OT: Kansas

[squirt1]

Fact Finder- I was there too. We were even further out than usual. The HUGE screens were helpful & the sound was great ! I just wish they would do -All I wanted. It is not on their upcoming DVD either. Steve Walsh sounded really good. I noticed he has a guitar player that takes some of the vocals. I did not go to 3 Dog night last night because- no CHUCK NEGRON BTW !!!! I remember seeing Kansas maybe late 80's -early 90-'s when they held the event at the ballpark on Grooms Rd and Steve did handstands on the keyboards. I really loved the recent Peter Cetera and Dennis DeYoung concerts with symphonies either last yr or the yr before on back to back nights. Blue Ash has the tax base and they have treated us well with these concerts over the years.

[Voyager]

Kansas, if you haven't seen them put on a hell of a show. I swear Steve Walsh sounded dead on tonight.

A little alcohol does wonders for the hearing.

[Ehwmatt]

My aunt+uncle and cousins were there tonight. I thought about making the drive down - probably would have if I didn't have so much to do tomorrow. Glad to hear they were great, Kansas is up there with Rush on bands I NEED to see soon before they're done.

[Voyager]

Kansas, if you haven't seen them put on a hell of a show. I swear Steve Walsh sounded dead on tonight.

A little alcohol does wonders for the hearing.

At 5 bucks a pop I was being careful, but I swear they sounded Great, I only had 4 16 ouncers and the Steak Sandwich canceled those out.

Just kidding with you... I'm sure he sounded good. They sounded good when I saw them a few years ago.

[Starrider]

I saw Kansas in the summer of 2008. Musically, they are great. Steve's voice is not what it was through the "Power" album, but he sounded better than he had the few years before I saw them. He certainly isn't young, and all of the drugs and alcohol that he used to do were no big help to his voice. Bassist Billy Greer has a very strong voice, and sounds a bit like Walsh- they harmonized well when they were together in Streets, which was Walsh's project after he left Kansas in the early 80's. Greer sings most of Robby Steinhardt's parts. He has more tenor range than Walsh these days. To hear his lead vocal work, check out his Seventh Key project. Violinist David Ragsdale also adds some live vocals for Kansas.

Don't expect to hear anything like "All I Wanted" from Power. Steve probably wouldn't sound very good on it with his diminished range. The best chance you have of hearing a song from Power might be Musicatto. He also struggles a bit on the Elefante material. Fire with Fire and Play the Game Tonight are probably the only songs you'll possibly hear from that era. Still good to hear them though.

For those of you who are big Kansas fans, check out the new Native Window project (http://www.nativewindow.com), which is basically Kansas without Steve Walsh. Billy Greer sings lead vocals. Some songs have a similar sound, but some were written by outside songwriters and are of a different vein. They will be opening some dates for Kansas on their current tour.

I have tickets to see Kansas on October 17 in Trenton, NJ with orchestral accompaniment. I am looking forward to that. They have a new DVD coming out with a similar format called "There's Know Place Like Home." It features guest appearances by Kerry Livgren and Steve Morse. It should be out in the middle of October.

[hoagiepete]

Living in Kansas' original hometown, it has been fun following their successful career. They played my buddy's prom before becoming "Kansas" and a couple of them went to his HS.

With Cheap Trick opening (just prior to them hitting it big with Live at Budakon), Kansas was the first concert I ever attended. Back in the day, Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards and he was moving all night. Livgren had an eerie presence on stage that is missed today. I remember a a drum solo that had the sounds going around the arena long be for "surround sound." It was a great concert, my first and still one of the best. Cheap Trick was unbelievable as well.

I had VIP tickets to the filming of their soon to be released DVD. I donated them to my work's Foundation auction, thinking I would buy another couple or buy them back during the auction. They went for way too much money and the tickets were sold out by this time. A good friend and his wife got the tickets and said it was a great experience. The VIP tickets included attendance at the dress rehearsal the night before. I believe there were only around 100 VIPs so it was an intimate experience...full with meet and greet, cameras allowed during the reheasal, etc. I can't believe I missed this opportunity. Oh well.

[Starrider]

I had VIP tickets to the filming of their soon to be released DVD. I donated them to my work's Foundation auction, thinking I would buy another couple or buy them back during the auction. They went for way too much money and the tickets were sold out by this time. A good friend and his wife got the tickets and said it was a great experience. The VIP tickets included attendance at the dress rehearsal the night before. I believe there were only around 100 VIPs so it was an intimate experience...full with meet and greet, cameras allowed during the rehearsal, etc. I can't believe I missed this opportunity. Oh well.

Wow. You are certainly a good person for being that generous. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you gave it up. Hope the foundation got good money for them.

[Rick]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

[Starrider]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

Agreed. He is out there in those videos though. Wonder what kind of stuff he was on then.

[Rick]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

Agreed. He is out there in those videos though. Wonder what kind of stuff he was on then.

No kidding. He does look amped up and whacked out there.

[gr8dane]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

Agreed. He is out there in those videos though. Wonder what kind of stuff he was on then.

Well,maybe he's sick and got a fever.And ofcourse he did not cancel out.The show must go on.
Once saw Kinks at the Rock Palast in Germany.Before the show he talked about he was way sick,popped some medicine,and went out there and worked his arse off.
In rock'n roll you gotta be reaaaly off not to perform.You don't just cancel if you got an ingrown nail or a pulled muscle.
Give him a break.

[squirt1]

Rick- You are MR genius. After seeing them the night before last I remembered when they were here c 1990 and Steve did handstands. Leave it to you to know where to find a good VIDEO !

[Rick]

Rick- You are MR genius. After seeing them the night before last I remembered when they were here c 1990 and Steve did handstands. Leave it to you to know where to find a good VIDEO !

Thanks. Dave (Conversationpc) would have been all over that, but he's not around much lately.

[Arkansas]

Could be more of a statement about the economy and the average consumer's attitude about expensive shows.
Free show, free parking, older-oriented (wiser) crowd maybe too.
Festivals like this attract so much more of a crowd...especially with such a great band.
The local fest I help organize is always free. We pay 10 grand (give or take) plus expenses for a 'nostalgia' act, and always have huge crowds.

In today's economy where people are learning to live with a tightened belt, this only makes sense.
I love it. Wish I could have been there.


later~

[Blueskies]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

love Kansas

[squirt1]

Arkansas- Blue Ash 45242 a suburb about 12 miles out of Cincinnati started the taste of Blue Ash years ago so it has nothing to do with the economy. C 1990 Kansas was here & they held it at Grooms Road Park. Now it is at the Town Square It draws about 80,000 each of the 3 nights and promotes Blue Ash restaurants plus any others that want to partiscipate. It is not as huge as Taste of Cincinnati, but brings in better big acts.

[conversationpc]

Walsh was amazing on stage. The comments were accurate with the hand stands on the keyboards

He does the hand stand at about the 40 second mark. He's a hell of a showman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3szQMsnqGBk

He's never really been comfortable being a showman or even a frontman, for that matter. I'm pretty sure he did some cocaine in his time.

Anyway, his voice has been sounding better since he got sober, which has been going on about 10 years now, I believe.

[conversationpc]

Rick- You are MR genius. After seeing them the night before last I remembered when they were here c 1990 and Steve did handstands. Leave it to you to know where to find a good VIDEO !

Thanks. Dave (Conversationpc) would have been all over that, but he's not around much lately.

I am definitely all over it.

[conversationpc]

On a more serious note, and I'll post this in the main Journey forum also...I just received word on the PotSW (People of the South Wind) mailing list that Kerry Livgren had a stroke last night and was undergoing brain surgery.