When Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson starts talking about Hemi Vision, it’s clear this isn’t a nostalgia act. It’s not about recreating the past or carbon-copying a record people already own. It’s about breathing new life into music that never stopped evolving — and bringing it into rooms where it still belongs.

I sat down with Johnson ahead of Big Sugar’s upcoming stop in Bonnyville, where the band will perform their Hemi Vision album live, front to back, as part of a special anniversary tour. It’s a rare full-album performance, one that even the band themselves never fully tackled when the record first came out.

And it’s happening right here — at the Bonnyville Strathcona Performing Arts Centre.

That matters.

How Hemi Vision Became a Full-Album Tour

The idea didn’t start as a grand plan. Like many things in music, it happened organically.

“We did a 25th anniversary Hemi Vision vinyl release,” Johnson told me. “Records in the nineties didn’t come out on vinyl, so having a vinyl version of the record finally made it real to me.”

That release landed during COVID, meaning there were no shows to go with it — just mail-order copies sent out into the world. Then, while Big Sugar was touring another record (500 Pounds), a moment backstage changed everything.

“Warren Haynes said to me before the show, ‘Johnson, play that Hemi Vision stuff,’” he said. “So we just played an hour — only Hemi Vision songs. Didn’t play anything else.”

The internet noticed. Fans noticed. And suddenly, what started as a one-off turned into a full tour.

“Next thing you know, I’ve got a month of shows in a row.”

A Record They Never Played Like This — Until Now

What makes this tour special isn’t just the album — it’s the fact that Big Sugar never performed Hemi Vision in its entirety when it was new.

“When Hemi Vision came out, we didn’t play the whole record,” Johnson said. “You played the big singles, the videos, and then the rest of your show.”

This time, the band had to relearn — and in some cases, learn for the first time.

“Some of those songs never got played a lot. Some of them never got played at all,” he said. “We had to look at them and go, ‘Yeah… how do you do that one?’”

With a lineup that spans three generations — members in their 20s, 40s and 60s — everyone came in on equal footing.

“We all had to approach these songs on a level playing field,” Johnson said. “I haven’t played them in 30 years. Some of them we never played. So we all had to learn them together.”

That, he says, changed everything.

“I think that really gives the songs new life. It makes them a living, breathing thing of this moment.”

Why It Won’t Sound Like the Record — and Why That’s the Point

If you’re expecting a note-for-note recreation, Johnson is clear: that’s not what Big Sugar does.

“A live concert is a different experience,” he said. “Songs that work in an album sequence don’t always work in front of an audience.”

Instead, the band focuses on flow, energy and connection.

“We’re not trying to recreate the thing exactly,” Johnson said. “It’s important that it carries the same spirit and enthusiasm that went into the original.”

He put it plainly: “If you want a carbon copy, you can go home and listen to the record.”

What people come for — and what Big Sugar still delivers — is fire.

“Our challenge is to make it relevant right now to the musicians performing it right now,” he said. “That’s where the presentation lives.”

‘We’re Just Being Us’

When I asked Johnson how he’d describe Big Sugar’s sound — especially to someone discovering them for the first time — he laughed.

“It’s like being the bus driver who never leaves the bus,” he said. “You don’t know what the bus looks like. You just drive it.”

Then he offered another analogy.

“It’s like a tiger. A tiger doesn’t know it has stripes. It doesn’t look in the mirror.”

The point? Big Sugar never set out to fit a trend.

“We weren’t trying to be a nineties band,” Johnson said. “We didn’t fit the description of the time. We were told that — over and over again.”

Instead, Hemi Vision became a blend of everything the band was living and listening to.

“Arena rock, blues, soul, reggae, calypso — all these elements came from the environment we grew up in.”

Legacy, Inspiration, and What Lasts

Johnson never expected these songs to still be touring decades later.

“It never crossed our minds that we’d still be playing this music 30 years later,” he said. “We weren’t trying to make hit records.”

What does matter to him now is impact.

“The greatest reward is hearing from musicians who tell us we inspired them,” Johnson said. “That’s the proof — when it spawns new ideas.”

Not imitation. Inspiration.

“That was always the goal. Not for people to copy what we did, but to go do their own thing.”

Why This Show Matters for Bonnyville

Big Sugar doesn’t pick venues based on prestige or size.

“Once the music starts, it’s all about the flow of energy between the band and the audience,” Johnson said.

That’s exactly why community theatres like the Strathcona Performing Arts Centre matter — and why support matters when artists of this calibre choose to come here.

These rooms don’t survive on hype. They survive on people showing up when it counts.

When Bonnyville fills seats for shows like this, it sends a message: world-class music belongs here. And when artists feel that energy, they come back.

Big Sugar is bringing a rare, full-album performance — one night only — to a community-run theatre that exists because people believed it should.

That’s not something to take lightly.

Event Details

Big Sugar — Hemi Vision 30th Anniversary Tour
📍 Bonnyville Strathcona Performing Arts Centre
🗓 Tuesday, February 10, 2026
⏰ 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
🎟 $55.00 CAD

One night. One record. A reminder of why live music — and the spaces that host it — still matter.