IN CONCERT
Myles Goodwyn and April Wine
When: Monday, 7: 30 p.m.
Where: Royal Theatre (also Sid Williams Theatre, Courtenay, Oct. 30)
Tickets: $50.75, $34.75 (tel. 250-386-6121)
Did Myles Goodwyn know he'd still be rockin' at the age of 64?
April Wine's lead singer seems reluctant to wax philosophically.
"I never thought about this in terms of, 'Will this last two years or 20 years or more?' " he said from Vancouver recently. "I'm amazed today that we're still together and [with] sold-out shows everywhere. Thank you radio and thank you fans."
April Wine, which was formed in 1969, is indeed still together. Goodwyn is the only original member, though. Singer-guitarist Brian Greenway joined in 1977. Bassist Richard Lanthier and drummer Roy "Nip" Nichol are the new guys.
Die-hard devotees can expect a heapin' helpin' of classic rock. The band's hit parade includes Could Have Been a Lady, I'm on Fire for You Baby, Oowatanite, Roller and Rock and Roll is a Vicious Game.
"The show's basically the show we've been doing all summer. People want to hear certain songs, so we try to do as many of those as possible," Goodwyn said.
While April Wine did chart in the 1980s and, to a lesser degree, the early '90s, the band's greatest popularity was in the 1970s. True, it no longer sells out the Montreal Forum. However, it appears April Wine has enjoyed a modest resurgence in recent years.
In 2005, they gigged at Langford's Blue Pearl Night Club. Last year, April Wine played the 1,440seat Royal Theatre, where the band returns for Monday's show.
Goodwyn sees his band as part of an entrenched nostalgia music scene in North America, where groups from the 1960s, '70s and '80s still have loyal followings.
"A hit is a hit," he said. "My friend Rick Derringer is still playing Hang on Sloopy, you know, and Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo. Everybody's out there, still hustling a buck, you know. Everybody's enjoying it."
While not always a critic's darling ("Their work is characterized by a few good ballads repeated too many times ..." sniped The New Rolling Stone Record Guide), April Wine is undeniably one of Canada's rock success stories. In the late 1970s and '80s, they headlined arenas and outdoor stadiums. In 1981, they played for 25,000 at the CNE Grandstand. In 1977, April Wine famously opened for the Rolling Stones at Toronto's El Mocambo nightclub.
Like many long-running acts, the band weathered rough patches. April Wine more or less shut down operations in the late 1980s. Yet by 1992, the group had reunited, the next year releasing an album, Attitude, that sold well in Canada. In 2010, April Wine was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
