Fourth of July weekend was more than just a holiday to celebrate America’s Independence. It was also to celebrate the music of the 1980’s in grand style at Artpark. The tour is dubbed “I Want My 80’s Tour” featuring: Rick Springfield, John Waite, Wang Chung and Paul Young. Concert attendees braved extremely hot temperatures to witness the most fun show of the year to date.
Opening the show was Paul Young. This was my first time seeing him and didn’t know what to expect. Since there were 4 acts on the bill and due to curfew, Young only played 4 songs. He used Rick Springfield’s band to back him. Young was all over MTV back in the 1980’s and was big part of the Live Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time” song that featured the most successful singers of England at that time. He of course closed with his most well-known hit “Everytime You Go Away.” It was fine set and a good opener to get things going.
Next up was Wang Chung. I saw them for the 1st time last summer and I thought they were one of the highlights of the Totally Tubular Festival. Nothing has changed as both bassist Nick Feldman and guitarist Jack Hues delivered another high-quality performance. They also had Dave Schultz on keyboards who is born and bred from Buffalo, NY. Their 6-song show was an upbeat performance that really got the crowd going. A song that really encompasses the 80’s for me is hearing “Dance Hall Days.” The crowd absolutely loved “Let’s Go” and of course, the set ended with their biggest hit in “Everybody Have Fun Tonight.” Another fantastic performance by Wang Chung!
Third on the bill was John Waite. Waite is a very accomplished singer-songwriter as he fronted bands like The Baby’s, Bad English and spearheaded a successful solo career. Waite also sang Happy Birthday to himself as the day before on July 4th he turned 73 years young. His 8-song set started off with a bang playing my favorite song of his in “Change.” The set was focused heavily on the Baby’s as 4 tracks were played from his former band. That included “Midnight Rendezvous.” His voice is as powerful as ever and very melodic when it had to be as well. He was able to slow things down for the ballad “When I See You Smile.” He also delivered a rounding rendition of the Led Zeppelin song “Whole Lotta Love” and didn’t miss a beat. A terrific set was put forth by Waite and his bandmates!
Headlining the show was Rick Springfield. Springfield tours very regularly even though this is the first time I’m seeing him live in over a decade. Hailing from Australia, he wished everyone a Happy 4th of July and said he is happy to be an American Citizen. He said he loves the USA and now can be called to jury duty (as that drew laughs from the crowd). He talked about how ironic this tour is that all artists come from other parts of the world, and here we are the day after the 4th to celebrate America’s independence. Springfield performed well over an hour and 15 minutes and played all his hits. That included the song “Don’t Talk to Strangers.” He was very close to Eddie Money and did a fitting cover of “Two Tickets to Paradise” in his honor. Springfield is a physical specimen for someone who is about to turn 76 years old in August. He unbuttoned his shirt a few songs in, and it was totally off by the end of his performance. He sprayed the stage with rose petals as he took a few bouquets and played his guitar with them during “Affair of the Heart” and the Sammy Hagar penned “I’ve Done Everything for You.” He made his way through the crowd for “Human Touch” and closed with his encore of “Jessie’s Girl.”
On my way home, I happen to have the “80’s on 8” station on and heard Rick Springfield’s “Working Class DJ” show. He was saying that how terrible of a DJ he was and is such a better musician so please come out to see him play to really know the difference. Well, I can’t comment on his DJ’ing skills but as a musician, he is still performing at a very high level. The show was terrific, and he is showing he has many more miles left in the tank!
Setlists:
Rick Springfield setlist:
I’ll Make You Happy
Affair of the Heart
I’ve Done Everything For You
Living In Oz/Bop Til You Drop/Souls/Two Tickets to Paradise
What’s Victoria’s Secret?/What Kind of Fool Am I/Rock of Life (medley)
Love Is Alright Tonight
World Start Turning
State of the Heart
Don’t Talk To Strangers
Love Somebody
Human Touch
Encore:
Jessie’s Girl
John Waite setlist:
Change
Midnight Rendezvous
Every Time I Think Of You
When I See You Smile
Missing You
Head First
Back on My Feet Again
Whole Lotta Love
Wang Chung setlist:
Fire in the Twilight
To Live and Die in LA
Let’s Go
Dance Hall Days
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Everybody Have Fun Tonight
Paul Young setlist:
Some People
I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
Come Back and Stay
Every time You Go Away
We would like to thank Jordan Oscar from Artpark for the credentials to review the show.
