Rock shifted into Overdrive as BTO rolled into Ottawa
BTO, joined by the Headpins and April Wine, rocked out to a near sellout crowd on Friday night at TD Place
Classic rock is making a comeback in Canada with bands like Trooper, Honeymoon Suite, Chilliwack, Men Without Hats still selling out venues across the country. Friday night in Ottawa saw three more of those bands pack the fans into TD Place in Ottawa for what would be another high energy night of rock and roll capped off by the return of Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
The show kicked off with a set by Vancouver’s Headpins lead by Kat Lawrence on vocals. Their short, 6 song, set started out with “Don’t Matter What You Say” off of their 1985 album Head Over Heels and went through all of their biggest hits including “Don’t It Make Ya Feel”, “Turn It Loud” and more. 45 years of rockin’ and the Headpins still know how to put on a show and they definitely know how to get a crowd fired up.
April Wine took to the stage next with a different look since I saw them last. In late 2022 the group’s longtime front man, Myles Goodwin, announced that he would be leaving the band due to health issues. Goodwin passed almost a year later and has since been replaced by Marc Parent on vocals. With only Brian Greenway left in the band and no original members (Greenway joined the band in 1977) it would make you think that the sound would change, even if only slightly. That was definitely not the case with April Wine. Marc Parent has brought a fresh energy to April Wine and the band sounded better than ever.
From the opening notes of “Oowatanite” for the next hour, or so, April Wine provided the music for a giant karaoke show as the entire crowd, yes myself included, loudly sang along to every word of every song. About mid-way through the show Marc picked up Myles’ guitar and invited the crowd to turn on the lights on their phones in tribute to Myles and the legacy he left behind….the entire room lit up and it was a bit emotional as Marc sang “Just Between You and Me”.
Having been an April Wine fan for as long as I can remember Friday night’s show might just have been one of my favourite performances ever.
Randy Bachman and company hit the stage next for a Bachman-Turner Overdrive revival. The 2025 BTO had a bit more Bachman than it did Turner as Tal Bachman joined his father and his wife Koko absolutely rocked on the drums but the sound was unmistakable.
For the duration of the, almost two hour, show Randy and Tal cranked out some of BTO’s biggest hits as well as some throw backs to Randy’s “high school” band The Guess Who. I guess the biggest surprise is what they didn’t play…they completely omitted the band’s newest single “60 Years Ago” which was released earlier this year. I guess they wanted to let nostalgia run high and that it definitely did.
The show kicked off with a handful of classic BTO tunes from the mid-70s including “Rock and Roll is My Life, and This is My Song” and “Not Fragile”. They followed with a number of throwbacks to The Guess Who days starting with “These Eyes” and then covering classic hits “Laughing”, “Undone”, “No Sugar Tonight” and “No Time” before briefly shifting back into BTO mode for a pair of songs. They capped off The Guess Who portion of the night with the staple hit “American Woman”.
After “American Woman” they shifted to Tal for his smash, 1999, hit “She’s So High”. Prior to the song Tal told the audience that his daddy wrote Rock hits, his daddy wrote Jazz hits and his daddy wrote metal hits so he decided that he’d write a power pop song and it became a huge hit all around the world.
The rest of the show was all BTO including a sing along encore featuring a medley of songs bookended by “Hey You”. Randy said to the crowd, before the song, up until now we’ve done all the work…now it’s your turn. For the next bit I want you to sing like no one’s listening and dance like no one’s watching.” And that’s exactly what everyone did. From Rolling Stones hits to Bob Segar’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” the crowd, loudly sang along. Even my voice was hoarse by the end of the night.
The show ended with “Takin’ Care of Business” with images of Elvis and his gravesite on the giant screen behind the stage. (Elvis’ band was called the Takin’ Care of Business Band and his moto was Takin’ Care of Business in a Flash (TCB in a Flash)). It’s no secret that Elvis deeply influenced Bachman so it was a fitting tribute to close out the show.
With a new single in release now and, reportedly, new music in the works including a live album I guess it’s safe to say that BTO is, indeed, back in Overdrive and what’s old is new again…I for one am all for that so bring it on. If at the age of 81 Randy Bachman still sees fit to crank out rock and roll hits you can count on my ears to be listening.
The tour is in Sudbury, Ontario tonight and then visits Laval, Quebec on Monday before heading to the Maritimes for a pair of shows to wrap up the Canadian leg.
Mid-Summer will see the group co-headline their Roll On Down the Highway 2025 Tour south of the border with the Marshall Tucker Band. Special guests for the US dates include Jefferson Starship, Kansas and 38 Special on select dates.
For a full tour schedule and tickets visit Bachman-Turner Overdrive online!
Back In Overdrive Tour in Photos
Headpins - photos by
April Wine - photos by
BTO - photos by
