Classic rockers Nazareth sure know how to put on a rock show.
They played to a good sized crowd Monday, July 23. It was a classic rock show, complete with lighters lit during power ballads “Dream On” and the encore “Love Hurts.”
A fight broke out during the first encore of “Night Woman,” about the same time the third bra hit the stage, causing bassist Pete Agnew to grin a little, and maybe blush a touch.
The rest of the set was what was expected — hits and lot of hits which the good sized crowd whistled, hooted and hollered throughout.
Lead singer Dan McCafferty was a majestic frontman, grinning throughout and conducting the crowd to sing along.
Lead guitarist Jimmy Murrison broke out the 12 string guitar for their “Canadian wedding song “Sunshine,” which McCafferty got the crowd to sing along with, not that they needed the encouragement. There were a lot of slower moments.
They did a stellar version of “Dream On,” as McCafferty noted Canadian rock band Helix covered it, but the audience already knew it and sang along as they brought out their lighters. But Nazareth weren’t just about the slow stuff.
They showed they can still rock with the best of them and McCafferty still hit those high notes in all of his raspy voiced, strangled cat glory as they tore into “Turn On Your Receiver” and the mid-tempo rocker “Radio.”
He joked a “little girl from Saskatoon, I mean a little woman” wrote their next song, their big hit “This Flight Tonight,” and did a decent job of it, though a slower version of it, which still had the crowd singing along.
They were in a bluesy mood for a laid back version of “Bad, Bad Boy,” which McCafferty sent out to all the guys in the crowd.
His eyes twinkled as he introduced “a song that we wrote about 150 years ago when I was tall” and played a heart-wrenching version of Broken Down Angel.”
They wound down their official set with “Whiskey Woman,” which began with a succinct guitar solo and McCafferty brought out the bagpipes for “Hair of The Dog,” and egged on the crowd to sing along.
Their encore included “Night Woman,” followed by crowd favourite “Razamanaz,” before ending things on a slower note with “Love Hurts.”