Legendary rocker has a rare Las Vegas Strip history

The last time we encountered Randy Bachman of The Guess Who was when he popped into the Paul Shaffer & The Shaff-Shifters show at Cleopatra’s Barge in September 2018.

Bachman’s visit in 2018 was a quintessential only-in-Vegas event. David Letterman was in the crowd as an unbilled guest of Shaffer’s, the first time the two appeared together on stage since Letterman left “The Late Show.”

We recall the Bachman drop-in as he and Burton Cummings revive the Guess Who. The venerable Canadian rockers are headlining Aug. 15 at BleauLive Theater at the Fontainebleau. “The Takin’ It Back Tour” is the Guess Who’s first tour in 23 years.

Shaffer’s band was running an extended engagement at the club, with David Perrico as music director and a host of Vegas musicians backing Shaffer. Letterman asked specifically for Bachman to perform “Takin’ Care of Business,” Letterman’s favorite song.

Shaffer called for Bachman to join the performance. Unnoticed until that point, Bachman arrived from the club’s dark recesses. The crowd roared. The band nobly complied, blasting the classic rock anthem.

Kenny Loggins was also at that show, but he didn’t perform. He was headlining the Encore Theater at the time.

The act has long since disbanded (it was never meant to exist beyond that residency), and The Barge is now Caspian’s Cocktails & Caviar. But we will always remember chatting before the show with Shaffer and Letterman at Montecristo Cigar Lounge.

I asked Letterman that night if he ever considered a headlining run in Las Vegas.

“Never. I could not have done what those other guys have done,” he said. “I have no material. I have no act. I would be eviscerated, taken out to the desert where only Melvin Dummar would find me. It would be awful … they’ll be hearing the boos all the way to the casino.”

But for about 15 minutes on this night, he was a lounge hit.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.