photos by Derek Java

On July 14, 2026, for the first time since 1970, The Guess Who performed at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). The co-founders of The Guess Who, Canadian musicians Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, had faced an extended legal battle for the rights to their own band name, which was finally settled earlier this year.

Suffice to say, fans were thrilled to finally be able to see the original members of The Guess Who performing all their hits, plus some songs from Bachman’s other group, Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

Don Felder of The Eagles opened the night with a short set that was full of, well, Eagles songs as you might suspect. All played effortlessly and with the crowd singing along to the songs they’ve known the words to since the 70s.

Don Felder Setlist: Already Gone, One of These Nights, Victim of Love, Seven Bridges Road, Hollywood Victim, Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride), Heartache Tonight, Life in the Fast Lane, Hotel California

As for The Guess Who, they were last on stage at SPAC on September 4, 1970, a year when “American Woman” was both the #1 song and #1 album in America and beyond. The song had staying power for three decades, so iconic that it got a second life via Lenny Kravitz in 2000 when it was included in the summer comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, introducing the song and The Guess Who to a new generation of music fans.

But that’s not where everyone learned of The Guess Who. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s in the Capital District, you surely heard “American Woman” or “No Time” on PYX 106, and if you were watching TV late at night, you might have caught an informercial for the Time Life Sounds of the Seventies collection, which had all the hits, including a few from The Guess Who. Whether you bought the series or just watched the infomercials, some of those songs were implanted in your brain for future enjoyment, more so if you grew up with those songs in the 70s.

So when preparing for this show, I didn’t want to go in blind – surely there were some songs that they played that I just didn’t realize were songs from Bachman and Cummings. And in listening to their greatest hits the day before, just to see what I might be missing, I was pleasantly surprised, song after song, where I repeated aloud in the car “they sing this?,” never having connected artist to composition so enthusiastically.

And as the set progressed, every single song that fans from any era would want to hear was played. Nothing was left off the table. So if their tour is headed your way, this is a must attend performance that is chock full of nostalgia, that substance everyone needs to take a hit of every so often.

With an intro array of photos and bright graphics alongside the studio version of “Hang Onto Your Life” playing, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings arrived back on the SPAC stage, alongside Jeff Jones (bass), Sean Fitzsimons (drums), Nick Sinopoli (percussion), Tim Bovaconti (guitar), and Joe Augello (guitar). Opening up with “Running Back to Saskatoon,” “Proper Stranger” and “Hand Me Down World,” the crowd got a taste of the popular if not radio-friendly songs, something for the longtime fans who could wait for the hits later in the set.

Cummings introduced “These Eyes” as an early song he and Bachman had written together, then “Albert Flasher” before the first Bachman-Turner Overdrive song of the night, “Let it Ride,” where the full band sound was on display. A little crowd interaction was called for, with Cummings asking the crowd to clap three times, practiced a little, then went into “Clap for the Wolfman,” a tribute to legendary disc jockey Wolfman Jack.

The band’s second single, the ballad “Laughing,” was accompanied by oil painting imagery scattered across the screens. The B-side of that single came next with “Undun,” featuring Burton on flute, followed by the shortest song of the night, as announced by Cummings, “Star Baby.”

Cummings did not ignore the legal drama that prevented the duo from touring under The Guess Who name for the past four decades, bringing up ‘the other guys’ in various ways no less than four times. And after the decades of legal struggles, venting a little cleared the air for both the band and the fans who cheered along with the return of the original duo.

Another taste of BTO arrived with Bachman singing “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” percussionist Nick Sinopoli having his moment throughout. Cummings’ original “My Own Way to Rock” followed and “Bus Rider” recalled the John Hartford song “Tall Buildings,” lamenting the working stiff.

From there, we got into the final course of the evening, the hits! What better way to start than with the original intro to “American Woman” found on the album (rarely played on the radio) that starts out bluesy and acoustic but then builds into the single we have all come to know and sing aloud, all with visuals of stained glass adorning the screens. A touch of “L.A. Woman” was thrown into the middle of “American Woman,” a nice callback to Let’s Go and their CBC days.

A unique song, because it is actually two songs, as noted by Cummings, would follow, the crowd ready and waiting for “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature,” along with a wonderfully played intro from guitarist Joe Augello. To close the set, well, there were only a few hits left, what might they choose? “No Time” had that full rock sound, and with the founding band members hovering around 80, eerily prescient.

Ahead of the encore, few fans departed, for they knew what was left on the table. Burton thanked the fans for welcoming them back to States, and for buying 8-tracks and cassettes back in the day. The ‘hippie song’ that Burton wrote, “Share the Land,” was punctuated with wishes for peace of mind and peace of heart, and had the audience waving their arms along to the refrain.

From there, Cummings tickled the piano keys ever so slightly, just as the band shifted to the BTO song the crowd had been waiting on, “Takin’ Care of Business.” With every bit of energy, The Guess Who played their hearts out over nearly two hours, playing the hits and then some, the audience and band equally pleased with this stellar trip back to the 70s.

The Guess Who – Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) – Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Setlist: Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon, Proper Stranger, Hand Me Down World, These Eyes, Albert Flasher, Let It Ride, Clap for the Wolfman, Laughing, Undun, Star Baby, You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, My Own Way to Rock, Bus Rider, American Woman, No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature > No Time

Encore: Share the Land, Takin’ Care of Business