Photos and a review of Loverboy at Ottawa’s new Hard Rock Casino
[Melody Maloney was there for us to take photos and write the review. – AC]
The fall weather in Eastern Ontario can be all over the place. There have been heat waves, cold snaps, torrential rain, and often high winds. But on Saturday 27 September it was Hot Tonite inside Ottawa’s new Hard Rock Casino. It was because one of Canada’s biggest rock bands that emerged in the 1980s was onstage: Loverboy .
Sparing no time at all, Loverboy kicked it off strong with none other than their hit song ‘Notorious’; as they are to the hearts of many. The band was as tight as ever, grooving one beat into another. Special shout out to Doug Johnson on keyboards who set the tone with the sax solo back-to-back with a keyboard solo: double duty.
Mike Reno was wearing his trademark red bandana across his forehead. His vocals vibrated through the Hard Rock venue, taking everyone to the top! The whole audience were swaying back and forth all night. And what a venue the Hard Rock Casino is, even the band commented on how great of a solace this was.
With over 50 years of brotherhood and friendship, Mike and guitarist Paul Dean showed us the love they still have for the band and good old rock n roll. Sax and keyboard solos didn’t stop there. Slide guitar solos with Paul on guitar electrified everyone’s ears and led us from ‘Take Me To The Top’ and into ‘It’s Your Life’.
Loverboy transported us to another time and place with their sound and undeniable rock star essence. And the band gave their fans exactly what they wanted to hear: hit song after hit song from the 80s. Loverboy have 10 singles that made the top-20 on one of the Canadian and/or US music charts. It was an evening of “OMG I forgot they wrote that song!”, or a younger member of the audience who grew up listening to their parents’ music “they wrote that song?!?! Wow!”
As Loverboy continued to play fan favourites, they slowed it down for a bit with the much beloved ballad ‘This Could Be The Night’; and then picked back up again halfway through the song. Literally the whole crowd stood up and were screaming!
The set unleashed the heat with ‘The Kid Is Hot Tonite’, ‘When It’s Over’ (Mike Reno’s favourite Loverboy song), ‘Hot Girls In Love’, and ‘Turn Me Loose’. Powerful, loud, punchy, and all-out 80s!
The crowd was wild, standing and singing, cheering so loud you couldn’t even hear Mike Reno during this block of songs. They were jumping off their seats and standing in the side isles singing and dancing.
With such a connection to the crowd, telling them “We’re here because of you!” And at another point Mike told the audience about: “the first record company that ever signed Loverboy was in fact a CANADIAN company. And that the band was selling records IN CANADA, Canadians buying them, giving them love, until we got the attention of Rolling Stone themselves.” (Very interesting that they couldn’t sell records in the USA because it was a Canadian company)
Fittingly on a Saturday night, Loverboy finished off the main set with their iconic weekend hit ‘Working For The Weekend’. They then came back for a two-song encore with smash hit ‘Lovin’ Every Minute Of It’ and ultimate energy in their single ‘Jump’.
Yes, it was hot tonite, the band sounded amazing, especially with the keyboards, it was synthesizer city!
p.s. – RED PANTS EVERYWHERE!!
Mike Reno – lead vocals, guitar
Paul Dean – guitar, backing vocals
Matt Frenette – drums, percussion
Doug Johnson – keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals
Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve – bass guitar, backing vocals
