Penticton’s golden boy, Mike Reno is eagerly awaiting his triumphant return to his hometown.
The frontman of one of Canada’s most beloved classic rock groups, Loverboy, will make his way back to the South Okanagan on Sept. 4, to play what will be the band’s first-ever show at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
“I am really looking forward to playing the SOEC, I haven’t even been inside of it yet and so I am playing in there is really going to be something,” said Reno.
Being in back in Penticton will be really exciting for me too, I hope I will be seeing a lot of my friends and that the whole town will come out and join us for a good time.”
Reno first moved to the Okanagan when he was only in the fifth grade and according to him, he went through a brief hazing period before becoming an official Pentictonite.
“I showed up to town in my Beatles jacket, Beatles boots and my Beatles hat, and I think I got beat up about three times in my first week,” he laughed.
Photo credit: NowMediaReno with Loverboy in Kelowna at Rock the Lake 2016
“It was all part of the hazing process and after that, I started to fit right in, it was a great place to grow up.”
Reno not only helped to kick start the city’s now booming music scene but attributes part of his own passion and success to Penticton, as it is was the birthplace for one of his first musical ventures.
“My brother and I used to have daily jams in our parent’s basement, he would play guitar and I would drum,” he said.
“Prior to that, I don’t think anyone really had the instrument thing going on in town because rock and roll was just getting started at the time, so we were kind of a new thing and definitely kicked it into gear.”
Having been an integral member of BC’s musical history and positive reputation, Reno now fondly looks back at how the province’s scene has flourished over the years.
“Canada has a thriving music scene, especially here in British Columbia it is such a great place for musicians to be,” he said.
Reno says he often runs into fans or other musicians who “can not believe” the group hails from Canada, as back at their highest point of success it was not as common for Canadian groups to reach the level they had.
“In the early years, people could hardly believe we came out of Canada because they knew so little about it — they really did think we lived in igloos and had no way of recording up here,” he laughed.
Photo credit: Loverboy Facebook
With that being said, Reno has always remembered his roots, waving the Canadian flag with pride and making sure to keep up to date on all things Canadian music.
“We wear our maple leaf like a badge of honour and always tell people we are from here, it is one of the things we take pride in doing because even today people still think we are an American band,” he said.
Canada has a lot of great music and we are lucky enough to run into fellow Canadian bands all the time, It is great to see them doing so well for themselves because we have always had great bands here.”
Photo credit: NowMedia
Nearly 40 years into a musical career, Reno has yet to slow down as the band continues to perform at nearly 100 concerts each year, touring with popular acts such as Journey, ZZ Top and most recently Styx.
“We have been on tour with Styx many times over the years and what an excellent band they are, they even have a Canadian playing the keys for them,” said Reno.
“This show is actually a one-off for us because we will be in California just before for our own dates but the band wanted us to play so badly that they said they wouldn’t do it without us.”
Photo credit: Loverboy Facebook
Of course, Reno could not deny the offer of a hometown show, saying he is ready to bring his native audience a great time.
“We are going to show people what it's like to have a good time at a rock show because that is what we do best!”
“It will be a complete history of Loverboy’s greatest hits and we are going to rock harder than anyone in that room,” he added.
Photo credit: Loverboy Facebook
You can catch Loverboy with Styx at the SOEC on Wednesday, September 4 at 7 pm. Tickets are still available but they won’t be around for long so get yours quickly by clicking here!
