Canadian rockers Trooper headline the Golden Spike Days’ Canada Day festivities at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody on July 1.
The band, formed in 1975 by Ramon “Ra” McGuire and Brian Smith, is best known for such hits as Raise a Little Hell, We’re Here for a Good Time, and The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car.
And, over the past four decades, the Juno-award winning group has penned more songs, earned SOCAN honours, written books and even donated memorabilia to the Canadian Museum of Civilization — a nod to their impact on the country’s music scene.
Last week, The Tri-City News caught up with frontman McGuire to talk about their upcoming all-ages performance in Port Moody:
TCN: Has Trooper played Rocky Point Park in Port Moody before? If so, when and for what occasion?
McGuire: This will be our third performance at Golden Spike Days. In 2004, we caused a bit of a stir when I failed to remember that the show was all-ages and I forgot to delete a particular expletive. Thankfully, after a heartfelt apology, all was forgiven and we returned in 2006. And now, 11 years later, we are glad to have been invited back once again.
TCN: What can we expect for the July 1 show?
McGuire: Canada Day is always a big deal show for us. As you know, we’re pretty proud Canadians. There were thousands of people at our last two shows there so we’re thinking this is going to be one of the great ones.
TCN: What makes a great rock concert?
McGuire: I guess that would be different for every kind of music fan. Some like them intimate and personal, some like them big and bombastic. Ours is definitely not big and bombastic. From our side of the stage, a great show is one where we mind-meld with the audience and we all rock together.
TCN: Who are the people in your audiences typically?
McGuire: At all-ages shows like this one, it continues to surprise us that most of the people we can see in front of us are between the ages of 16 and 25. As you get further back in the crowd, folks get a little older and then, way at the back, on lawn chairs, are the people my age.
TCN: What other songwriters/bands do you follow today?
McGuire: My taste in music stays pretty loose. My current favourite albums are by J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, 21 Pilots, and Rag ’n’ Bone Man but that can change from month to month. Lately, I’ve also been digging back into the Stax-Volt catalogue of soul and R&B — the stuff I cut my teeth on.
TCN: Besides a busy touring schedule, what else is Trooper working on?
McGuire: We do have a busy touring schedule (we’ll be flying in from Belleville, Ont., the night before our Port Moody show) but even if we didn’t we wouldn’t be considering a new album. There just aren’t enough people out there who care about new records by “classic” bands. This has been proven over and over again by much bigger bands than us. Our complete focus is on the shows these days.
TCN: What’s it like to front a band at 67 versus 27?
McGuire: It’s still a lot of fun!
GETTING THERE
SkyTrain: Hop off at the Moody Centre station and walk west to the overpass and down the ramp to the park;
Car: There’s no parking at Rocky Point Park but there will be street parking (Inlet Field Park is also available);
Bus: Visit tripplanning.translink.ca to plan your route to the park.
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ELSEWHERE IN THE TRI-CITIES...
Port Coquitlam: Canada Day celebrations start at 8 a.m. at Lions Park and continue after noon at Castle Park with music from the Jocelyn Pettit Band, Joe Fernandes Band, The Heels, PoCo’s own Chersea and Jordan Klassen.
Coquitlam: Town Centre Park is where the action is until 10 p.m. At 12:30 p.m. the Coastal Sound Children’s Choir hits the stage followed by Rollin’ Trainwreck, Mazacote, Uzume Taiko, The Giggle Dam Band and, at 8:30 p.m. a Battle of the Bands with Off the Record facing off against The Ticket.
