I must admit I am a bit confused by April Wine, the quintet
from Canada. Never a huge fan, I only ever knew them from “Gypsy Queen”
and “Between You and Me.” In viewing the April Wine DVD, I
Like To Rock: Live In London 1981, I learned that this band I never
knew all that much about was a hell of a lot heavier then I ever realized.
This is a band with three lead guitar players (at least at the time this
concert was filmed) — all proficient and all with different styles.
I liken some of the tunes to Thin Lizzy with their dual-lead approach, and
others to Foghat with that kind of blues shuffle thing, and still others…well,
are pure April Wine. And though this DVD is a simple affair, without any extras
(the only stuff other than typical concert footage is some scenes of the band
traipsing around London), this is a nice 16-song testament as to what April
Wine were about way back in the day.
Opening with a couple of heavy tunes, “Big City Girls” and “Crash
and Burn,” the band rollicks through a well-played set. Very light on
staging pyrotechnics or posturing, the only real effects here were added later
in post-production; you know the typical ‘mirror’ image thing
when a guitarist takes a lead, or that ‘heat wave’ effect added
round the singer’s head. April Wine really does remind me of Foghat,
Lizzy and other bands of yore — well-seasoned players performing, light
on audience interaction, heavy on riffs and proficiency.
At the time, Myles Goodwyn is especially blistering on slide guitar on “Ladies
Man.” But we really get to experience the triple guitar attack on the
funky “Telling Me Lies,” a song utilizing three guitars to the
fore. When the band kicks into “21st Century Man” — a take
on King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” — each
guitarist takes a lead.
As I mentioned before, I was familiar with “Gypsy Queen” and
the mega hit, “Between You and Me” from MTV, but I enjoyed getting
to know more about April Wine and hearing how heavy they really were. I
Like To Rock: Live In London 1981 is a tight little set for true
April Wine fans or even those of us who would like to see (and hear) more
of what this Canadian band was all about.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
