Concert review from Kansas City

[sadie65]

http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/06/ ... rlight.php

Concert Review: REO Speedwagon, Styx and .38 Special at Starlight
By Nick Spacek in Last Night's Show
Friday, Jun. 5 2009 @ 9:00AM

The Can't Stop Rockin' Tour, featuring REO Speedwagon, Styx, and .38 Special hit Starlight last night. The tour is what all classic rock tours should be, essentially -- it billed itself as "All Hits, All Night." No new stuff, no solo material to make the guitar player happy -- just the hits. The show delivered what your average classic rock audience wants, presenting all killer, no filler. The performers, as well as the audience, weren't concerned with being cool. You had denim-jacketed frontmen acting goofy with one another, and well-coifed and made-up women dancing just as silly as the 14 year-old girls in the row in front of them.

2009.06.05-reo_speedwagon.jpg
Nick Spacek
Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon
I imagine that if Styx had been able to convince Dennis DeYoung to rejoin the band, they'd have headlined. As it was, REO Speedwagon did, and played the same set they've been knocking out every other summer for the past couple of decades. The stage show was fantastic, and the place was lit up like a Broadway musical -- kind of appropriate considering the number of touring Broadway productions that hit Starlight every summer. Kevin Cronin was remarkably energetic, and constantly engaged the audience. Every act did, really. I'm sure the patter was canned, but every frontman over the course of the evening managed to seem sincere when they talked about how much they loved Kansas City or what a good-looking crowd there was out there.

REO Speedwagon set list
Don't Let him Go
Take It On the Run
Keep Pushin'
Golden Country
Can't Fight
Poor Man
Fly
Back On the Road
Keep On Lovin' You
Roll With the Changes
Ridin' the Storm Out
Can't Stop Rockin'

2009.06.05-styx.jpg
Nick Spacek
Ricky Phillips & James Young of Styx
Cronin was pretty much the only frontman whose voice seemed unchanged by years on the road. Styx has Tommy Shaw, whose voice is in good shape, but without Dennis DeYoung, so many of those really high level notes aren't going to get hit. Still, Styx knocked the hits out one after another. "Too Much Time On My Hands" was followed by "The Grand Illusion." Evidently "all hits" included other people's hits, too -- Styx knocked out both a cover of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" (albeit "Styx-ified," as Shaw put it) as well as "Sweet Home Chicago." "Come Sail Away" was, of course, just one massive sing along, as was "Foolin' Yourself," which preceded it.

The band managed to put on a pretty good stage show themselves, aided by an amazing rotating keyboard, which managed to be cool and avoid dreaded "keytar" comparisons. There was a nice touch about a quarter of the way into the set when Shaw did a lovely intro to "Crystal Ball," talking about how he came to join Styx, and that if you're ever worried, "just keep your antenna up."

Styx set list
Miss America
Too Much Time On My Hands
Light Up
I Am the Walrus
Crystal Ball
Suite Madame Blue
Foolin' Yourself
Come Sail Away
Sweet Home Chicago
Blue Collar Man
Wanted Man

The only negative to Styx's set, near as I could tell, was that there was no "Mr. Roboto." Now, I know it's pretty played out -- but it's a hit. And I heard a LOT of folks saying they wanted it. That's a pretty great setlist, but it is rather incomplete without Kilroy's anthem.

2009.06.05-38_special.jpg
Nick Spacek
Don Barnes & Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special
Openers .38 Special didn't really have to worry about disappointing anyone. It's slightly cruel to say this, but I don't think anybody really expected them to really bring the house down or show up the headliners. They did an admirable job, but it's not like Donnie Van Zant is the Van Zant brother everyone wants to hear, you know? They were smart, though; they opened with "Rockin' Into the Night," knocked out a couple more rockers, and then did all their midtempo '80s stuff as a medley. Don Barnes intro'd the medley by asking the audience, "Anybody remember the '80s? Really? We don't. I was just asking if anybody else did," before launching into songs like "Teacher, Teacher," "Second Chance," and "Like No Other Night." They ended with "Caught Up In You" back to back with "Hold On Loosely," thus going out on a high note.

.38 Special setlist
Rockin' Into the Night
20th Century Fox
Back Where You Belong
Wild-Eyed Southern Boys
Fantasy Girl
Medley: Teacher, Teacher / Stone Cold Believer / Like No Other Night / Second Chance
Caught Up In You
Hold On Loosely

Really, this is exactly how every single classic rock band should do their tour. Three bands, all of whom share an audience, but diverse enough to where you're not getting the same three-chord bar band riffs all night. They all play the hits, nothing new, and keep the sets short and tight. Honestly, this was probably one of the best ways to spend a nice night I can think of. The weather was gorgeous, the sellout crowd was more than happy to help out when someone like Don Barnes of .38 Special had a little trouble carrying the notes, and there were tons of slightly drunk middle-aged men and women boogieing just out of synch with the music. A fine time.

[gr8dane]

Light up?
That's a change.

[LordofDaRing]

"I imagine that if Styx had been able to convince Dennis DeYoung to rejoin the band, they'd have headlined"

DUCK and cover, here it comes......

[blt man]

Does Renegade have an alternative title? Wanted Man?

Light Up? Doubt they played it. My guess is that it should have said Grand Illusion given that the reviewer had just indicated that it was part of their set list earlier in the article.

[bugsymalone]

I found this reviewer, despite a few lapses on song titles, to have really captured the essence of this type of nostalgia concert. He was dead on in nearly every aspect of his analysis from the description of the audience to the type of music that is/must be played.

One of the better reviews IMO.


Bugsy

[Zan]

"I imagine that if Styx had been able to convince Dennis DeYoung to rejoin the band, they'd have headlined"

DUCK and cover, here it comes......

LOL "convince"

yeah. if only.

[Everett]

And besides it was a CO HEADLINE tour. Reo just happened to have that spot that night. I hate idiot reporters that don't do there reasearch, then again do any of them? One would think that if your going to see this version of styx that there not going to do roboto but i guess they don't think ahead.

[stmonkeys]

well, last night Styx closed. and it was a great show! (except for the security nazis who were in full force) all bands played very well. reo wasn't nearly as anoying as they have been in the past. i enjoyed 38 Sp, haven't seen them since 84 or something like that. forgot how many great songs they have! and i'm pretty sure it was "lorelei" that was played, not "light up". we didn't get crystal ball or sweet home chicago. in place, we had Can't Stop Rocking w REO, and BCM was earlier in the set.

[StyxCollector]

Did you see them in Dallas?

[froy]

well, last night Styx closed.

Did anyone stick around for Styx other than you?

and it was a great show!

You mean it was the same show..

and i'm pretty sure it was "lorelei" that was played, not "light up". we didn't get crystal ball or sweet home chicago. in place, we had Can't Stop Rocking w REO,

I would bet everyone left by that time..

[stmonkeys]

well, last night Styx closed.

Did anyone stick around for Styx other than you?

and it was a great show!

You mean it was the same show..

and i'm pretty sure it was "lorelei" that was played, not "light up". we didn't get crystal ball or sweet home chicago. in place, we had Can't Stop Rocking w REO,

I would bet everyone left by that time..

well as usual you are wrong.

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

wow!!!!!! what a show!!!! houston last night.

i agree with the reviewer pretty much except for the headline crack. Styx headlined last night but meet and greet was Reo. way fun!

we didnt get Crystal Bal l:( but Madame Blue live was amazing!!!

guys were on fire! we had a blast!!!!

pics and vids posted as soon as i get home.

[stmonkeys]

Did you see them in Dallas?

winstar casino, thackerville OK

as of yet, there are no dallas dates, but they have played amarillo, san antonio and houston

[stmonkeys]

wow!!!!!! what a show!!!! houston last night.

i agree with the reviewer pretty much except for the headline crack. Styx headlined last night but meet and greet was Reo. way fun!

we didnt get Crystal Bal l:( but Madame Blue live was amazing!!!

guys were on fire! we had a blast!!!!

pics and vids posted as soon as i get home.

cool. our security were assholes and i wasn't able to get more than 50 pix of all 3 bands. and i didn't bother trying to shoot any video this time. looking forward to seeing yours

[(Crazy)Dulce Lady]

wow!!!!!! what a show!!!! houston last night.

i agree with the reviewer pretty much except for the headline crack. Styx headlined last night but meet and greet was Reo. way fun!

we didnt get Crystal Bal l:( but Madame Blue live was amazing!!!

guys were on fire! we had a blast!!!!

pics and vids posted as soon as i get home.

cool. our security were assholes and i wasn't able to get more than 50 pix of all 3 bands. and i didn't bother trying to shoot any video this time. looking forward to seeing yours

we had NO security!!!!! it was WEIRD!!!!!

[Tanirocker]

cool. our security were assholes and i wasn't able to get more than 50 pix of all 3 bands. and i didn't bother trying to shoot any video this time. looking forward to seeing yours

I don't get it. They're having a photo contest for this tour...and security is stopping people from taking photos? I guess Keith needs to get tough with some security people again!

Tani

[Babyblue]

wow!!!!!! what a show!!!! houston last night.

i agree with the reviewer pretty much except for the headline crack. Styx headlined last night but meet and greet was Reo. way fun!

we didnt get Crystal Bal l:( but Madame Blue live was amazing!!!

guys were on fire! we had a blast!!!!

pics and vids posted as soon as i get home.

Cool!! Can't wait to see them.

[stmonkeys]

cool. our security were assholes and i wasn't able to get more than 50 pix of all 3 bands. and i didn't bother trying to shoot any video this time. looking forward to seeing yours

I don't get it. They're having a photo contest for this tour...and security is stopping people from taking photos? I guess Keith needs to get tough with some security people again!

Tani

tell me about it! i was going to bring a printout of the article with me but i just emailed myself a link instead. but for some reason, it didn't show up on my phone, so i couldn't show the idiot security guards. was really pissed!