The grounds of the Sportsplex here will be shaking on Friday night with a number of hard edge rock and roll bands taking the stage.
The show will feature Helix, David Wilcox, Honeymoon Suite, and Barney Bental.
Helix originated in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, but its lead singer, Brian Vollmer, has a very close connection and fondness for Fergus, because his singing teacher lived here.
Vollmer said the late Edward Johnson was “like a second father,” and he also credited Johnson with not only saving his voice, but bringing him back from financial ruin after a divorce.
He wrote of Johnson, “Ed was the youngest member of the New York Metropolitan Opera, sang with Beverly Sills, helped start up the Hamilton Opera Company, and was one of the few Canadians to sing at all three major U.S. opera houses including Carnagie Hall. As well, he taught me, Gil Moore of Triumph, Ray Llyell, Beverly DiAngelo [wife of Al Pacino], Daniel Lanois [producer of Pink Floyd and U.2] and many more. Ed died several years ago and now I carry on teaching where he left off.”
Vollmer said early in his career he developed nodes and polyps on his vocal cords, and he feared he might never sing again, and might even lose his voice. Johnson talked him out of having surgery, and, following Johnson’s suggestions, he recovered within year.
Vollmer said he is looking forward to the Fergus show for several reasons, one of which is he will see a lot of old friends, because, over years of touring, he knows members of Honeymoon Suite and shared a state with Barney Bentall in Calgary. Helix has shared the stage with most of the royalty of rock music.
The band has never stopped touring and making albums, but it has gone through drastic changes in membership since its inception in 1974. Current members include Brent "The Doctor" Doerner on guitar and vocals, Greg "Fritz" Hinz, drums, Daryl Gray, bass and keyboards, and Kaleb "Duckman" Duck, guitar.
Vollmer said fans expect to hear the hits, but he expects to weave some cuts from his newest album, Vagabond Bones. Its first single, Make ’em Dance, went to Number 31 on the Active Rock Charts, which Vollmer noted is “kinda unheard of for a "classic" rock act.
He also recently had a small part in the movie Countdown to Liquor Day, which was the top grossing Canadian movie of 2009.
Plus, he said with a laugh, he also has a new single release for country music radio, again unheard of for a metal band. It is The Best Mistake I Never Made, which he wrote with Sean Kelly, who plays guitar for Nelly Furtado.
“The song is about a girl I almost married from California.”
Helix has also had a connection to the popular Trailer Park Boys TV show, in which Bubbles and Ricky discuss the merits of Helix compared to Rush. Helix was mentioned in several other episodes after that as well, as it was revealed they are one of Ricky’s favourite concerts to see, and sell marijuana at.
Vollmer currently teaches the classical vocal technique, Bel canto, in London.
He said that Italian techniqe was taught to him by Johnson, and all the best singers in the world use it, from opera stars to Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra as well as many modern day singers.
Some things in the rock world never do change, though. Helix is on tour two days before the gig in Fergus, at 7pm on Friday night. The band will land in Toronto from New Brunswick around 6pm for a start an hour later.
