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Randy Bachman on his 性视界传媒 days and return to PNE Coliseum 50 years later

Q&A with the guitar-rock legend
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Canadian guitar legend Randy Bachman will bring Bachman-Turner Overdrive to the PNE summer fair on Aug. 20, 2024, at the Pacific Coliseum.

Randy Bachman has rocked his way around 性视界传媒 over the years, including a memorable gig at Holland Park during 性视界传媒's Winter Olympics celebrations in 2010. He also lived here for a time, during BTO's early days.

I caught up with the Winnipeg-raised guitar-rock legend ahead of Bachman-Turner Overdrive's return to the Pacific Coliseum Aug. 20, during the PNE Summer Night Concerts.

What follows is a Q&A with the 80-year-old Bachman, who called from Victoria.

What brought you to the West Coast in the early 1970s?

Bachman: "When we left Winnipeg it had been minus-40 for 40 days 鈥 there was something biblical about those numbers, I don't know. This is early BTO, and we drove out from Winnipeg and got to Chilliwack, looked in our rear-view mirror and it was all white behind us, looked ahead and it was all 45-plus, you know. I said, 'Wow, this is it.'"

Did you stay long? 

"We stayed a week at first, then I went home, packed everything up and came back and moved to Vancouver. We weren't sure where to go and we had relatives this way. We'd hang out on the weekends and stuff, and they lived in 性视界传媒 on 125A Street on a big, beautiful hill overlooking the river and New Westminster, where I also lived, in the mayor's old house, when we got some money, you know, on Queens Avenue."

Didn't your brother (and bandmate) Robbie live here in 性视界传媒, too?

"Yeah, he bought about 10 acres near King George Highway, a beautiful place with a creek running through it, big house with a pool and barn, everything. He was a single guy who didn't have to spend any money on kids or a wife or anything, so he kind of went crazy. He had a big underground tunnel, one of those big concrete drainage tunnels, six feet around, and he put that underground from his house to his barn where he had all his drums and everything. He really did it all up, then he bought an army tank which was crazy, just having fun."

That sounds pretty rock 'n' roll, but you were more of a family man, right?

"I was 10 years older than him, so he was a wild younger brother. I had three brothers and I was always told by my parents that I had to look after the younger ones if they went out. If the street lights came on, it was time to go to bed, that kind of thing. For dinner I was told to cut four equal slices of pizza for everyone."

Do you remember the time BTO headlined at the Pacific Coliseum in the mid-1970s?

"Yeah, it's going to be very nostalgic going back there. I went there many times to see bands in concert. With BTO, so many people came, and we filmed it live there 鈥 you can search that on Youtube, a great concert. So many people came that the fire marshal came and shut it down, and then they set a limit on who could come through the door, an attendance limit. So I think BTO still holds the record there after we broke the fire laws or whatever."

Is there something special about playing a summer fair like that?

"Yeah, because everybody's there for a good time and it's all-ages 鈥 people there with their kids, two or three generations, right? So that makes for a good time, and people come as a family and enjoy it, maybe they bring a motorhome and pack a picnic, go on some rides and see a concert. It's a whole day out, a night out."

I see that your son Tal is performing live with you (along with Mick Dalla-Vee, Brent Knudsen and Marc LaFrance). How are the shows going?

"We're basically touring as BTO and keeping that family-band vibe, you know, keeping it alive. We have a video that shows us playing the PNE 50 years ago, with Fred Turner and my brother Robbie, those guys, and Tim and Blair Thornton, too. So we have video of that and everybody sings along and we dedicate that to those guys, because some of them are gone now. It's a trip. I take a break and then tell people I was in another band and we play a couple of those tunes 鈥 we'll go through a medley of These Eyes, No Time, She's Come Undone, and some more Guess Who songs, a few of those, because people want to hear them too, right. At the PNE we'll do around 90 minutes that will include a bunch of stuff. I think we're gonna have a contest where if people can prove they were there 50 years ago, they'll get some free merch (merchandise) or a commemorative T-shirt, stuff like that, so it'll be a lot of fun."

The PNE鈥檚 2024 Summer Night Concerts move into the Pacific Coliseum while the new 10,000-capacity outdoor amphitheatre is constructed on the fairgrounds in East Vancouver, kicking off Aug. 17 with Burton Cummings Band/Colin James and ending Sept. 2 with an 鈥淚 Love the 90鈥檚鈥 lineup featuring Vanilla Ice, Rob Base and All-4-One.

On the arena鈥檚 Chevrolet Stage, the concerts will also feature Amanda Marshall with Serena Ryder (Aug. 18), Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Aug. 20), Blondie (Aug. 21), John Fogerty (Aug. 22), Brad Paisley (Aug. 23), Charlotte Cardin (Aug. 25), The Commodores with The Pointer Sisters (Aug. 27), Flo Rida (Aug. 28), Blue Rodeo (Aug. 29), Ludacris (Aug. 30), Punjabi Virsa Night (Aug. 31) and Barenaked Ladies (Sept. 1).

Fair admission is included in the cost of a concert ticket, sold on . 



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news for 性视界传媒 Black Press Media
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