TheChez.net

Can't Stop Rockin' Tour 2009

By Lundin’ Bridge

When it comes to 70′s rock bands, several names immediately come to mind. Anyone reading this can name at least five bands that fill up their iPods with countless hits. As a major classic rock fan and REO Speedwagon fan, I’ve been looking forward to this concert from the minute I heard about it. A concert featuring REO and Styx? In their prime, this concert would have been sold out within the day. This hasn’t been the first time for a venue like this either. REO has toured with rock greats such as Styx, Journey, and Boston for the past couple of decades. Luckily for me, this tour was coming to the Toyota Pavilion.

Since the Pavilion box office is only open 3 days a week (it must be so tiresome to count money and print out tickets) and the fact that I work a 40 hour week, I couldn’t buy the tickets until the day of the show. And since I worked the day before the Fourth of July (day in which my employment is closed) I couldn’t get out of work until a half hour before the show. Not a good way to start things off.

.38 Special

But Lundin’ Bridge, who was opening the show? Don’t worry everyone, it was only .38 Special. By the time I got up there, walked the mile of parking lot to the box office, bought the tickets, walked through the mud and sludge of the lawn to a decent place to stand, I was still in time to hear the only two .38 Special songs that I know: “Caught Up In You” and “Hold On Loosely”. And that was that for .38 Special. From what I heard they sounded good, but again I only knew of those two songs.

REO SPEEDWAGON

As more people began to fill the seats, the next band to take the stage was REO Speedwagon. As I already stated, I happen to be a huge REO fan. They remain one of the strongholds in my classic rock forte, and I know almost all of their songs. REO is led by vocalist Kevin Cronin, who continues to belt out the band’s ballads and hits. I must say, he doesn’t sound as good live. That’s not to say that he still isn’t good, but what you get on the CD is definitely differently from what you hear live. Along with Cronin, Bruce Hall (bass) and Neil Doughty (keyboards) close out the earliest members of REO. Dave Amato (lead guitar) and Bryan Hitt (drums) took over for Gary Richrath and Alan Gratzer to start the 90′s and REO has been the same ever since. They may be past their prime, but they still put on a helluva show. If you want a wordy review of how each song sounded, I don’t have time for that. However I’ll list you the songs and give a quick sum up of each. This may not be the exact order, and it may not be perfect, but it’s close enough so bear with me.

1. Don’t Let Him Go – great start to the show with Hitt on drums.
2. Take It On The Run – can’t go wrong with the hits
3. Keep Pushin’ – earlier hit, good choice for the concert because of the economy
4. Golden Country – from the earlier years, another song about our country
5. Son Of A Poor Man – again, an earlier hit dealing with our country
6. Time For Me To Fly – can’t go wrong with the hits
7. Back On The Road Again - bassist Bruce Hall belts this hit out
8. Keep On Loving You – can’t go wrong with the hits
9. Roll With The Changes – can’t go wrong with the hits

10. Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore – my favorite REO song

Encore (who saw that coming?)
11. Ridin’ The Storm Out – I never really cared for this song, but the intro sounds awesome
12. 157 Riverside Avenue – overkill. A good song but definitely unnecessary.

So overall, REO put on a good show. I love the hits and knew all the other songs so I was pleased. I wish they played newer songs rather than some earlier ones but overall it was definitely a great performance.

Styx

Because of my knowledge of classic rock, I’ve obviously heard my fair share of Styx. I’m definitely not as knowledgeable with Styx as with REO, but I know of most of their hits. Styx has most of their old band members, along with Tommy Shaw and their drummer, Todd Sucherman, who was named Drummer Magazine’s best drummer of 2009 (though I have no idea how they judge that). Styx however is without their lead singer Dennis Deyoung whose voice is distinct on many of their songs. Despite this fact, I had absolutely no idea that Deyoung wasn’t the singer of the concert. I didn’t know until afterwards that it was actually Lawrence Gowan (he was that good). It was like going to see Journey without Steve Perry but still loving every song like it was the original. So, along with a packed house (Styx clearly had the biggest crowd), I was ready to hear them play. Here’s there set list:

1. Heavy Water – decent
2. Too Much Time On My Hands – heavier song but well done
3. Grand Illusion – great show about an introduction to a show
4. Lorelei – great song
5. I Am The Walrus –  an awesome rendition of this Beatles hit. You really have to be good to try a Beatles song and this one was absolutely perfect
6. Blue Collar Man – awesome organ intro, you definitely know it’s Styx
7. (Suite) Madame Blue – good song
8. Miss America – hurray America
9. Fooling Yourself – great synth for a great song
10. Come Sail Away – my favorite Styx song, perfectly played for a raucous crowd

Encore (shocker!)
10. Renegade – perfect ending to a perfect night

After Renegade, REO came back out to join Styx and play their song Can’t Stop Rockin’, which is specifically written as a duet for when the two bands tour. However, I took this opportunity for an early exit rather than listen to it so I could get out of the Pavilion alive. In conclusion, myself and my accomplices determined that Styx definitely played the best overall. They sounded great, even without having their lead singer from yesteryear.  I love when bands sound just as good live as they do on their CDs. Some bands sound better live, but that’s pretty depressing isn’t it? I’m not saying that REO wasn’t great too. They put on an awesome show and can still pack quite a crowd.

So overall, this was an awesome concert for those who love classic rock and these particular bands. Even if you aren’t really into classic rock, you still would have enjoyed this show. After a $10.70 lawn ticket and enough mud on my flip-flopped feet to give a homeless Scranton man a run for his money, I left the concert thoroughly pleased. I can safely say that REO Speedwagon and Styx can definitely still keep on rockin’.