
Burton Cummings at the CNE
Burton Cummings played the CNE Bandshell this summer once again. I have seen Burton many times over the years both with the Guess Who and solo at the Grandstand, but now the Grandstand is no more. I have seen him three times at the bandshell, in 1983 at the Guess Who reunion, 1999 doing Up Close and Alone, and this year on Aug 18.
Allan and I arrived early, about 2:30 pm to get a good placement in front, and we sure enough were right against the stage wall. A lot of the Faithful were there, some as early as 9 am. When we arrived there were a sprinkling of people, but between 2:30 and 4:30 the crowd was starting to grow. Opening for Burton was Tomi Swick, a country singer from Hamilton.
At about 8:30 the Carpet Frogs, also known as the Burton Cummings Band came on the stage, Michael Zweig picked him his acoustic guitar and the familiar notes of No Sugar Tonight filled the air. Moments later from backstage, to a thunder of applause, came Burton with a huge smile on his face.
Over the next two hours we heard all the hits we came to hear and more. Hand Me Down World, Wolfman, a superb version of My Own Way to Rock, a fun Louie Louie and many more. Burton and the band were energized by the crowd, and put on a great great show. Shout outs for Ivor from his Saturday night Video Music show, and for Allan for his 360 photography; Burton took a moment to talk about his book of poetry and gave a copy to one lucky lady.
Here are my photos from Aug 18











































