Loverboy still lovin' every minute of it on way to Soaring Eagle in Mount Pleasant

View full sizeLoverboy joins Jackyl in concert Saturday, April 19, at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant.

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI – Long before Mike Reno would call, eager to talk about the Loverboy concert coming April 19 to Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, his publicist asked if we could push the interview a few hours.

Reno himself called later as he sat waiting in a doctor’s office, and we finally connected that evening.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, explaining how they were catching up on appointments while home in Vancouver for a few days. “Nothing urgent,” he quickly added.

Welcome to the sometimes-not-so-glamorous world of rock and roll, one Reno and bandmates Paul Deen, Matt Frenette, Doug Johnson and Ken Sinnaeve know well after more than 30 years in the business. And prepare for an arena-rock marathon when they join Jackyl in Mount Pleasant with “Turn Me Loose,” “Queen of the Broken Hearts,” “Lovin’ Every Minute of it” and more at the 8 p.m. show. Tickets, available at the box office and through etix.com, cost $48, $42, $32 and $20.

“We’re really very fortunate that we’ve been able to hang in there together,” Reno said of the Canadian rock band. Other than the late Scott Smith, replaced by Sinnaeve, the same “friendly bunch of guys” launched a multi-platinum career with a debut album that fell on deaf ears at 25 record labels.

After signing with CBS Records-Canada, Reno remembered, “we were playing the smoky hubs, and then, right off the bat, we started touring with Kansas and then ZZ Top. We were so popular so fast that Rolling Stone sent a writer to Denver to do a story on us.”

Fans wondered why they couldn’t buy Loverboy albums in the United States, “and I told the reporter, off the record, that our fame caught CBS Records with their pants down.”

Soon after, the band’s manager yanked Reno out of bed to talk to a fuming CBS Records president, “and I learned that nothing you say is really off the record,” he said with a chuckle. “But in the end, he told me he agreed with me and that they weren’t ready for this. We became good friends, and it was a learning experience on both sides.”

With a new contract in hand, they rode high for almost a decade, selling in time more than 10 million albums. Then came grunge, “and along with the guys from Journey and Foreigner and Styx and all the other rock bands, we couldn’t believe what was happening,” Reno said.

“We decided to take a break until people came back to their senses. And in the end, I think we had the last laugh.”

Now back in full force, Loverboy plays nearly 100 shows a year, bringing the hits to a hungry audience. Some of the lyrics have changed — “We’re working on the weekend now,” Reno quipped about the anthem “Working for the Weekend” — but it resonates with musicians and fans alike.

“We get more personal,” he said of today’s shows. “We like these songs, we actually enjoy each other’s company, and we keep getting better and better. It’s like class participation; audiences are up close and personal with the band.”

And you’ll hear Reno's own favorite, “When It’s Over,” because he likes it.

“I’m having more fun now, and I can speak for all the guys when I say we’re still lovin’ every minute of it,” he said.