Artpark wrapped up their 2016 season with a trio who are inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Burton Cummins, April Wine and Buffy Sainte Marie capped off the season under what may have been the most perfect weather conditions. The near capacity crowd that included a lot of Canadian travelers enjoyed a longer night of music due to it being 3 acts on the bill. Artpark traditionally books only 2 acts but on this night, some of the best from our northern neighbor entertained the WNY area.
First up was 75 years young Buffy Sainte Marie. Sainte Marie looks amazing and gave an inspiring performance. The native Canadian singer songwriter political activist captivated the audience with her folk and rock mix. Her stories of spiritualism along with her words of fight against the establishment reminded me of a mix between Joan Baez and Yoko Ono. She still is cranking out new material and is still on support of the 2015 release “Power in the Blood.” Besides playing the aforementioned, she also played her most well known tune “Universal Soldier” and capped off her set with a pow wow lead by her drummer as they exited the stage.
Formed in 1969, April Wine is still going strong led by original members Myles Goodwyn and Brian Greenway. The band hasn’t played the WNY area in a few years so it was good to see them back. The band cranked out hits like “Just Between You and Me” and “Sign of the Gypsy Queen.” My favorite track “Enough is Enough” was played and sounded the way it should have. A track that is now making it into the setlist the last few years is the B side “Say Hello.” They ended with the crowd favorite “Roller.”
Headlining was former Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings. I must admit, the last time I saw him perform in Lockport in 2011 I didn’t care too much for the set. Cummings took the stage at almost 9 pm and wasted no time getting into the classics “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.” Always the spitfire, Cummings won’t mince words and will let you know what he is thinking. He called the current version of The Guess Who a karaoke band and had some other words about them throughout the set. The wounds still run deep but regardless of feelings, this didn’t stop Burton and his band from providing an electrifying show. Every hit that the band had was performed including the anthem “American Woman.”
Cummings talked about how they broke in America by playing a TV show called The Midnight Special. He dedicated the song “Clap for the Wolfman” in memory of the late host. He reminised how at such a young age he received his 2nd gold record from Dick Clark. It was for the song ‘Laughing.”
Cummings played a strong set laden with hits that put a nice bow on the 2016 season. We mentioned this band being in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, what about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Their history speaks for itself and hopefully the board will see that soon enough!
Burton Cummings setlist:
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature (The Guess Who song)
Hand Me Down World (The Guess Who song)
Clap for the Wolfman (The Guess Who song)
Laughing (The Guess Who song)
Guns Guns Gunds (The Guess Who song)
Stand Tall
Albert Flasher (The Guess Who song)
Louie Louie (The Guess Who song)
These Eyes (The Guess Who song)
Star Baby (The Guess Who song)
My Own Way to Rock
American Woman (The Guess Who song)
No Time (The Guess Who song)
Encore:
Share the Land (The Guess Who song)
We would like to thank Maria Hays for the credentials fort his show as well as the 2016 season.
