While many veterans of the classic rock era are either ending their time on the road or ending their time on this planet, a slowly-dwindling amount of legendary musicians are remaining on the road, including Burton Cummings. The 77-year-old legendary voice behind The Guess Who is not only releasing new music, but continues to take to the road including a recent sold-out stop at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe, Pa. on March 9.
Seeing Burton Cummings in concert in 2025 is a unique experience. The hits – which seem to be nonstop – are there, but so are the stories. “Clap for the Wolfman,” and “Hand Me Down World” are welcome early highlights, but so are the relentless stories about Cummings fight to protect The Guess Who legacy. Just about a year ago, Cummings gave up his royalties from BMI in order to maintain publishing rights over the music he wrote and produced. It was a move that put an end to the modern-day touring version of The Guess Who, an outfit Cummings refers to as a “bullshit cover band.”
It’s a theme that kept reoccurring throughout the performance whenever Cummings would reminisce about the band’s legacy. Aside from venting about all the legal snafu that has happened, Cummings reminded everyone in attendance at the sold-out show just what a force the music of The Guess Who was when it came out. Hits like “Undun,” and “Laughing,” worked brilliantly with lesser known numbers like “Guns, Guns, Guns,” and “Bus Rider.”
This tour celebrates 60 years of Cummings being involved in music, and that accolade may have people wondering how the legendary baritone vocalist could sound in 2025. But Cummings sounds like he should at age 77. Sure, the vocals have taken a bit of a fall, but that’s not to say Cummings can’t sing. He can sing perfectly fine, just don’t go expecting to hear him sound like he did on records that are almost 60 years old. It’s an expectation that mostly all classic rockers can no longer live up to. The songs, like Cummings, have aged and taken on a new life all these years later.
More impressive is Cummings’ backing band. Most of the players have been with Cummings for years, making the music that much more enjoyable as each member is deeply familiar with all the changes and nuances that may be overlooked by rotating musicians. Guitarists Tim Bovaconti and Joe Augello were brilliant in the way they adapted the iconic riffs that were written by guitar legend Randy Bachman. Percussionist Nick Sinopoli and drummer Sean Fitzsimons provided the thumping drive of the night, while bassist Jeff Jones held it all together on the low end.
Throughout the show, Cummings light-heartedly reflected on the amount of gold records The Guess Who accumulated and saying how much he loves those same records. But there was one in particular that held a special place for him, as it was the song that broke The Guess Who into the mainstream. Cummings reminisced about the day Bachman and he worked on a simple chord progression that would become the basis to one of their most endearing hits, “These Eyes,” before delivering a passionate version that had everyone singing along.
Other mid set highlights included a run through of the J.J. Cale number “Trouble in the City,” and a brief tease of The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues,” which eventually gave way to one of the most iconic guitar riffs of The Guess Who’s career, the instantly-recognizable driving rhythm of “American Woman.” Rounding out the set proper were two anthems from the heyday of The Guess Who, the two-songs-in-one opus of “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature,” and the drum-heavy “No Time,” which saw the band draw out the main riff for several measures longer than normal before Cummings repeatedly snarled the famous ending refrain of “I got, got, got no time.”
As a special treat for the sold out crowd at Penn’s Peak, Cummings returned for an encore that began with a cover of Richard Berry and the Pharaoh’s “Louie Louie,” a song Cummings doesn’t perform too often, and one that had most of the older crowd up and dancing. Before the final song, Cummings took to the microphone to again thank the fans for continuing to support him and his music, remind everyone that the fake Guess Who is no more, and talk about writing during the hippie movement and coming up with an anthem about people coming together, “Share the Land,” which served as the perfect way to end the evening.
After a polite smile and wave to the appreciative crowd, Cummings left the stage as a man who is not only a rock legend but also someone who has such pride in his work that he will do whatever needs to be done in order to protect it. It’s safe to say that at age 77, Burton Cummings has no time for anything else.
Check out Ryan’s interview with Burton Cummings in which he discusses his history with the Guess Who and others here.
Check out the full gallery of photos of this show here.
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