Post by rtbuck on Aug 7, 2010 18:35:45 GMT -5
Kansas
Date: 8/6/2010
Venue: Molson Canal Fest Lockport, NY
Review by Bucky
I was fortunate to see Kansas twice in the late 70’s/early 80’s & both times they were spectacular. The first time I saw them was on the ‘Point of Know Return’ tour & I could not believe their performance. I was a fan of Kansas at the time & had their ‘Song for America’, ‘Leftoverature’, & ‘Point of Know Return’ albums but I was not expecting what I witnessed at that performance. I caught them a couple of years later on their ‘Monolith’ tour & the show was even better, complete with lasers (the Monolith album is one of my favorites).
30 years later I seen Kansas for a third time & once again they did not disappoint. Gone were the lasers & the wild acrobatics of keyboardist/vocalist Steve Walsh but that didn’t matter because it was all about the music. The band now consists of three original members: Steve Walsh (keyboards/vocals), Rich Williams (guitars), & Phil Ehart (drums). Rounding out the line-up is bassist/vocalist Billy Greer who has been a member of Kansas since 1986 & was previously with Steve Walsh’s early 80’s band Streets & on violin & guitar David Ragsdale who began with Kansas in 1991, left in 1997, & returned in 2006. The band opened with “Howling at the Moon” (part of “Magnum Opus” from ‘Leftoverature’) & immediately launched into “Belexes” from their first album. Bassist Billy Greer welcomed the crowd to Kansas & the band played the title track from their 1977 hit album ‘Point of Know Return’. Greer did a fantastic job talking to the crowd throughout the evening as well as handling lead vocals with Steve Walsh. Walsh’s vocals were spot on during the night’s performance & it was cool to see two frontmen leading the band. The band performed a killer version of “Miracles Out of Nowhere” before launching into two of their biggest hits “Hold on” & “Dust in the Wind”. Up next was “The Wall” from ‘Leftoverature’ followed by one of my favorite Kansas tunes “Song for America”. Guitarist Rich Williams sounded amazing throughout the night & I was amazed how well he & violinist/ guitarist David Ragsdale worked together. Ragsdale was a show in himself playing the violin then putting the bow down & playing guitar without missing a beat during several songs. Greer talked about missing the Western NY area last year on the band’s 35th anniversary tour & was impressed with the crowd response for “Song for America’ so he said that he was sure everyone would like the next two songs from their third album ‘Masque’ & the band played stinging renditions of “Mysteries & Mayhem” & “Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)”. Phil Ehart who had a fantastic performance kicked out the beginning beat to the next song which was “Portrait (He Knew)” off of ‘Point of Know Return’. The band said “Goodnight” & left the stage. They came back out & surprised me by playing their hit from the 80’s “Fight Fire with Fire” which I had forgotten about & Kansas closed out the night by rocking out to “Carry on our Wayward Son”. This was a spectacular show & I would recommend to go see them if they come up to your area.
Bucky
Date: 8/6/2010
Venue: Molson Canal Fest Lockport, NY
Review by Bucky
I was fortunate to see Kansas twice in the late 70’s/early 80’s & both times they were spectacular. The first time I saw them was on the ‘Point of Know Return’ tour & I could not believe their performance. I was a fan of Kansas at the time & had their ‘Song for America’, ‘Leftoverature’, & ‘Point of Know Return’ albums but I was not expecting what I witnessed at that performance. I caught them a couple of years later on their ‘Monolith’ tour & the show was even better, complete with lasers (the Monolith album is one of my favorites).
30 years later I seen Kansas for a third time & once again they did not disappoint. Gone were the lasers & the wild acrobatics of keyboardist/vocalist Steve Walsh but that didn’t matter because it was all about the music. The band now consists of three original members: Steve Walsh (keyboards/vocals), Rich Williams (guitars), & Phil Ehart (drums). Rounding out the line-up is bassist/vocalist Billy Greer who has been a member of Kansas since 1986 & was previously with Steve Walsh’s early 80’s band Streets & on violin & guitar David Ragsdale who began with Kansas in 1991, left in 1997, & returned in 2006. The band opened with “Howling at the Moon” (part of “Magnum Opus” from ‘Leftoverature’) & immediately launched into “Belexes” from their first album. Bassist Billy Greer welcomed the crowd to Kansas & the band played the title track from their 1977 hit album ‘Point of Know Return’. Greer did a fantastic job talking to the crowd throughout the evening as well as handling lead vocals with Steve Walsh. Walsh’s vocals were spot on during the night’s performance & it was cool to see two frontmen leading the band. The band performed a killer version of “Miracles Out of Nowhere” before launching into two of their biggest hits “Hold on” & “Dust in the Wind”. Up next was “The Wall” from ‘Leftoverature’ followed by one of my favorite Kansas tunes “Song for America”. Guitarist Rich Williams sounded amazing throughout the night & I was amazed how well he & violinist/ guitarist David Ragsdale worked together. Ragsdale was a show in himself playing the violin then putting the bow down & playing guitar without missing a beat during several songs. Greer talked about missing the Western NY area last year on the band’s 35th anniversary tour & was impressed with the crowd response for “Song for America’ so he said that he was sure everyone would like the next two songs from their third album ‘Masque’ & the band played stinging renditions of “Mysteries & Mayhem” & “Icarus (Borne on the Wings of Steel)”. Phil Ehart who had a fantastic performance kicked out the beginning beat to the next song which was “Portrait (He Knew)” off of ‘Point of Know Return’. The band said “Goodnight” & left the stage. They came back out & surprised me by playing their hit from the 80’s “Fight Fire with Fire” which I had forgotten about & Kansas closed out the night by rocking out to “Carry on our Wayward Son”. This was a spectacular show & I would recommend to go see them if they come up to your area.
Bucky
He is very underrated. I was pretty amazed at how he had an acoustic guitar set up on a stand in front of him & he was playing his electric & then would walk up to the stand play the acoustic & then step back & play the electric during several songs