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You're there to see a band you loved 20 years ago, but when they get onstage, you're disheartened to discover the band now consists of the original non-singing, non-writing drummer and a bunch of anonymous hired hands probably playing for beer money.
No wonder, then, Loverboy lead singer Mike Reno is proud to report he's performing with the same guys today as he did 20 years ago when the Vancouver quintet released its self-titled debut -- an album that launched one of the most successful careers in 1980s rock 'n' roll.
"My particular view is if we can't be original -- at least 90 percent original -- then I don't want to take it on the road," says Reno, who's still backed by guitarist Paul Dean, bassist Scott Smith, keyboardist Doug Johnson and drummer Matt Frenette.
Tomorrow at 8:30 p.m., they'll be at the Coca-Cola Stage on the Stampede Grounds, where they'll surely play such Loverboy staples as Turn Me Loose, The Kid Is Hot Tonite, Working For The Weekend, When It's Over and Hot Girls In Love.
The members of Loverboy have had their breaks from each other over the years.
The group was defunct between 1989 and 1992, then Johnson briefly left the fold in 1997 to start a family.
Yet the fact these five forty- and fifty-somethings still regularly tour the U.S. and Canada together is almost unfathomable. You'd think someone would have dropped out, burned out, developed a crippling drug problem, entered the priesthood....
"Actually, we came through the '80s pretty unscathed and that left us in a position where we're all around," explains Reno, 45.
"It's like putting together an old baseball team. Everybody can still play. This is what we do. We're not investment counsellors or salesmen. We're rock 'n' rollers."
Their 20th year will be an active one.
Later this year, Sony Music plans to refurbish and reissue 1981's Get Lucky and 1985's Lovin' Every Minute of It.
Loverboy has also just finished compiling a new live album, featuring performances recorded between 1981 and '86 for radio shows such as The King Biscuit Flower Hour.
"It is outstanding!" the singer reports.
Reno says he and Dean spent "a pretty intense one-month period" listening to tapes, making notes on which gigs featured the best performances of particular songs.
But when pressed, Reno admits Dean took the reins after a while.
"I couldn't take it any more," he says.
"I can only listen to 1,000 takes of Turn Me Loose and then I want to kill myself."
Still, the process brought back a lot of fond memories for Reno.
"It was almost like Beatlemania with us for a while," he says. He's not far off the mark.
Loverboy's ascent was steep, immediate and seemingly charmed. Just a year after the release of their debut -- made with two fellow Vancouverites, the late Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock, both of whom would later be hired by the biggest names in popular music -- Loverboy found themselves headlining stadiums throughout North America and working pretty much 24-seven.
Recounts Reno: "We had gigs, we had in-stores, we had recording, we had videos, we had meetings, we had autograph sessions and we had concerts.
"Plus, there's all these other things people don't know about.... Remember, we came from the days of payola. If you didn't pay certain people off, you didn't get your records played in those zones. That was all handled.
"There was really no time in that process to do anything but do the work.
"It was like going to war -- you just go for it and hope you come back alive."