Even though the kids are all back to school, hockey practices have started, the nights are colder, the leaves are starting to blaze orange, yellow and red, and every beverage and confectionary has started to be overloaded with pumpkin spice, it’s still technically summer – at least for a few more days. And as it has been for the past 35 or 36 summers, the warmest time of the year is not complete without a visit from one of Canada’s best loved rock legends – one who has become synonymous with summer fun – especially fun involving lager, ale, patio lanterns, and rock and roll – Kim Mitchell.
As one of the last of his concerts for the summer of 2018, Mitchell and his band are coming to Belleville, Ontario on Saturday, Sept. 15, to open for another Canadian rock legend – Randy Bachman – as the local Empire Theatre celebrates its 15th anniversary as a prime live music venue, with its Empire 15th Anniversary Week festivities, including some indoor events, capping off with the show on Sept. 15 and another the evening before, featuring E-Street Band member Jake Clemons opening for Tom Cochrane outdoors in Empire Square.
“The way it works now for so many of us is that you have the Peach Fest, the Corn Fest, the Rib Fest. You get something and put the word ‘fest’ behind it and it’s an excuse for a big party. And those are the kind of gigs that are going on in the summer most of the time it seems. And they’re fantastic, and I will tell you why. What I love about them is that you’re outdoors and you’re getting that fresh air, and everyone’s in a good mood and you’re not dealing with stupid acoustics or weird sonic stuff,” said Mitchell from his home in Toronto.
“And it’s great to see the band just get better and better through the summer. As we come into Belleville, we’re coming at a time when the band is playing so well. The first part of the summer you blast into the set and things are kind of like a plane taking off, there’s a little bit of turbulence. But as the summer moves along, from note one of each show it just feels so good. And that’s what you want to achieve. You want that energy between the players. You’re not holding on for dear life, it’s just a natural groove that’s happening and it’s inspired and it’s confident.”
The summer festival circuit usually entails day-long or even weekend-long events with multiple bands on the bill. One imagines all the bands sitting around together swapping war stories over beverages. Mitchell said that happens sometimes, but usually just in passing.
“It’s kind of interesting, but let’s get something straight, guitar players don’t hang out with each other. Drummers do; drummers are constantly hanging out with each other. Guitar players don’t. So, like with Randy, whenever I see him, if he has a minute or so, we chat. When I had the radio show [on Q107 in Toronto for almost a decade] he is an awesome man with a lot of stories and is quite an entertaining dude and quite a talented dude, who has written some of Canada’s best material. But outside of that, we don’t hang out,” Mitchell said.
“And I have never really figured out why. When I was with Max Webster and we toured with Rush all those times back in the 1970s, I would hang out with Geddy Lee more than I would hang out with Alex [Lifeson]. I have a guitar player friend that I hang out with, but I hang out with him more because he works at a music store up the street and he’s Italian and we both love food, so its more to do with that. Drummers get together and they’re constantly talking about heads and hardware and gear and cymbals and that’s what it’s all about. And with any band guest list, drummers always have other drummers on their guest list. I could probably name three guitar players I have put on the guest list in my whole career. Guitar players – we like each other’s girlfriends more.”
One thing Mitchell likes about playing the larger, multi-act festivals is the increasing number of young people who attend and who appreciate the diversity on many of the bills. He believes fans in their 20s and younger aren’t as bound by genre as previous generations, and that they are willing to give any music a chance.
“There is so much variety for them. They will go to an EDM festival one week and then the next week they’re going to see Kim Mitchell. And I just think it’s fantastic that they’re not closed minded. It’s nice to see they’re open and will compromise. When I start to talk like this I start to feel a little political because the world seems so divided in some ways and it seems that young people are more accepting about everything.”
These days those young people are making up a significant portion of Mitchell’s audience, which ranges now from kids to people in their 60s and older and everything in between. Many of the older fans remember him from his days as frontman for iconoclastic rockers Max Webster, but even younger fans know that band and its hits.
Max Webster was essentially an Eastern Canadian phenomenon, one that had pockets of loyal supporters in the American northeast and parts of Europe. Today, thanks in part to Mitchell’s huge success as a solo artist throughout the 1980s and 1990s, his former band’s hit songs are played as often on classic rock radio as his own solo hits such as Go For A Soda, All We Are, Rock and Roll Duty and Patio Lanterns.
Some of those songs make it into Mitchell’s set list to this day, and more often in recent years. And its because there seems to be an ever-broadening demand to hear songs like Battlescar, Hangover, Paradise Skies, Diamonds, Diamonds and High Class in Borrowed Shoes.
“There’s probably seven or eight Max Webster tunes we can draw on and just rock out on each show. I am surprised that people still want to hear them. Most of all what I am surprised at is how popular they are further west in Canada now. Because it never used to be like that. We would play a Max tune and people look just look at each other and say, ‘when’s he going to play Easy to Tame or Rock and Roll Duty?’ There was a real dry period there,” Mitchell explained.
“But for the last couple of summers out there I would say, ‘okay, I used to be in a band called Max Webster’ and more than half the audience would go nuts. ‘Oh, so it’s okay if we play a few tunes?’ And they flip out. So, it’s been nice that way.”
This past spring Ole Music, which purchased the publishing catalogue for Max Webster’s label Anthem Records (which was started by Rush and also features their entire catalogue), released an enhance, remastered box set featuring revamped versions of all of Max Webster’s studio albums as well as a bunch of bonus material (see our article on that project here *******). Mitchell played a significant role in that project and was thrilled to do so.
“What they did was great. They didn’t just want to shelve the back catalogue or just throw something out there and not bother to consult anyone. They came to me real early and said, ‘we would love to get you involved in this so that it’s done right. And we want to do it right, we want you to be happy and we want the whole band to be happy.’ So, I thought that was very cool,” he said.
“Along the way they were sending me stuff like some artwork ideas and I sent them some stuff, and it took a few months to get it all tweaked. And at the same time, they were asking about the songs, and this and that and at one point said they found some live stuff, did I want to listen to some of that, and pick out what I liked. It was nice to be involved and that was my involvement. It wasn’t like I was just on the sidelines. They actually looked to me for a lot of the direction and the content.”
With such an extensive and popular body of work both with Max Webster and as a solo artist, it could be a problem to create a set list night after night. It is at times, although like many other veteran melodic rock touring acts such as Foreigner or Styx or Canadian bands like Trooper and April Wine, it’s primarily a hit-based set with many choices no brainers.
“Many of those bands have a set list, and a few variations of it that is sort of for the maximum pleasure for the audience, and satisfaction for the band. I play deep tracks once in a while, they’re tracks that I love to play and that I love playing, but they often don’t go over, especially at these multi-band festivals in the middle of a field somewhere. Those people just want to hear the hits. As I have told you before, I am all about customer service in rock and roll. These people are coming to see you play and they connect to certain songs and that’s what you want to do for them is connect them to those moments in their life,” he said.
“And I am happy to play them. We have weeded out songs that sort of don’t work and we slipped in something that does kind of work, as long as there is something after that is really great. There is a bit of a science to writing a set list and it’s something I learned more about when I was in radio, because it’s a little bit like programming an hour in radio. But I still do try to mix it up, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
“We played a festival in London earlier in the summer and we were on the 1980s night. So, it was Cyndi Lauper and Howard Jones, me, Platinum Blonde and Bret Michaels. We got up there and I played one song they wouldn’t know as well, which was [Max Webster tune] Waterline. I just liked the song because it has a nice thump to it, and a nice little mid-tempo pulse to it – and the audience just completely disconnected. It was like ‘give us f***ing Patio Lanterns and Go For a Soda.’ It wasn’t as bad as that, but you can sense they’re like ‘we’ve got more important things to do than listen to your deep shit right now. We’re here to hear the hits.’ And there’s nothing wrong with that. So, you go, oh, got ya, and away you go, and you get ‘er done.”
Mitchell is in a position in his career where he can play as often as he wants and tends to focus more on the tradition summer shed shows, not taking as many dates in the winter. He does do the odd one-off show, but most of the time, he is working on writing, playing guitar and the occasional recording stint down in Los Angeles with noted ex-pat Canadian producer (and former band member) Greg Wells.
So, yes folks, there is going to be new Kim Mitchell music coming … at some point. And it’s not necessarily what you might expect.
“I have been farting around with Greg, who was in my band when he was 17 and has become quite a well-known producer in Los Angeles. Man, he’s done stuff with One Republic, and did most of Katy Perry’s records. He has worked with a lot of pop artists, including Pink and Adele too. But he has also worked with Otep and some serious metal guys as well, and also some cool jazz artists like Jamie Cullum. One of his best friends is Quincy Jones, and Quincy just loves him,” he said.
“He is just a great dude. And I thought, man I don’t golf, so what else am I going to do but more music. He was really interested in some of this material of mine, which is more laid back. It’s not like I Am A Wild Party, it’s not Rock and Roll Duty, it’s not Lager and Ale. It’s more like All We Are, Feel It Burn or Easy to Tame. He heard some of this stuff I had been noodling around with and said ‘geez, I would really like to explore this side of you, because you sort of touch on it, but you never really have delivered a bunch of them.’ And we have been doing that. Because I can’t afford him, we have just been sort of doing it when he has spare time and when I do. So, there’s no real agenda, but it’s getting close to the point where we’re finishing up some of it.”
And even though Mitchell has fully recovered from a heart attack that he suffered about two and a half years ago, he still has to ensure he doesn’t push himself to hard, especially on the touring circuit. And in fact, he likes the pace and place his life is at right now. As for the future, it’s yet to be determined, as it is for most of us.
“Depending on when you ask me, I fantasize about putting the guitars away, having one electric and one acoustic and sort of playing for myself and maybe some kids come over and I show them a couple of things or a I teach a couple of them here and there. But then I think I might as well keep playing until I fall over. It gives me satisfaction. I don’t need to do it for the money any more, and I am a lucky son of a bitch to be able to say that,” Mitchell said.
“I mean, I don’t have Bryan Adams’ dough or anywhere near that, but I have enough to fill the tank up with gas and feed the dog and have a bit of fun. That’s about all I really want and what I need.”
For more information on Mitchell’s tour dates, and other happenings – including possible announcements of new music, visit http://kimmitchell.ca.
For more information on his opening gig for Randy Bachman this coming Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Empire 15th Anniversary Week festivities in Belleville, visit www.theempiretheatre.com.
Check out Jim Barber’s interview with Randy Bachman here.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
