Kansas Lockport, NY

[rtbuck]

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

[Magic]

Awesome! And you say this was a free concert? Dang they gave you guys a great setlist! Thanks so much for telling us all about the show

[Groovy Man]

Originally Posted by rtbuck Walsh’s vocals were spot on during the night’s performance

Very cool....nice set list...good to see Kansas is still going...

Steve Walsh is one of the most underrated singers (nowadays)

Seen Kansas twice, years ago...and they were fantastic...

Thanks for the concert review, Bucky...great job, as usual.

[rtbuck]

Originally Posted by Magic Awesome! And you say this was a free concert? Dang they gave you guys a great setlist! Thanks so much for telling us all about the show

Yes, free concert!! I was really shocked with the setlist especially after reading the setlist that they've been playing on this tour but the only reason I can think of why they changed the setlist was because Billy Greer told the crowd that they missed our area on their 35th Anniversary tour. I bought their new DVD 'There's No Place Like Home' at the show which was from the 35th Anniversary tour last year & on the DVD the first few songs were in the same order as they were from Friday's show