{"id":33523,"date":"2023-08-31T21:15:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T01:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=33523"},"modified":"2023-08-31T21:15:07","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T01:15:07","slug":"oowatanite-it-was-with-april-wine-in-machell-park-at-ribfest-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/oowatanite-it-was-with-april-wine-in-machell-park-at-ribfest-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOowatanite\u201d it was with April Wine in Machell Park at Ribfest 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Review by Jim Stewart<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of classic rock fans filled Machell Park on Saturday night to enjoy the latest incarnation of April Wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Parent, the band\u2019s dynamic new lead singer and guitarist who succeeded April Wine\u2019s original vocalist Myles Goodwin earlier in March, took the audience down memory lane at Machell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backed by veteran guitarist Brian Greenway, who\u2019s been with April Wine since 1977, bassist Richard Lanther, and drummer Roy \u201cNip\u201d Nichol, Parent plowed through the April Wine catalogue and, if you closed your eyes, the sounds of Myles Goodwyn seemed to emanate from the smoky stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Magna and Desjardins sponsorship banners fluttering on either side of the stage, Parent, Greenway, Lanther, and Nichol warmed up the packed Ribfest venue with \u201cEnough is Enough\u201d and \u201cSay Hello\u201d\u2014a pair of chart-toppers from 1982 and 1979 when the band was at its commercial peak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It sounded like vintage April Wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four-man ensemble moved seamlessly from hit to hit as thousands of fans swayed to the tunes and danced off their beer tent fare and tasty rib dinners derived from Billy Bones BBQ, Sticky Fingers, Uncle Sam\u2019s, Camp 31, and Tater King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vendors\u2019 neon-lit signs on the western edge of the park provided background illumination as did the midway on a damp, cool, overcast August night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parent showed off his vocal range as he rolled into \u201cCoulda Been a Lady\u201d with the twang of his predecessor and showed off his lead guitar licks during the delivery of April Wine\u2019s first big hit \u201cFast Train.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parent\u2019s showmanship inspired the chanting of familiar choruses, thus showing the band\u2019s brand is safe with its new front man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanther\u2019s throbbing bass runs during \u201cWheels of Love\u201d and periodic lead vocals by Nichol behind the drum kit gives this newest version of April Wine much versatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lanther and Nichol are veteran band members, having toured with Greenway and Goodwyn for thirteen and eleven years, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quartet\u2019s cohesive quality was evident as it sped through to the crescendo of the concert, especially their delivery of \u201cI Like to Rock\u201d from 1979\u2019s Harder\u2026Faster, \u201cRock and Roll is a Vicious Game,\u201d and \u201cTonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love\u201d from their double-platinum album Stand Back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The back-to-back-to-back presentation of \u201cJust Between You and Me,\u201d \u201cNight of the Gypsy Queen,\u201d and \u201cRoller\u201d drove the quartet to a big finish that featured searing guitar solos by Parent and Greenway as well as the percussive power of Lanther and Nichol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back by popular demand, the highlight of April Wine\u2019s encore was the legendary Jim Clench song \u201cOowatanite\u201d from Stand Back that Parent and Greenway covered brilliantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nichol delivered the signature fire bells to open the song much to the delight of those gathered and concertgoers exited Machell Park having witnessed one of Canada\u2019s finest classic rock bands in fine, reconfigured form from start to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s noteworthy that the legendary Myles Goodwyn delivered his final performance as the lead vocalist of April Wine on March 2 in Nova Scotia after fifty-plus years on the road. However, based on the band\u2019s performance on Saturday night in Aurora, the vocal and guitar work of Mark Parent and Brian Greenway\u2019s enduring 46-year presence show that perhaps rock and roll isn\u2019t always a vicious game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it just rolls along amicably as April Wine seems to do–delivering classic rock tunes to appreciative audiences on both sides of the border.<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Review by Jim Stewart Thousands of classic rock fans filled Machell Park on Saturday night to enjoy the latest incarnation of April Wine. Marc Parent, the band\u2019s dynamic new lead singer and guitarist who succeeded April Wine\u2019s original vocalist Myles Goodwin earlier in March, took the audience down memory lane at Machell. Backed by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/2023-08-31-05.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8IH","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 05:08:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}