Tom Cochrane, Friday at the Stampede's Coca-Cola stage. Attendance: about '7,000.

If anyone thought Tom Cochrane has lost his appeal, Friday's show at the Stampede proved them wrong. Even at 45, Cochrane is still a poster boy for unpretentious Canadian rock, and he pulled in the biggest crowd of any Coca-Cola Stage performer so far this year.
The man from Manitoba has been churning out good ol' rock n' n' roll hits like Big League and Life is a Highway for two decades. Now he's opted for a more introspective, raw approach to his writing, and delicately crafted riffs on his latest album, x-ray sierra.
But the show was all rock, and about 7,000 toe-tapping fans were on hand to see it.
Cochrane's older admirers appreciated his return to earlier hits, like White Hot ('79), which had one woman in leather fringe swaying, and plenty of cowboy hats bobbing to the beat.
Younger fans could be seen singing along to I Wish You Well, and everyone obviously appreciated the gently upbeat Round and Round.
It was Cochrane's familiar raspy cries (sounding like he was in pain at times) and well-seasoned voice, almost strained to it's breaking point, that let you know he was giving us his all. He shook, kicked, jumped, and strummed the heck out of that guitar, leaving the audience cheering loudly after every number.
As expected though, a clear favourite was the massive hit, Life Is A Highway. Unfortunately, that was one of the few tunes where Cochrane's voice showed any weakness, That aside, Cochrane's talent as a live performer is undisputable. And it was clear he was having just as good of a time as his audience. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed loudly, after a few rousing numbers.
It was evident that the man knew who his audience was, telling us that The Big League (a hit from '88) was Alberta's song. "It's good to have your dreams, but you gotta take care of your friends and family along the way," he said, before ripping into the immensely popular tune. "Alberta's always represented that to me."
Every number was played with enthusiasm, like he wasn't tired of performing the same songs he's done for years.
There were plenty of newer songs in the set from sierra, including I Wonder, Heartbreak Girl, and Willie Dixon, which had a hypnotic bass line, but a rather unnecessary wailing guitar solo.
All told, it was a good time for everyone, from the two-year-old on dad's shoulders, to the teenage girl on her boyfriend's shoulders, and every other fan who filled up the space around the small stage