Burton Cummings didn鈥檛 disappoint.
As soon as the music legend walked out on the stage, he captivated the sold-out crowd at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Monday.
And the Up Close and Alone tour was truly that as the Winnipeg-born Cummings was without a band.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just an Irish old age pensioner at a Japanese piano,鈥� joked Cummings, who will turn 70 Dec. 31.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping to bring back some memories.鈥�
And he didn鈥檛 waste any time doing that by opening with the 1981 single You Saved My Soul.
He then moved on to some hits from his Guess Who era, including Sour Suite, and then he regaled the crowd with a story of him and Randy Bachman separately writing two songs in the same key. They were eventually squashed together into No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.
Along the way, classics from the great Canadian song book had the audience singing along and tapping their feet 鈥� from Laughing and Clap for the Wolfman to I Will Play A Rhapsody and Stand Tall.
He also paid tribute to some of the big influences in his career by taking a crack at Bobby Darin鈥檚 Mack the Knife and The Platters鈥� Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
But beyond the music, what was revealed was Cumming鈥檚 keen sense of humour.
And there was perhaps no better example of this than when he decided to ably impersonate Gordon Lightfoot singing Rod Stewart鈥檚 Maggie May. With the crowd howling and clapping, Cummings left the piano and began bouncing towards the front of the stage, where he took several bows.
鈥淧retty silly stuff,鈥� he said.
But it wasn鈥檛 all fun and games as Cummings got serious when he played I鈥檓 Scared, a favourite of his mother鈥檚. As a child, Cummings watched mom Rhoda beaten by his biological father.
鈥淢y mom had the guts to grab me and get out of there,鈥� he said, adding that he felt comfortable telling the personal story.
鈥淭his is a beautiful room to sit and sing in and you鈥檙e a pretty good crowd.鈥�
Cummings wrapped up the performance with Break It To Them Gently, his one song that has been played on Canadian radio more than any other.
鈥淚t pinched a nerve of so many people,鈥� he said.
But that could be said about the entire evening as Cummings rekindled memories, not only of music but of days gone by. The word icon is often thrown around but Vernon truly learned what an icon is Monday night.
