Artpark in Lewiston, NY, continues to celebrate its 40 year anniversary. This week’s musical guests were rock and roll touring stalwarts REO Speedwagon. REO has been around since the late 1960s but truly made their mark in 1980 when they released “Hi Infidelity.” The band played to a packed park of fans that were hungry to hear the many hits that the band dished out during the 1980s.
Vocalist Kevin Cronin and his band mates were surely up to that task. Cronin commanded the stage the entire night while telling stories that led up to how the songs came about. “Golden Country” was written in protest to the war. The war he was referring to was Vietnam as the song was crafted in 1972. He also talked about how we (included Canada into his speech) should never give up the fight as our freedom cannot be bought or sold at any time. Showing the band’s staying power, they played a strong set that also included “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” and “Like You Do.” Cronin talked about the “skanky’ bars in his hometown of Champagne, Illinois, like the Red Lion that formed them into the band they have become today. The band then went into “Son of a Poor Man.’
Bassist Bruce Hall enjoyed the spotlight as he handled vocal duties on “Back on the Road Again.” Neal Doughty who has been with the band since day one (1), handled the Hammond organ and piano duties except at the beginning of “Roll with the Changes” when Cronin tickled the ivories. Before the band played its biggest hit “Keep on Loving You,” Cronin remarked that he was awoken one night by a dream of these three (3) chords. “Since that night, my life has never been the same” he quipped. Guitarist Dave Amato was solid the entire night and really played to the crowd as well. He played a beautiful double neck during the aforementioned song. A surprise was when the band was ready to leave the stage, Cronin looked at the rest of them and started to play the opening chords to The Doors classic “Gloria.” It was maybe the highlight of the entire evening! They did justice to the song and the crowd loved it!
Artpark was the perfect venue for the band to display what they can do. Cronin might be missing the bushy brown hair he sported way back when, but he still brought the fire and passion to help his band deliver a solid performance. To the fans who showed up on Tuesday, that’s what mattered most!
Set List:
Don’t Let Him Go
Music Man
Take It On The Run
Keep Pushin’
Golden Country
Can’t Fight This Feeling
That Ain’t Love
Like You Do
Son Of A Poor Man
Time For Me To Fly
Back On the Road Again
Roll With the Changes
Encore:
Keep On Loving You
Ridin’ The Storm Out
Gloria (The Doors cover)
We would like to thank Maria Hays from Artpark for the credentials to cover the show.
