11TH ANNUAL ROYAL BANK AQUAFEST (2001) - HAMILTON
GODDO IN PERFORMANCE
The frontman for Goddo - the one and only Greg Godovitz - led this powerful trio dressed in a black nehru-collar morning jacket and matching trousers, complete with some funky red sneakers - great fashion sense! The stately gentleman of rock guitar - Gino Scarpelli - looked the part, wearing slim leather pants and matching fringe jacket, complementing that oddly appealing cascade of long, flowing gray hair. Their more down-to-earth drummer - Doug Inglis - was sporting the deceptively casual khaki look, while ready, willing and able to do rock'n'roll battle. With onstage cameramen constantly in their faces throughout the set, which must have been unnerving, Goddo put on one of the best shows I've ever heard from them, including my favourite slow track, the John Lennon-influenced "Tough Times", which segued into a smokin' version of "Cock On", with Gino psychedelicizing on lead guitar, Doug pounding the bejesus out of the drums and Greg doing double-time on the bass. (I'd be willing to bet that The Pretenders were inspired by this track for "Room Full of Mirrors"). During a version of "Keep It Under My Hat", where Greg exercised his vocal prowess by holding a particularly lengthy note, he got a good-natured dig in at Burton Cummings, saying that Burton probably could have held the note longer because he gets paid more. And, ta dah, Greg even donated a copy of his autobiography, Travels with My Amp, to a buxom female dancer, Debby, who had been invited onstage for "Sweet Thing", Greg commenting as she left the stage, "That's much more woman than I could handle"! While they had a really tough crowd to work (first time I've ever seen the majority of an outdoor crowd SITTING DOWN to loud, driving, hard-rock music!), the "bad boys" eventually won over at least the hard rockers for a well-deserved encore, with Greg and Gino trading bass and lead guitar duties, respectively and excellently. I can't even imagine how The Knack could have topped this act!
By D.D. Rocker |
