Last Concert Reviews update on January 13, 2008

Read concert reviews submitted by other Rankins fans.  If you would like to submit a review from a Rankins concert you have attended, go here.

The opinions expressed below are those of the individuals who submitted the reviews, not of the webmaster or The Rankins.

Name: Joanne

Concert Location & Date: Leamington, Ontario June 15, 2002 (submitted June 16, 2002)

Concert Review: OK, let's see.....We got to the Fairgrounds at 6:30 pm for an 8:00 show. It rained for about 20 minutes but I didn't move. Then some woman comes and says to several of us "Oh, sorry, you can't sit here this is VIP seating". I was in the first row dead centre! So I moved on the other side of the "VIP" rope and back a row so it was still a great spot. (I met a nice woman and her son who were there from Ridgetown. If I remember correctly, Mia is her brother-in-law's sister. She didn't have her camera so I offered to take her pic with Jimmy and send it to her.) Finally at 8:00, in comes Jimmy!! I thought I was going to wet myself, I was so excited! He opened with This Is The Hour, then Midnight Angel. He also did Orangedale Whistle, We'll Carry On (prelude), We'll Carry On, Wasted, Followed Her Around, 40 Days and Nights, Roving Gypsy Boy, Tripper, You Feel the Same Way Too, Movin' On.....oh, I know I'm probably missing others but it was sooooooooooooo great!!!!  After the concert, I stood in line with this woman from Ridgetown (she let me cut back in line after I bought a shirt and picture).  Storm clouds were rolling in, lightning, and the whole bit. They sent out umbrellas with the people working the event in case the rain started, which was very nice of them. I told Jimmy who I was, and he was very kind to pretend he knew about Rankins Rule (LOL!). Anyway, he was super, autographed my pic and CD cover, posed for a picture, and said thanks for coming out. He's a very energetic performer, isn't he? There were lots of relatives in the crowd (they are from Windsor, Ont.). They were very loud, and fun but in the end, they were a little too loud. Even my husband enjoyed himself! LOL!  I just can't wait for him to come this way again. I'm going to email the folks organizing the Tecumseh Corn Festival and mention his name IN A BIG WAY!!!

Name: Jennifer M

Concert Location & Date: Glace Bay, Cape Breton, NS November 8, 2001 (submitted November 12, 2001)

Concert Review: It was amazing from beginning to end. Howie (MacDonald) opened for him and they played a few numbers together. He covered almost the entire album plus some older tunes like Orangedale Whistle and my favorite Roving Gypsy Boy. He played for about an hour and a half and then signed autographs after. I was lucky enough to meet him and get my picture taken with him. He is such an amazing singer and I think everyone should try to make it to a show.

Name: John M

Concert Location & Date: Edmonton, AB July 19, 2001 (submitted July 23, 2001)

Concert Review:  

Name: Lisa

Concert Location & Date: Edmonton, AB July 19, 2001 (submitted July 22, 2001)

Concert Review:  

Name: Starbuck

Concert Location & Date: Copps Coliseum Hamilton, ON October 21, 1999 (submitted October 22, 1999)

Concert Review: Lemme just say here...  IT ROCKED!!!    The played tons of awesome songs, and a mosh pit started infront of the stage!!  I broke so many blood vessels in my hands they're still red!  They played... Lemme remember bells, honkytonk woman, let it go, feel the same way too, greenberg medley, orangedale whistle, movin' on, Mull River Shuffle, And tons more.   The opening act SUCKED!! It sucked so bad, I was about to start hitting my head on the seat to stay awake.  Once the concert got going it was COOL!  Once mull river shuffle came on, there was a mosh pit infront of the stage, that was cool. Got some awesome pics I'll post up later Thanks to Heather B. We followed her and the VIP group to meet them!!!  Cuukie was happy, and we got pics with COOKIE!!!  We didn't leave the concert until about midnight. We were walking down the street to a parking lot, and some idiot drove by and chucked and egg at us!! luckily, it missed.

Name: Laura Butler

Concert Location & Date: Western Fairgrounds London, ON September 17, 1998 (submitted October 23, 1999)

Concert Review: I loved every single second of that concert!  The rankins performed exceedingly well that night, even though raylene couldn't do much dancing on account of her pregnancy.  The group was determined to give everyone there a great time, and they exceeded the border we call "fun".  What a great concert!

Name: Teri

Concert Location & Date: Copps Coliseum Hamilton, ON October 21, 1999 (submitted October 23, 1999)

Concert Review: Saw the Hamilton concert Thursday night. There were some truly stunning moments. Cookie's rendition of "One Day" was a highlight for me, as was one of the John Morris/Howie duets (but danged if I know what it was called). The encore (Mull River Shuffle) included a truly inspired version of "Honky Tonk Woman" by Jimmy. Jimmy, incidentally, seemed to be having WAY too much fun and even John Morris was howling watching him. The entire show was very high energy and upbeat. On a less positive note, I missed Raylene's voice more than I thought I would. They were lacking in a richness in the harmonies, and it was noticeable. Also, they were not on stage long enough for my liking and the warm up acts truly sucked.

Name: Tanya

Concert Location & Date: Sunfest 1999 Sechelt, BC July 3, 1999 (submitted October 24, 1999)

Concert Review: I just wanted to say that i was REALLY impressed by what a great show they put on and although it was COLD and although it was close to midnight when they were through playing all four of them came out and signed autographs for everyone.  I was VERY VERY impressed with how great they treated their fans ....and i am planning to go to the concert they are giving in vancouver in december.   keep up the great music :-)

Name: Theresa

Concert Location & Date: Humanities Theatre, University of Waterloo, must have been fall of '93 (submitted October 24, 1999)

Concert Review: It was one of their concerts before they really hit the big time! The tickets were about $14 and we had a fabulous time. My sister and I took my mother to the concert because she is also from Mabou (home of the Rankins) and we knew she would enjoy it. About 1/2 the audience were expatriot Cape Bretoners and you could pick out each and every one of them because of the tears streaming down their cheeks (mine included!). During intermission we discovered that the gentleman sitting beside my mom was also from Mabou...in fact they went to school together in a one room schoolhouse for K-4! Very small world!! We have seen the Rankins in concert a few times since but no concert of theirs rivals our recollections of that one special gathering. It was definately a kitchen party!!

Name: Kathleen

Concert Location & Date: Kamloops, BC October 23, 1995 (submitted October 24, 1999)

Concert Review: This was my first Rankin concert ever. It's a night I still remember clearly as being one of the best, most magical nights of my life. The Rankins sang mostly songs from Endless Seasons, with a few oldies thrown in. My favourite ones of the night were Johnny Tulloch, Rise Again, Fare Thee Well Love (probably the most beautiful way to end a concert) and The Mull River Shuffle. The Rankins were in full swing that evening, with Jimmy hootin' and hollerin', Heather making the audience sing along, John Morris complaining about his sisters making him talk, Raylene telling her cute, funny stories and Cookie, although she had a cold, was doing her best up there.  The concert lasted about 2 hours, and when it was over I desperately wanted to meet them, but it didn't work out. So with Fare Thee Well Love stuck in my head, we drove away and off back down the highway towards home.

Name: Cuukie

Concert Location & Date: Copps Coliseum Hamilton, ON  October 21, 1999 (submitted October 24, 1999)

Concert Review: This concert was one of the best I've seen so far. The energy level of the Rankins was just fantastic. Jimmy was dancin all over the stage, it was such a hoot. John morris was even having fun with it. I loved to hear Heathers "Bells". Her voice was so on key and strong it made me chill. Also Cookies rendition of "One day was just spectacular. MOSH PIT !!  We got up at front stage when Mull River shuffle started and screamed away!! Im really going to miss not seeing another Rankin concert. As of today I have not seen any concerts that can match the energy and talents of the Rankins.Thank you to Heather Bos, My dream came true this night and met the Rankins. Jimmy and Cookie. And had my picture taken with Cookie and Starbuck..It will be an experience I'll never forget. As for the opening act..*SNORE*   Its sucked big time !! And I wish the Rankins could have played a little longer. I did notice too that they didn't talk as much during this concert. They just went from one song to another without the little humor in between. But thats ok...They rocked the house down !!!!

Name: Gwyn

Concert Location & Date: Colston Hall Bristol, UK  April 19, 1999 (submitted October 30, 1999)

Concert Review: I had been waiting for several years to actually get to see the Rankins live.They had played over here a few times during the 90's but until last year I couldn't make any of the shows.They were due here last Oct/Nov but that got cancelled - luckily they re-scheduled for April 99.I went along to the Colston Hall in Bristol with mixed feelings as I knew Raylene was missing and that the vocals would therefore probably not match those on the albums.I also suspected that they might just be doing a few dates over here in a 'clinical' way to promote'Uprooted'.

As soon as they were 2 minutes into the first song (Roving G.Boy) my fears went!They were amazing!The voices were spot-on and the sound balance was perfect.The songs were as to be expected a mixture from all of their albums.

Looking back now it is obvious that all the songs they must have played dozens of times over at other concerts.Some of the older stuff (Fare Thee Well/North Country etc.) they must have played hundreds of times.However there was no indication of this from any of them - they seemed to have the ability to be playing FOR the audience and not AT them.Their sheer enthusiasm was obvious throughout every song.

There was a lot of humour between songs especially from Jimmy and Cookie.Having only their CDs and a few videos to judge them by in the past I was amazed to see just how 'visual' Cookie and Heather were together on stage.They were dressed in black tops and black trousers (don't know what you Canadians call them - pants?!)and they looked terrific!

I think they did 3 encores - at one point Heather was actually taking requests from the audience!

Before the first encore I had managed to get down by the front of the stage in anticipation of the singing and dancing that was still to come......when they went into 'You Feel the Sameway Too' the place erupted!By the time the concert came to an end with 'Mull River Shuffle'my hands and feet were sore from the clapping and dancing.

And then it was over.

Obviously they didn't do 'Rise Again'or 'Gilis Mountain' but other than that I really had not missed Raylene's voice - Cookie and Heather proved to be more than capable at filling in for her on the other songs.

After the show the four of them were happy to sign autographs and chat for a while and they were pretty much as I had imagined them : John Morris was quiet and seemed almost surprised that people would want his signature on a CD sleeve.  Heather was also quiet but full of smiles.  Jimmy chatted to me about the sheer joy of playing live on stage but also about the drag of actually being away from home touring.  Cookie was really charming - she seemed to be really happy to talk with me for ages.Eventually Jimmy came back over and I said my goodbyes and thanks to the both of them.

When they were up on stage there was nothing to indicate that they were about to soon split and over here in England I had no idea that rumours had been circulating since Raylene's departure.I therefore expected to see them all again in another year or two......

I had travelled the 160 miles from my home to Bristol hoping to see an enjoyable show and ended up seeing a performance that I will remember for the rest of my life. Even if they hadn't split they probably would not have been as good next time..........

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