Wednesday, September 5, 2012

LOVERBOY WOWS FANS, CRITICS ON TOUR WITH JOURNEY, PAT BENATAR + NEIL GIRALDO


Loverboy are not just “Working for the Weekend” these days. They’re performing overtime, wowing fans and critics alike, while on their current North American tour with Journey and Pat Benatar + Neil Giraldo through December.

The band recently released a new studio album, Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival, on Frontiers Records, featuring three new tracks, “Heartbreaker” and “No Tomorrow,” produced with their original engineer, Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi) at Bryan Adams’ famed Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, as well as “Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival, penned by Paul Dean and Mike Reno.  The group still features the original line-up of vocalist Mike Reno, guitarist Paul Dean, drummer Matt Frenette and keyboardist Doug Johnson with bassist Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve replacing the late Scott Smith. The album also includes live re-recordings of some of the band’s greatest hits like “Working for the Weekend,” “Turn Me Loose,” “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “The Kid Is Hot Tonight,” “Queen of the Broken Hearts” and “Hot Girls in Love.”

Reviews for the band’s current tour with Journey and Pat Benatar + Neil Giraldo, which began July at San Bernardino’s San Manuel Amphitheatre and ends Dec. 4 at Victoria, BC’s Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, have been ecstatic.

The Kansas City Star raved: “Loverboy’s set was punctuated by a killer rendition of ‘Turn Me Loose’ and the crowd-pleasing ‘Working for the Weekend.’”

Salt Lake Tribune was effusive in its praise: “[Loverboy] and lead singer Mike Reno haven’t lost much after decades of touring. Classics such as ‘Turn Me Loose,’ ‘Hot Girls in Love’ and ‘The Kid is Hot Tonight’ had an appreciative audience on its feet, singing along and showed that Reno can still hit the high notes. But the final song, ‘Working for the Weekend,’ might have set the tone for the night. The audience had been working all week long and seemed ready to enjoy a night of good old ‘80s rock ‘n’ roll.”

Kentucky's Scene and Heard noted:  "The band was very tight, Paul Dean was excellent on guitar, his chords and solos are the driving force of the band."

The Pioneer Press enthused: “None of these three acts dabbles in camp, but instead plays the old hits as faithfully as possible… Loverboy opened the show with a concise, seven-song set that found room for pretty much every hit…The grandstand already was hopping when they ambled on shortly after 7 p.m., and lead singer Mike Reno seemed to feed off the energy.”

Today.com got into the spirit, too, chiming in: “Loverboy is embracing its past while setting its sights on a future that … will bring them more music, fans and fun.”

Michigan Live offered: “But if truth be told, the Canadian band that still holds the record for winning the most Juno Awards in one year—six of Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards—is still working hard, and OK, loving every minute of it, too.”

For its 30-year-plus career, Loverboy has delighted audiences around the world since forming in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. With their trademark red leather pants, bandannas, big rock sound and high-energy live shows, Loverboy has sold more 30 million albums, earning four multi-platinum plaques, including the four-million selling Get Lucky and a trio of double-platinum releases in their self-titled 1980 debut, 1983’s Keep It Up and 1985’s Lovin’ Every Minute of It, not to mention having hit songs featured on multi-platinum soundtracks, like Footloose and Top Gun.

For a full list of tour dates, go to http://www.loverboyband.com/tours.html

No comments: