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Cochrane gives Spectra grand opening

Whether it was planned or not, Tom Cochrane really couldn't have picked a better opening song if he tried.
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Whether it was planned or not, Tom Cochrane really couldn't have picked a better opening song if he tried.
The Canadian rocker kicked off his set at Friday's Spectra Place grand opening concert with his 1989 hit single Victory Day, a fitting number as the residents of Estevan celebrated the opening of the beautiful, state of the art facility which was more than five years in the making.

Cochrane and his bandmates were joined on the twin bill by fellow Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell who provided an equally entertaining show as he tore through a crowd-pleasing set.

Although there were a couple of kinks such as long lines at the beer windows, the show went about as well as could be expected for a maiden voyage as Spectra Place proved it will be a great venue for future shows with great acoustics and sight lines from virtually everywhere in the building.

"I thought it was a great event," said City manager Jim Puffalt. "It was a great opportunity to showcase the building again and it was nice to hear the sound in the place. People came up to me and said to me 'the sound is awesome, best that I have heard in a long time' so I was pretty pumped about that. We had a little bit of issues with the beer lines but we had that figured out by the second act so all in all, it was a great show."

After opening the show with Victory Day and pumping out a few high energy numbers, Cochrane and his band, which included Ken Greer and Jeff Jones who have been with Cochrane dating back to their days as Red Rider, slowed things down for a handful of songs.

The slower set also included a poignant moment as Cochrane dedicated the song The Untouchable One to Aeramis Kolke, the 13-year-old Estevan resident who recently committed suicide partly due to being bullied.

The rest of the roughly two and half hour set included many of the hits fans expected to hear from the Red Rider hit White Hot to his worldwide hit Life is a Highway. Cochrane also took time to give Spectra Place a stamp of approval, noting "these are building where you come to celebrate life and hopefully you will come here to celebrate a lot of life and some hockey championships."

After a brief respite backstage, the band came out for an encore that included White Hot and Boy Inside the Man from his 1986 album Tom Cochrane and Red Rider.

Known largely for his portfolio of party anthems, Mitchell and his band of bassist Peter Fredette, drummer Chris Sutherland and keyboardist Don Breithaupt, did a fantastic job of warming up the crowd with hits such as Patio Lanterns, Go for a Soda and I am a Wild Party.

He also shared with the crowd that he was excited to play Estevan as his father was born and raised in the city before moving east to Ontario.

Although an official attendance count was unavailable before press time, it's estimated that just over 2,000 people took in Friday's show.