Original Grapes of Wrath regroup

The Grapes of Wrath reunite for a performance at the Surrey Fusion Festival on Sunday (July 18), when they’ll join Blackberry Wood and bhangra superstar Lehmber Hussainpuri, among others, at Holland Park.

The Grapes brought some class to the Canadian music landscape in the late ’80s and early ’90s with singles like “What Was Going Through My Head” and “You May Be Right”, and were making inroads in the States when the band imploded in ’92. Guitarist-vocalist Kevin Kane and bassist-vocalist Tom Hooper hooked up again minus original drummer Chris Hooper for the 2000 album Field Trip, and have been performing together acoustically of late, but this is the first time all three original members have regrouped (augmented by Dave Genn on keyboards).

Kane told the Straight that once the offer from Fusion came in, drummer Hooper waited until the last possible moment to say yes. “It’s his showbiz flair,” Kane said, laughing. “But at the same time I wasn’t surprised when he agreed to do it. I had a feeling. And it’s been pretty awesome, right from the first rehearsal. It’s funny how muscle memory works after 18 years.”

Kane added that future shows are being lined up. “It’s too much fun to just do one gig,” he promised.

Comments

5 Comments

Therzo38

Jul 15, 2010 at 8:48pm

"Treehouse" was such a great album. Looking forward to this.

Gerald Finrand

Jul 16, 2010 at 11:35pm

I'm sorry ...who?
I just want to know if they are on before "face painting" or after "puppet show" because I'm taking the kids....

Chris Hooper? Dave Genn?
Please elaborate as to how these mystery people are relevant to anyone's interests or how they might add to the appeal of the third (or tenth, I lost track) comeback gig for the Grapes? Why are these people newsworthy?

While I can't tell you what Gowans current lineup is, I do know his first name is Lawrence and he likes to be called 'Larry'...
as for these two enigmas...I can't even be bothered to search.

The Bangra element of this festival is certainly interesting, but watching faded Canadian stars burn out in the imported downtown Vancouver smog of Slurrey certainly sounds dismal and depressing...

Like watching an old satellite burn up on re-entry after its use has long past, this sounds pretty depressing...
Better to fade out than to limp away, no?

Finrand....

Gord

Jul 17, 2010 at 8:52am

I am really excited to see Grapes play again. Maybe Finrand should be exposed to a little more Canadian culture. Guess what...lots of people dont care about your kids face painting.

Chantelle

Jul 19, 2010 at 10:18am

The show was great! Sounds like Gerald Finrand may have missed out on getting his bra signed by the band members back in the 90's and has been holding on ever since. They were signing albums last night, you should have checked it out. I'm sure it was all a big misunderstanding.

Perry

Jul 19, 2010 at 5:14pm

Awesome. I just grabbed Stellar Band of Neighbours album when I heard it had GoW members in its lineup. Didn't get to see the show but the CD more than made up for it. And Stellar is playing in town pretty soon too, Wisehall I think.