The Guess Who

This was the best concert I have seen in the last year or two. It was very entertaining and brought back a lot of great memories from my high school days. If you get a chance to see this band do yourself a favor and go. You will get to hear some great music, great vocals and be throughly entertained. I would travel several hundred miles to see them again but it was awesome to have them here in the Black Hills. JOB WELL DONE!!

Awesome! Awesome and did I mention awesome?!? They rocked it!!! I love their new stuff!! Absolutely go if you are thinking about it you will not be disappointed!! We were in the 4th row and it was definitely worth the price.. we got to meet part of the group when we saw them in the elevator

The Guess Who: 1/26/24 “My name’s DAve and it’s been 48 days since my last concert. Happy to report, I survived! Folks had been asking about my next show for a month and a half to which my simple reply was ‘guess who?’ So with ‘no time’ to spare I kept ‘these eyes’ on the road ‘laughing’ all the way to Atlanta Georgia. It was my first time visiting the Buckhead Theatre, an 1800 seat art deco venue which originally opened in 1930 and has hosted artists of all genres from Ray Charles to Papa Roach. It was also my first time seeing the Canadian rock band formed in 1965 LIVE! The show in support of their latest album, 2023’s ‘Plein D'Amour’ (which is actually a well done release) was the 8th of a 29 date tour running from December to May. Long gone are classic members Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, however the band still features Garry Peterson on drums from the very beginning. In addition to Garry are those coined as ‘nostalgia members’: Derek Sharp since ’08 on lead vocals and rhythm guitar (his list of credits is vast with regards to acts that he has either produced, recorded or toured with); Michael Staertow since 2021 on lead guitar (former guitarist for Foreigner’s Lou Gramm); and joining as recent as last year are Teddy ‘Zig Zag’ Andreadis on keyboards (former Guns N Roses touring musician) and Greg Smith on bass (formerly Rainbow ’93-’97 and Ted Nugent ’07-’22). With 21 albums and 24 US singles the Canadian Hall of Fame band’s setlist was bound to deliver! The show itself was a sell out. My seats were last row center orchestra, but entering as soon as the doors opened, I bolted up to the front row stage side to take in the view. It was a simple stage set from left to right with guitars, drum kit (complete with the classic logo on the drum head), bass, and keyboards. The band’s logo was also projected on the curtain backdrop, there were no video screens. What caught my attention off the bat were a number of classic Fender amps aimed strategically in various directions in order to deliver that vintage 1970’s sound. During the actual show I made my way to the balcony and then to the back of the venue, the sound quality was exactly the same in every area of the building. Not long after the scheduled start time, 7:36 p.m. to be exact, the lights went down to the recorded sounds of the Bugs Bunny Show Theme ‘This Is It’ as the band, in darkness, took their positions on stage. Once positioned, the band opened a 13 song / 1 1/2 hour performance with an instrumental cover of Henry Mancini’s ‘Peter Gunn’. Immediately following, the band delved into the first cut off the new release ‘The King’. To the uninitiated listener the song could have doubled for a Queen number from the 1970’s, the harmonies were amazing and the guitar work was much like Brian May’s. Frontman Sharp wasted no time interacting with the audience sitting on the edge of the stage with his legs dangling in the air he addressed us. ‘How you doing.’ ‘I’m really happy to see everyone.’ ‘I love coming to this part of the country, number one because I’m from Canada.’ Mentioning how the humidity made it a bad hair day for the four members with long hair, he turning to Garry on drums jesting, ‘How’s your hair doing buddy, you got the thing you’ve been wearing on your head for 100 years (referring to his headband), now you’re sponsored by Nike.’ ‘Well this fellas been playing the drums for seventy-four years and May twenty-sixth this year it’ll be seventy-five years.’ Peterson, the founding father of the organization simply replied, ‘I’ve been in this band the better part of six decades… I don’t think I could’ve imagined a better life.’ A trio of classic’s immediately ensued, ‘Clap For The Wolfman’ was first, a #6 back in 1974. The audience gladly joined in participation responding in unison with three handclaps on cue during each chorus. ‘Undun’ a well known single with a surprisingly low #22 peak performance in 1969, was instrumentally perfect, including Sharp’s flute solo. The only distinguishable difference, and it was a pretty big one, was not hearing it coupled with the original vocals. ‘No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature, a number one from 1970 rounded out the mini-set with everyone on their feet. Sharp led a sing-a-long portion of the chorus portion isolating each portion of the room, beginning with the right side, ‘Da-un-do-dow dow, da-un-do-dow’, next the center, and finishing with the left side. Ending the song, he polled the audience, ‘I’m gonna take a survey, how many people get up at least twice each night?’, with most everyone in the well seasoned audience responding hand raises. ‘We’re getting to the age where looking like our grandmothers, but what the hell, we’re alive!’ The band spattered in another off the new release, ‘People Around Me’, the second of a total of four during the course of the evening which began to take on the feel of a tale of two bands. Don’t get me wrong by any means, the new material is really good but could be considered more ‘progressive’ than classic’, that being said, the band did a good job blending the two sounds. Sharp in gratitude premised the song by thanking the fans for 1.2 million streams, ‘Whoever is buying and listening, we just wanna thank you because we really didn’t expect it’. After the song Garry was left alone on stage to introduce 1965’s #22 hit ‘Shakin All Over’. Chad Allen the song’s original lead singer had recently passed just a month ago. Garry reminisced, ‘I will play the song every night that we play until there is no more band’. The track featured extended solos from both guitarists, each on matching classic black Gibsons, first was Staertow then Sharp, each solo noteworthy, edgy, and driven. The four vocalists then circled around a single microphone for a performance of ‘Headline’ from the new release which began with an intro of The Beatles ‘Because’ from the ‘Abbey Road’ album. The performance was brilliant with the new song having a decisive ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash’ sound to it. Another trifecta of classics ensued beginning with ‘Hand Me Down World’, a #17 from 1970. Sandwiched in between was another from 1970, their #10 ‘Share The Land’. A bass guitar solo which kicked off with a harmonica solo by keyboardist Teddy Zig Zag, aka The Wolfman then formed. Upon completion, Sharp called out, ‘Give me an “A”, give me a “M”, give me an ‘E”, does anyone know where I’m going with that?” We all knew, it was the number one classic hit ‘American Woman’ complete with a guitar solo performed by Michael Staertow while lying on his back mid-stage! In fact given the age of the band, I was completely surprised at the amount of movement about on stage by its members. No one stayed in one place very long, numerous times taking position on the drum riser interacting with the single stationary member keeping timing on the kit. And just like that the regular set was over. Having gotten a peak of the set list on the stage floor I mentioned to my neighbor to the left, ‘Don’t leave yet’. He had appeared somewhat disgruntled at what seemed to have been only an hour and fifteen minute performance himself just coming away from his last concert, a three hour Springsteen show. The three song encore concluded with stellar performances of two of the Guess Who’s biggest from 1969, ‘These Eyes’ and ’No Time’ with band intros! The show ended precisely at 9:06 p.m. with fistfuls of guitar picks being flung into the audience as far as could be thrown. The themes of music and love were highlighted all evening long, befitting of the English translation of the band’s 2023 release, ‘Plein D'Amour’, i.e. ‘Filled With Love’. Noteworthy was the omission of Canada’s number one, a number ten in America, 1969’s ‘Laughing’. As a side note, the Guess Who’s name is currently owned by original bassist Jim Kale who is now retired but has allowed the name to be used by the current lineup of musicians. Early in 2023, Bachman and Cummings sent multiple cease-and-desist orders to the current Guess Who, accusing them as being a cover band of misleading the public. However the group under the leadership of Garry Peterson continues on, giving classic rock lovers the opportunity to capture those classics LIVE and in person. It made for a truly overall memorable experience. As I made the two and a half hour trek homebound I was rest assured of one thing, there would be no sugar tonight in my coffee!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #846)

I was led to believe that Randy Bachman & Burton Cummings were The Guess Who not some heavy metal rockers. The Musician ship was very goodI I will never pay money to see this group again & I wouldn’t have paid $85.00 to pay to see a tribute band. I feel that this was false advertising. The Venue is great but I feel that the announcer was as playing along the intended deception.

Great to see The Guess Who again especially Gary Peterson! They sounded very much like the original guys 😉👍. The vip experience was also a good time.

INCREDIBLE! I remember #ShakingAllOver- but don’t think I ever KNEW it was THEM! #ClapForTheWolfman came back to mind quickly- but song was half over before I remembered that was THEIR song TOO! I hope I get to see them again! #RPFundingCenter is a very nice venue

Great show! I'd seen the guys before so knew it would be fun. The music holds up still today, and I enjoy the banter and sense of humor as well. I'd advise anyone who gets the chance to catch the band live. Orleans did a great warm up also.

It was a great show, I’ve listen to them when I was younger and now I went to see them first time. I wish I could have seen the original band members , the only one left is the drummer.

They ROCKED THE RIVERS!!! They were awesome!! I hope they come back again and again!!!

Outstanding Concert! Took me back to Junior High School Music playing in the cafeteria.

Great show and solid musicians! Go see them if you have the chance! The original Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson still knows how to rock!

They rocked ❤️👌🎸🎤🎹🎼 I will always go see them when they come to town they put on A fantastic they always do it’s only my third time seeing him but when they come next year I will be there with my sister from another mother. They are wonderful to watch see in here they never disappoint

It was just great !! And our server Lucky was really in top of it all ! Very great venue and hi all the time ty !’

The band stays true to their original & new music ... they will rock your socks off...or slippers if y’all aren’t wearin’ socks! 🤟🎶💕🤓

It was a fun filled night at the Helwig Winery Amphitheater in the beautiful Shanendoah Valley. Sangria & Song

Show was great. Liked it so much I came home and bought tickets to their upcoming Rhode Island show! 👍🏻

These musicians are truly at the top of their game! So impressive to see the flute, saxophone, and harmonica incorporated. Loved the songs, the performance, and they didn’t miss a beat!!

Awesome, awesome, awesome as always. always a big favorite of mine. just love the Guess Who🎶💜🎵💝💙💛💚❤🇺🇸📷

We had a blast! These guys love what they do. Their enthusiasm is infectious. I walked away with their positive energy feeling good.

Incredible show and performance!! Excellent musicianship...everyone sounded great. These guys put on a totally rockin' show, one you definitely wouldn't want to miss!