One of the albums that always seemed to be close to me throughout my childhood was Tom Cochrane’s 1991 release Mad Mad World. As I walked into the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on February 28 to check out Cochrane’s stop here in Victoria on the 25th anniversary tour for the album, the lack of people at the concession didn’t help my skepticism in thinking that age may have gotten the better of him. Then he started playing.
He opened with the album’s title track and I thought, “Damn, this is what heartland rock should sound like.” His smooth but raspy voice and legendary trademark howls during “No Regrets” and “Life Is a Highway” invigorated the mind and got the heart pumping.
The show—like Cochrane—was Canadian through and through. His selfless ability to make sure that everyone from his bass player and drummer to his back-up singers—who he joked were part-time WestJet flight attendants—got recognized for their work was a breath of fresh air in a world of self-centred egotistical artists.
His impromptu cover of “Hit The Road Jack” carried with it an enjoyable “northern Canadian small-town bar” feel. He was intimate with the crowd, never shying away from sharing the motivations behind songs, be it personal (“Life Is a Highway” came after a trip to Africa where Cochrane encountered extreme poverty) or political (before playing “Lunatic Fringe,” Cochrane leaned toward the mic and said, “Freedom is not something you were born with; freedom is something to protect… Canada is one of the last great democracies in this world.”).
His lyrics can still send shivers up the spines of poets and lawyers and construction workers alike. Not to mention that even at 63 years old, Cochrane had a sea of by-and-large 40-plus-year-olds up and rocking along with him at every beat; at one point, one woman began to charge madly up and down the aisle. He wasn’t afraid to slow it down for a song or two with “Sinking Like a Sunset” and “The Secret Is to Know When to Stop.” Although he was open about his age, (at one point joking, “I’m losing my train of thought. That’s what happens when you get frickin’ old!”) these songs sounded better live than they did on the album 25 years ago.