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Kansas - 40th anniversary tour

goingbald

By goingbald,
in Music Of The Spheres

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goingbald

goingbald

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Kansas is out on a casino/amphitheatre tour. My wife and I caught their show in Battle Creek last night and were very impressed.

 

Back in my childhood and teens in the 70s, I was a classically trained musician (piano, viola), so I migrated to the more classically oriented prog bands like Emerson, Lakd & Palmer and Kansas. The concept of violin in a rock band was the berries, although admittedly on the extreme nerdy scale. After discovering Rush and having Kansas turn more pop oriented and less proggy, I kind of turned my back on Kansas in the early 80s.

 

This tour has mostly original members with the exception of the violinist/guitarist, who has been with them off and on for the last ten years. They put together a short (1 1/2 hours) but solid concert. For being the same age as Rush (early 60s) they still definately have the chops to pull off a tight show.

 

Tickets were dirt cheap. I got a 2 for 1 deal, so it only cost about $40 for both of us. The seat location, well, it sucked (stuck behind the sound/video board) but at least there were screens on either side of the stage to make up for the lack of sightline. I had pretty low expectations...oh it's a casino, only gonna be half full of drunks and people there to kill time, etc. But the 2000 seat ballroom was 90% full and the crowd was very into it and appreciative. I wish I was able to get better seats to avoid the drunk chatty women in front of us and the drunks wondering aimlessly in the aisle. But, hey, it's the Indian casino crowd.

 

The setlist is posted below at this site. It had only 12 songs, but a good mix of the 'popular' songs and some deeper tracks. I definately could relate to Kansas as a Rush fan...lots of key and time signature changes out of the blue...somewhat difficult to follow especially for the non musician, but it makes it interesting. My wife who is not a Rush fan still enjoyed the show. The set list is pretty standard on this tour.

 

http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/kansas-bd6b5ea.html

 

For more info on their tour check out their site below. And, no, I'm not a paid 'promoter' of the band or tour, just a fan who forgot how much I liked them back in the 70s.

 

http://www.kansasband.com/

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EagleMoon

EagleMoon

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I've always loved the older Kansas stuff for the same reasons you mentioned. I've seen one of their more recent live DVDs and they do definitely still have some major chops and put on a great show. I've never had the chance to see them live but maybe I can catch them this time. Edited by EagleMoon
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Turbine Freight

Turbine Freight

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Kansas is out on a casino/amphitheatre tour. My wife and I caught their show in Battle Creek last night and were very impressed.

 

Back in my childhood and teens in the 70s, I was a classically trained musician (piano, viola), so I migrated to the more classically oriented prog bands like Emerson, Lakd & Palmer and Kansas. The concept of violin in a rock band was the berries, although admittedly on the extreme nerdy scale. After discovering Rush and having Kansas turn more pop oriented and less proggy, I kind of turned my back on Kansas in the early 80s.

 

This tour has mostly original members with the exception of the violinist/guitarist, who has been with them off and on for the last ten years. They put together a short (1 1/2 hours) but solid concert. For being the same age as Rush (early 60s) they still definately have the chops to pull off a tight show.

 

Tickets were dirt cheap. I got a 2 for 1 deal, so it only cost about $40 for both of us. The seat location, well, it sucked (stuck behind the sound/video board) but at least there were screens on either side of the stage to make up for the lack of sightline. I had pretty low expectations...oh it's a casino, only gonna be half full of drunks and people there to kill time, etc. But the 2000 seat ballroom was 90% full and the crowd was very into it and appreciative. I wish I was able to get better seats to avoid the drunk chatty women in front of us and the drunks wondering aimlessly in the aisle. But, hey, it's the Indian casino crowd.

 

The setlist is posted below at this site. It had only 12 songs, but a good mix of the 'popular' songs and some deeper tracks. I definately could relate to Kansas as a Rush fan...lots of key and time signature changes out of the blue...somewhat difficult to follow especially for the non musician, but it makes it interesting. My wife who is not a Rush fan still enjoyed the show. The set list is pretty standard on this tour.

 

http://www.setlist.f...as-bd6b5ea.html

 

For more info on their tour check out their site below. And, no, I'm not a paid 'promoter' of the band or tour, just a fan who forgot how much I liked them back in the 70s.

 

http://www.kansasband.com/

 

That's brilliant! I love the early Kansas stuff. I got a box set of all their albums remastered & some expanded from the debut up to "Drastic Measures" & I haven't stopped playing it since I got it. I went off them at around the "Drastic Measures" album but up until then they were great. I love the first 3 records & "Monolith". I wish I could see this tour.

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Tombstone Mountain

Tombstone Mountain

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I've seen them several times now. Always enjoy their shows.

 

Lucky. I'm jealous. Seriously. Would love to see them live.

Seen them a couple times. They were playing some club that barely held 200 people...very intimate. Got to see them majorly screw up "Dust in the Wind"...they had to actually start the song over because of the singer forgetting the words. Suprised to see that
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goingbald

goingbald

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Steve Walsh, the singer/keyboardist, did struggle with the singing at times. Since he's in his early 60s, he's got the same issues Geddy has with declining range. But he was a trooper and still put on a good show. I'm not fond of singers, but I listened to their set list before we went and man, he had a great voice back in the day.
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Xanadoood

Xanadoood

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talented guys, but never a big kansas fan...like their first album a good bit though

 

Just a few tracks for me.

 

Yeah, talented guys, but a lot of their stuff sounds like carnival music to me with all the keys and organs.

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Lorraine

Lorraine

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Going Bald, thanks for the blast from my past. I had forgotten Kansas ever existed. Checked out the set list and took a trip down memory lane - some good, some bad - "Fight Fire with Fire" represents one of the best and worst years of my life. Good to hear they are still around.

 

Since you are (were?) a trained classical musician, you must've liked the Moody Blues in the late sixties/early seventies. After that, when Mike Pinder left and Tony Clarke (their engineer) left as well, it was downhill for them. They never sounded the same.

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goingbald

goingbald

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Going Bald, thanks for the blast from my past. I had forgotten Kansas ever existed. Checked out the set list and took a trip down memory lane - some good, some bad - "Fight Fire with Fire" represents one of the best and worst years of my life. Good to hear they are still around.

 

Since you are (were?) a trained classical musician, you must've liked the Moody Blues in the late sixties/early seventies. After that, when Mike Pinder left and Tony Clarke (their engineer) left as well, it was downhill for them. They never sounded the same.

 

Thanks for your response. I had the same response when I saw the concert listed "Kansas?!? They're still around? Hey I used to really like them...".

 

I'm not a classical musician anymore...had enough of that when I graduated H.S. and turned to the dark side (guitar). I can't really say I was much of a fan of the Moodys...older stuff was interesting but overall just a little to tame for my tastes.

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ucsteve667

ucsteve667

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Just saw them this past weekend and they were phenomenal.
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CrimsonE

CrimsonE

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They played Atlanta tonight, but I ultimately decided not to go due to the cost

 

BTW, although their prime was in the 70's, they have had a number of very solid albums since. I really enjoyed the concept album "In the Spirit of Things" from 1988—particularly as I caught them co-headlining with Night Ranger, and they delivered an amazing set. Another solid album was "Freaks of Nature" which contains one of my favorite Kansas songs--"Hope Once Again"

Edited by CrimsonE
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ColdFireYYZ

ColdFireYYZ

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They played Atlanta tonight, but I ultimately decided not to go due to the cost

 

BTW, although their prime was in the 70's, they have had a number of very solid albums since. I really enjoyed the concept album "In the Spirit of Things" from 1988—particularly as I caught them co-headlining with Night Ranger, and they delivered an amazing set. Another solid album was "Freaks of Nature" which contains one of my favorite Kansas songs--"Hope Once Again"

Some of In The Spirit of Things is really good (Ghosts and Rainmaker are awesome) but I don't really like the stuff that was written by outside writers. I think Power is a much better and more consistent album, even though it did take some time to grow on me. I still need to get Freaks of Nature and Somewhere to Elsewhere as I've heard good things about both of them.

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MCM

MCM

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I saw the 40th Anniversary Fan Appreciation Concert last night here in Pittsburgh. It was really very good, I enjoyed it much more than I expected. It was billed as a one-off as members not touring with them did appear for a few songs each. The first half was done (very well) with a full orchestra, the second half was the band only.

 

Here is the article from the local paper about the show:

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music/kansas-celebrates-its-40th-anniversary-in-pittsburgh-699307/

 

and

 

 

Here is the review after from the local paper:

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music/kansas-carries-on-with-dignity-at-40th-anniversary-concert-699721/

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