Guess Who Rocked the SAC Event Center?

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The Guess Who put on a landmark rock show for the Seneca Allegany Casino

Article | Mon, 06/06/2011 - 02:48 | By Andrew Cauley

Andrew Cauley

The lights dim and Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” begins to play, echoing off the walls as five men take to the stage. A single spotlight comes on, and droning guitars weave into the quilted web of noise as each player takes his instrument. Is it the Super Bowl? Not quite. It’s only The Guess Who at the Seneca Allegany Casino on Saturday night, but for the casino, it may have been an equally momentous performance.

Originally hailing from Canada, The Guess Who are best known for their Vietnam-era, anti-war hit “American Woman,” a song bemoaning the war and the U.S. draft practices of the day. It is a song that received chart-topping success in it’s own day and was reborn as a minimalist cover by artist Lenny Kravitz some years back, receiving equal recognition. However, The Guess Who are no one-hit wonders, and their easily recognizable set-list was more or less a ‘best of’ collection of hits. There’s nothing wrong with that, after all, we all want to see what we pay for, right?

Playing “Clap for the Wolfman,” the band displayed their vocal talents, with all four members up-front singing and, of course, clapping. Soon after, keyboardist and tour/band manager Leonard Shaw revealed some of his other talents by dropping the keys and picking up a flute for a flawless rendition of “Undun,” a B-side recorded after a concert at Madison Square Garden that “became a hit unto itself,” according to Kale.

Though Shaw exercised his lips a bit more on the flute than on keys, he didn’t give his fingers time for a break and executed the absolute best flute solo in a rock song I’ve ever heard, which isn’t that many outside of Jethro Tull. The band also got the crowd to join in and sing on “Laughing,” as well as on most other songs throughout the evening.

Though the performances were nearly flawless, and the band is now utilizing technology to replicate “all the other moments that cannot be reproduced by players on stage,” as drummer Peterson states, I couldn’t quite help the feeling that something was just a tiny bit off. Good – rocking, even, but a little bit off.

The thing is, The Guess Who aren’t really The Guess Who anymore. The band addressed the audience and noted that there have been changes in the band’s lineup throughout the years. Maybe there’s a bit of irony in the fact that there are only two original and founding members, Jim Kale on bass and Garry Peterson on drums, but then again, maybe it isn’t all that funny. After all, we all want to see what we pay for, right? Well, when a guy in his late thirties or mid-forties who I very seriously thought was Sebastian Bach takes the stage with long, blonde, highlighted hair, you’ve got to wonder if something isn’t a little bit off, especially when the other members are all gray, and very obviously… older.

It turns out it wasn’t Sebastian Bach, but you might not have been able to tell even if you weren’t looking, because lead vocalist Derek Sharp also sounds an awful lot like Sebastian Bach. Sharp has been a professional musician since age fifteen according to The Guess Who’s website, and now adds the band to an already rather impressive list of bands and collaborators. Laurie Mackenzie joins the band currently as lead guitarist. However, Sebastian Bach meets The Guess Who really does come out sounding like The Guess Who, and the band brought a polished and enthusiastic concert. Sharp’s youthful and energetic performance helped to rejuvenate the crowd.

“Time is money. Look at these guys; they aren’t getting any younger,” Sharp joked to the crowd, referring to his fellow band mates.

Although the audience at the Seneca Allegany Casino tends to be a bit older, Sharp and the band managed to get the most authentically enthusiastic reception I’ve ever seen at the Event Center. He continued to encourage fans to stand up and even come up front and fill the aisles.

“It’s a rock show,” Sharp teased.

Maybe a little playful prodding is all the audience needed, because for the first time I’ve ever seen at the SAC Event Center, the crowd actually did come up front, and audience members sang louder than the sound system throughout the evening for such hits as “No Sugar Tonight.”

Towards the end of the set, Sharp and Mackenzie flaunted their skills on their six strings with a call and answer solo session, and again, it was one of the best of such highlights I’ve ever witnessed in live performance. Mackenzie coaxed every possible tone imaginable from his heavily modified Strat, the only guitar he used throughout the evening, from glassy single-coil cleans to serious squelching leads. Sharp managed to pull an equally impressive number of sounds from an old Les Paul Custom, pulling some earthy woman tones out in addition to the standard Gibson growl. Peterson also let loose on an extended drum solo later in the set.

After an extended jam session and several other songs, including “Hand Me Down World” and “Share the Land,” which the band dedicated to the Seneca Indian Tribe, the band closed with an extended rendition of “American Woman.” Sharp performed the tune admirably, and aside from the prolonged intro, the track was spot on with the recording. Women cut loose dancing independently in the aisles, maybe in a nod to the era of free love and rebellion, and the entire audience sang along to a tune that continues to bring Americans together to this day.

Although opening with an intro as theatrical as “O Fortuna” would normally be placing expectations a little too great on any band, The Guess Who managed to deliver with a performance that left audience members begging for more, filling the Event Center with booming applause the likes of which I’d never heard for such a small venue. The band once again delivered with “No Time,” and “These Eyes,” as well as with a soulful rendition of Little Richard’s “Lucille.”

Thanks to The Guess Who and the Seneca Allegany Casino for a great show. It’s not everyday that even the Casino scores this big, but it was a very pleasant surprise. For upcoming events, check the Seneca Allegany Casino’s website and continue to check back with Odeum Entertainment.

About the Author

Andrew Cauley

Writer/Photographer

Andrew is a writing major at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. He also enjoys listening to, playing, writing, and recording music.

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