IN CONCERT
Journey with Loverboy and Night Ranger
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre (1925 Blanshard St.)
Tickets: $79.50/$99.50 (plus service charges) at the Save-on-Foods Memorial box office, by phone at 220-7777, or online at selectyourtickets.com and livenation.com
Rock 'n' roll is a young person's game. But there's nothing in the rule book that says the old guard can't stop by for a few kicks at the can from time to time.
Even if it means a few trips to the doctor are in order afterward. "I still don't know what the hell I'm doing out here," joked long-time Loverboy frontman Mike Reno, taking a break from his band's current tour with Journey.
"I've got kneepads on and balm on both knees and ankles and people rubbing A535 on my back. I'm up there for an hour, singing my lungs out, and it takes three days to recover. But I'm still loving every minute of it. I really am."
It's no coincidence that Lovin' Every Minute of It also happens to be one of Loverboy's' bigger hits. The group, which formed in Calgary in 1979, is known for its down-to-earth attitude, a mindset reflected in the group's catalogue of music.
Loverboy - which at one point in the early 1980s was one of Canada's most popular musical exports - was something of a sleeper, Reno said. No one expected much from the group, which has made its continued success all the sweeter in recent years.
"You can compare it to being an NHL hockey player. There's a lot of musicians, but hardly any of them make it. If you do, you usually get a six-or seven-year ride. This is 32 years for us. We're totally respectful of it, and honoured to still be doing what we love to do after all these years."
Loverboy's current tour with Journey is a full-on reunion, a modern version of a string of dates in 1981. The Canadian rockers were the opening act for the San Francisco arena stars on the Escape Tour, which included a four-night stand at The Forum in Los Angeles.
Reno is still in awe of how decadent touring life was back then. "Those were great times," he said, punctuating his comment with a loud laugh. "We both had hit records out - they had Escape and we had Get Lucky. Can you imagine the chicks that used to come and see us? We're all in our 20s, we're all single and we're touring. It was insane. Everything that you can imagine happening, times it by 10."
Journey has often toured with Canadians, but there's a kinship with Loverboy, it would appear. Reno agrees wholeheartedly. In fact, when the two acts got back together in July for the first stop on Journey's current tour, which brings both acts (along with Night Ranger) to Victoria on Tuesday, they met with open arms.
"It was like a high school reunion. We walked in the building and they were all there, and we threw our arms up in the air and went, 'Wow.' We spent an hour talking and hugging."
The Vancouver-based Reno and his bandmates - guitarist Paul Dean, drummer Matt Frenette, keyboardist Doug Johnson and bassist Spider Sinnaeve - have noticed a paradigm shift with respect to bands that rose to fame in the '80s. Loverboy's last Victoria performance, in 2005, came while the kitschy '80s revival was in full swing, which meant people were seeing groups like Lover-boy and Journey with a smirk instead of a smile.
These days, there's no novelty aspect to what Loverboy is doing. Turn Me Loose, Lovin' Every Minute of It, Working for the Weekend and The Kid is Hot Tonite sound as good now as they did then.
"The reason is, the music is good. It's fun and you remember it and the players are excellent. I don't know if that's the case for a lot of younger bands."
After going on hiatus in 1989, the group reunited at a benefit concert in 1992. Even during its absence, two things remained constant: Reno's trademark leather pants and his ever-present headband.
Selections from his collection of leather pants still make appearances, although some have been donated to museums or charity auctions. His bandanas, however, have remained a fixture.
"I started wearing them because the sweat would make my eyes sting. I used to cut the sleeves off my T-shirts and put the sleeve on my head to soak up the sweat. That's really how it started. One day at a gig, I said to a roadie, 'Cut my sleeve off!' I put the thing on my head and my eyes stopped stinging. Really, that's the reason why I wore it. I didn't do it as a fashion statement."
Reno had humble beginnings, which made his ascent to stardom all the more impressive. Born Joseph Michael Rynoski in New Westminster, he moved to Victoria with his family at an early age. Reno has vivid memories of selling what is now the Times Colonist at 10, his first official job. "I was rolling in it. I bought a set of drums when I was 12, and paid cash with my own money."
The Rynoski family moved to Penticton soon after, and then Calgary. It was there he formed Lover-boy with Dean, Johnson and Frenette (Scott Smith, who joined shortly thereafter, was killed in a boating accident in 2000; he was replaced by Sinnaeve in 2001.)
In 2009, the group was named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame - joining Neil Young, The Guess Who, Rush, Joni Mitchell and others. The band has endured, Reno believes, because of the nature of its music.
"I've been to a few concerts where they break into negative stuff, and go dark. And I think, 'Dude what are you so depressed about? Shake it off.' "
