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Kansas in Dallas Pennsylvania (August 12th)

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Topic: Kansas in Dallas Pennsylvania (August 12th)
Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Subject: Kansas in Dallas Pennsylvania (August 12th)
Date Posted: August 15 2016 at 11:40
I flew home from a trip to China on Wednesday and then had to fly down to Atlanta on Thursday, arriving home Friday morning before leaving Saturday morning for Europe.  In between I had enough time at home to swap out suitcases, mow my lawn, and catch a Kansas concert.  Well worth the ensuing jet lag.  

Kansas appeared at Misericordia College's 'Under the Stars' summer concert series in Dallas Pennsylvania.  Hard to believe I live in a town of about 6,000 people and Kansas showed up to play just 500 yards from my front door!

This is the first time I've seen the Williams/Ehart/Greer/Ragsdale/Manion/Platt/Rizvi lineup.  I was skeptical but have to say the band sounded and looked better than I've seen them in quite some time, and I've seen them six times in just the past fifteen years (eight times total dating to the late seventies).  Ronnie Platt sounds and acts a lot like Steve Walsh but given he's quite a bit younger than Walsh and appears to have taken a bit better care of himself, he can hit a lot of the notes Walsh wasn't able to in his last few years with the band.

The crowd was small and mostly my age (50+), but I was pleasantly surprised at the number of teens and 20-somethings who were there and mouthing along to many of the songs - and not just 'Carry on' and 'Dust'!  Two of my sons made the trek home from college and along with assorted their girlfriends, my wife and some other hangers-on we had a decent entourage trekking over the grassy knoll for the outdoor concert.  There was a torrential rainstorm about three hours before the show but things cleared up by the time the band came out and the night was a bit muggy but overall pretty pleasant except for the drone that hung above us for most of the show despite every effort from the campus police to locate its owner.

The set list was interesting.  I was a little surprised that 1) there were no previews from the upcoming new album 'The Prelude Implicit', 2) there were no songs from 'Somewhere to Elsewhere', and 3) there were more 80s tunes than I expected.  Overall though the band sounded tight.  They clearly enjoyed themselves and interacted with the crowd more than the last few times I've seen them.  Zak Rizvi finally gives Rich Williams some relief from having to play both lead and rhythm guitar, something he did the last few years but had to be taxing on him.  And BTW Rich has lost a ton of weight and looks as good as I've seen him since probably the eighties.  

Point of Know Return
Paradox
Play the Game Tonight
The Wall
Reason to Be (great version!)
Dust in the Wind
Miracles out of Nowhere
Icarus - Borne on Wings of Steel
Closet Chronicles
Hold On
Down the Road
He Knew
Sparks of the Tempest
Fight Fire with Fire (why?)
Carry on my Wayward Son (encore)

Dave Manion is not the same caliber of keyboardist as Steve Walsh, but he was pretty good and seemed to be having a great time on stage.  Phil Ehart was rock solid as usual, and Ragsdale's violin is as good as it has ever been despite a bit of a rough patch early when he seemed to have a bit of a struggle getting into the groove.  Billy Greer interacted with the crowd a lot, picking up the slack from what Robbie Steinhardt used to do when he was still with the band.

Some of the old stuff like 'Closet Chronicles' and 'He Knew' hasn't aged all that well and I can sort of understand why some European prog fans don't have the same level of respect for the band as North and South Americans do, but it was still a treat to hear those old tunes and watch all the tipsy old men and women boogying down at the front of the stage.  The highlight of the evening IMHO was a ripping version of 'Down the Road' that totally threw off the younger crowd but had old geezers like me bouncing in our seats and air-guitaring with abandon Tongue

All in all a great evening, small crowd (maybe 2,000) but well worth the time and I can say with confidence that if you are still a fan you will more than likely enjoy seeing this lineup if you get a chance.

Carry on!




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"Peace is the only battle worth waging."

Albert Camus



Replies:
Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: August 15 2016 at 17:57
You got "Reason to Be" and "Closet Chronicles."  I wouldn't be complaining about "Fight Fire with Fire." 


Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: August 15 2016 at 17:59
Who sang lead on "Down the Road?"


Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: August 15 2016 at 20:09
Platt and Greer split vocals on that one but it was mostly Platt. You're right of course, a few 80s turds are a small price to offset them bringing back some old and underplayed stuff, especially "Reason to Be". I wonder if "Nobody's Home" or "The Pilgrimage" might make an appearance somewhere on the tour as well?

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"Peace is the only battle worth waging."

Albert Camus


Posted By: Epignosis
Date Posted: August 16 2016 at 08:46
Since we're wishing, maybe they'll find the fortitude to give "The Pinnacle" a go.


Posted By: Enchant X
Date Posted: August 20 2016 at 00:56
The new KANSAS Studio CD is soon to be released , samples of it I have heard I really like.


Posted By: ClemofNazareth
Date Posted: August 20 2016 at 01:33
Originally posted by Epignosis Epignosis wrote:

Since we're wishing, maybe they'll find the fortitude to give "The Pinnacle" a go.


Funny, both of my kids who were at the concert said the same thing. Not sure what it is about that song but it really begs to be performed live.

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"Peace is the only battle worth waging."

Albert Camus


Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: September 15 2016 at 06:58
College Misecordia! Why not the Wyoming Seminary.....or at the Hoppy Road Tavern in Falls.....or Harvey's Lake.....or the Wyoming Valley Mall......or out in Back Mountain?  Naticoke.....Newton-Ransom.....Shickshinny......Noxen.......Tunkhannock.  Was the show filmed by WDAU, TV 22.....were Derry Byrd and Debbie Dunleavy on hand?  Did Manny Gordon give the, "Enjoy, enjoy" salute to the crowd? Did Miss Judy from the Land of Hatchy Milatchy make an appearance?  Did you drive up the line to get Old Forge pizza after the show?  Man, I wish I had me a tray of Rievello's red right now.  Or one of those pickles from Joe Paluka's diner in Wilkes-Barre. 


You know, Kansas has graced the "backyard" on plenty of occasions.....when I was a kid, they played the old Ghost Town in the Glenn; they played the Bloomsburg Fair; they played at Montage; they played the Sherman in Stroudsburg.....and I know they played the Jordan Center when I was at PSU.  It seems the area is becoming a trendy place now that NYC has basically extended into NEPA.  Haven't lived in the area since graduating from State College in 1988, but my heart is there everyday. 




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I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....


Posted By: Intruder
Date Posted: September 15 2016 at 07:04
And that picture.....Kansas under the NEPA stars - you and your boys are lucky to be able to make a living in the area.  I remember seeing the Marshall Tucker Band at Misecordia when visiting the family a few years back.....great place for live music; wish they'd more aggressively court quality music for their summer program. 


To b*****dize the Floyd, Wish I Were There.




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I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....



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