gonna do a song I wrote back in the hippie days. I think it still makes sense, lyrically.”
