Great night at DTE Friday - learned a couple of things about Pat & REO Speedwagon:
#1: Pat Benatar
She's 57 years old -- and her voice is just as strong as it was in 1979. It's amazing to hear her nail the notes on "Promises In The Dark" and "Hell Is For Children" (and on a guy note, she's just as freakin' cool as she's always been). You could feel the appreciation for Detroit and Pine Knob (she joked with her hubby Neil (Spyder) Giraldo about how many times they've played here). Pat made it known that she's not a huge fan of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" -- and here's why: she hates the lyrics "Before I put another notch in my lipstick case, you better make sure you put me in my place"...so the deal was this: they did the song, but we had to sing that verse. Everyone was up for it (although the guy next to me was REALLY into it). Great co-headliner, amazing voice -- and I could tell she dug me.
Kevin Cronin and the guys have really tightened up and brightened up their set in the past couple of years...Friday night was an example of that. From the opening production pieces to constant visuals throughout the entire set, this was as good as they've sounded in years. To hear them come out with the first two tracks from side two of "Hi Infidelity" was exactly how you wanted it to start (it's been 30 years since the release of the album -- insiders note: look for REO to go out next year and perform the entire Hi Infidelity album). Of course they played all the hits -- AND finally did "Golden Country" (note to REO fans who don't know that song...it's on REO:Two - and in my opinion their best song ever). I'm still trying to figure out who I'd have go out with REO next year...get two bands to do albums as part of the set. My thought: Journey does "Escape" then REO doing "Hi Infidelity". What do you think? (hit the comments button below and disqus).
Great night for Classic Rock - and a reminder of why our music holds the test of time (I really can't imagine some of the crap on top 40 stations being performed 30 years from now).
Hopewell, N.Y. Few things don't lose their resilience over time: titanium, balsa wood and pure carbon to name a few. Add to that list the iconically flawless vocal cords of Kevin Cronin and Pat Benatar, following their effervescent and seemingly effortless performances last night. Opposite a jam-packed audience that exited the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center with hoarse throats after three hours of nonstop sing-along, rock legends REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar serenaded 10,000-plus, jogging memories and exhibiting showmanship and professionalism in their purest form. “Growing up listening to both these bands my entire life, this was the first time I had ever seen either one live, and we were 13th row,” said Ontario resident Debbie Forrester, who attended with husband, Mark. “We saw the Zac Brown Band earlier this summer with third-row seats, but this show tonight was way better not even comparable.” Shocking one of the largest audiences in CMAC concert history, REO Speedwagon opened the show, leaving Pat Benatar as the main attraction on the seasonably cool Sunday evening. Responsible for a pair of No. 1 hits and 13 songs that cracked the Billboard Top-40, Cronin, with his small yet dynamic presence, and the rest of the boys from Illinois burst onto the stage with drummer Bryan Hitt hammering the skins to the opening thunder of “Don’t Let Him Go,” their trademark opener. Their first four songs, including the successive three -- “Keep On Lovin’ You,” “In Your Letter” and “Take It on The Run” -- all come from the bands legendary Hi Infidelity album, which marks its 30th anniversary next year. “I’m an avid concert-goer, I’ve been to well over 100, and the way REO opened the show tonight was one of the most clever and exciting ways to kick off their set,” said Stephen Watson of Farmington. “The crowd literally sang each and every word, it was incredible to be part of.” With a relentless mission to rock, Cronin and Co. tore down the rafters with “Keep Pushin” and “Golden Country” before crooning the gusher power ballad “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” which clearly revealed Cronin’s spot-on vocals. Again putting the crown in frenzy, REO tore into “Like You Do,” followed by the lyrically-genius masterpiece “Time For Me To Fly.” “It was like they were throwing knock-out punches every step of the way, never relenting once in their set list,” Bloomfield resident Adam Todd said. “For these guys to have been the opening act is crazy, they were by far the more superior rock show.” After closing with bassist Bruce Hall singing “Back on the Road Again” and Cronin finishing with “Roll With the Changes,” a one-song-encore of “Ridin’ the Storm Out” concluding the 90-minute opener. Multiple Grammy-award-winning rock diva Pat Benatar and husband of 29 years Neil “Spyder” Giraldo ran through a talkative, 80-minute set and the 57-year-old proved her octave range is as strong as her 1979 debut album. “Pat really rocks,” said Kaylee Adler, a student at Finger Lakes Community College. “She put on a great show, and with REO Speedwagon, the two put on one of the best shows this summer.” Benatar, playing to a somewhat depleted audience, entertained with several monster hits such as opener “All Fired Up,” followed by “Shadows of the Night.” With crowd favorites such as “Promises in the Dark” and “You Better Run” sprinkled throughout, the clear-cute highlight of her set was “We Belong,” which engineered a sprinting homestretch that included “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” Love Is a Battlefield,” and “Heartbreaker.” “Tonight’s show, you really couldn’t have asked for more,” said Kerrie Schultz, of Victor. “A male and female voice, two different yet similar brands of music, and able to sing to every song you heard. This was easily the best double-bill of the CMAC season.”
Click here for review.Nostalgia was the theme of the evening Thursday night at Riverbend's PNC Pavilion as REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar played career-spanning sets that featured the artists' 30-year tenure in the music business.REO Speedwagon came in ready to party as it played songs from its 16-album catalog. Lead singer Kevin Cronin ran around the stage with the vitality of a man half his age, while the other four members of the band supported his charming antics. "Ladies shake you're a----, boys buy them a drink! " Cronin announced from the stage. "This is real rock n' roll." The Champaign, Ill. band played a 70-minute set to its faithful over 40-something fan base. Younger people were few and far between, but the youth in attendance sang along with their older peers. The set drew heavily from the band’s most popular release "Hi Infidelity" (1980), but also included classics such as "Ridin' the Storm Out," and "Can't Fight This Feeling." The crowd thinned out after Speedwagon's show and left a considerable gap in the grandstand for Pat Benatar's set. The Brooklyn-born Benatar commented on the audience apathy from the stage during a sing-along segment of her song "We Belong." "OK, you guys suck. Let's try this again," said an abject Benatar behind her microphone. Benatar changed subjects by regaling the crowd with anecdotes from her storied career. She drew heavily from her recently released memoir, "Between a Heart and a Rock Place." "Did you know we were the second song ever to be played on a little station called MTV?" she asked from the stage. Benatar's 80-minute set featured pop-rock favorites such as "Hit Me With Your Best Shot, " and the patriotic hit "Golden Country." Just like at a Bengals blowout, the audience began filtering out as it sensed the music was coming to a close. By the end of Benatar's final song, "Love is a Battlefield," the back rows were nearly empty, although the Benatar faithful stayed in the pit. Her final words to the audience reflected a mother's advice. "Please don't drink and drive," Benatar shouted as she left the stage. "Come back and see us again." The Nashville-based rocker Tyler Bryant opened show to a relatively small, but dedicated crowd.
Click here for review.Check out photos from our REO Speedwagon Meet and Greet at the Mountain Winery on July 27th!
Click here for review.Had REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar co-headlined a show back in the day when both were among the world's most popular rock acts, it would have been bigger than big. Three decades later, the pair actually got around to doing it for a sold-out concert Saturday at the Greek Theatre, and it was still pretty darn good, so you've got to give credit to both for their staying power. REO Speedwagon came out with a bang by opening with four "Hi-Infidelity" classics "Don't Let Him Go," "Keep on Loving You," "In Your Letter" and "Take it on The Run" followed by another good one, "Keep Pushin'," and the crowd of mostly 40- and 50-somethings really liked it even though they weren't jumping on their chairs like the old days. Kevin Cronin, looking fit and trim, is singing as well as ever, and he's got a strong band behind him with longtime members Dave Amato (guitar) and Neal Doughty (bass). Overall the 90-minute set was mostly well-received, but I would have liked a couple of more classics to stand alongside "Time For Me to Fly," "I Can't Fight This Feeling," "Roll With Changes" and encore "Ridin' The Storm Out." Instead of "Tough Guys" and "Keep The Fire Burnin'" there were three or four unfamiliar songs. Most classic-rock bands, no matter how well-revered, always like to mix in some new songs except Van Halen last time, but that's another story. When you add up everything good about REO Speedwagon's performance: great songs and musicianship, they're healthy and happy, the crowd loved them it's a solid success. Pat Benatar delivered most of her favorite hits but, like REO Speedwagon, left out a few. Dressed in black and still surprisingly hot at 57, Benatar was her sultry self on "Promises in the Dark," "Invincible," "Hell is For Children" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." The sound mix found guitarist/husband Neil Geraldo a bit louder than Benatar's vocals, but you could still tell she remains one of Rock's top ingers male or female. I wish she would move around a bit more and really get into it, but that was never Benatar's style, even back in the late 1970s and early 80s when she rule the radio waves and MTV. Also, perhaps Benatar should do away with the acoustic interlude. When people pay $85 for a ticket, they want to hear Benatar's songs the way they remember them the full electric versions that made us fall in love with her in the first place. I'd give her a B-minus, but if Benatar did things they way I would want, she could easily score an A.
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