Don’t miss free Dragon concert at Caboolture Festival

Don’t miss rock legends Dragon when they hit the stage during the new Caboolture Festival. We chat with Todd Hunter ahead of the free concert.

Dragon will be performing at Caboolture Festival.

IT’S a very different Todd Hunter who hits the stage with Dragon these days, in fact he reckons he plays harder than he did in his Young Years.

He’s the founding member of the band which has embraced more than 35 members since forming in 1973, split up a few times, but always reformed.

The death of original frontman, and Todd’s brother, Marc Hunter of cancer in 1998 could have been the end of the group, but in 2006 Dragon was reborn with Mark Williams on vocals, Bruce Reid on guitar, Peter Drummond on drums and Todd on bass guitar.

Dragon … Bruce Reid, Mark Williams, Todd Hunter, Pete Drummond.

According to Todd, they are now the longest-serving incarnation of the group which is best known for hits in the 70s and 80s.

Songs like April Sun in Cuba, Are You Old Enough?, Rain, and Young Years have become anthems of the era but also strike a chord with music lovers of this generation.

Todd loves sharing these songs with old and new fans, and says because they are such favourites, the pressure’s off to make them a hit and the band can just enjoy playing them.

“What I do now as opposed to when I was 25 … I smash it in the chorus. I play harder now at 67,” he says. “We’re really lucky to be playing because people have such affection for the songs, it’s great.”

Audience participation is encouraged, not that the band has a choice.

“They do it automatically. Some nights are so great, Rain for instance, they take over the song and start singing it and you have to wrestle it back off them,” Todd says.

Thankfully, it’s the song he enjoys performing most and it will be on the bill when the band performs a free show at Caboolture Festival on August 3.

HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CABOOLTURE FESTIVAL AND THE CONCERT

Frontman Mark Williams on stage with Dragon.

Todd says, musically, Rain flows really well but he’s also grateful for the song because it gave the band a second chance at success in the 1980s. Dragon will also belt out April Sun in Cuba — a song which has enjoyed a resurgence among teens of this generation, more than 40 years after its release.

“There’s a certain era of songs that keep on getting played,” he says. “Kids are more (musically) literate these days, they like the songs, rather than the bands.”

Streaming and digital music apps have made it easier for young people to find songs they like. “It’s so instant. I love it. If you can get anyone to listen to your song longer than the first chorus, that’s great,”

But it’s not just the back catalogue firing up Dragon these days, with a new album “floating around” and “mutterings of the new album” in the next 12 months, according to Todd.

“There’s stuff happening all the time so we’re always looking forward, not back,” he says.