United We Rock Tour featuring Styx, Foreigner & Kansas
Black Oak Mountain Amphitheater
Lampe, Missouri
July 3, 2010
By Jeb
Wright
Kansas
Setlist:
Point of Know Return | Miracles Out of Nowhere | Hold On | Dust
In the Wind | Icarus – Borne On Wings of Steel | Portrait (He
Knew) | Fight Fire With Fire | Carry On Wayward Son
Foreigner
Setlist:
Double Vision | Head Games | Cold As Ice | Can’t Slow Down |
Dirty White Boy | In Pieces | Starrider | Feels Like the First
Time | Urgent | I Want to Know What Love Is | Hot Blooded | Juke
Box Hero
Styx Setlist:
Medley: Borrowed Time/Superstars/Mr. Roboto/Rockin’ the
Paradise/Pieces of Eight | The Grand Illusion | Too Much Time On
My Hands | Lady | Lorelei | High Enough | Suite: Madame Blue |
Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man) | Miss America | Come Sail
Away
Encore:
Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) | Renegade
The final
night of the United We Rock tour was held at the Black
Oak Amphitheater in Lampe, Missouri, a stone’s throw from
beautiful Table Rock Lake. The 4th of July weekend
was festive and a crowd of classic rockers showed up to
celebrate a night of hits featuring the bands Kansas, Foreigner
and Styx. While the crowd was far from capacity, those who made
the trip were loud, rowdy and ready to rock.
It was clear
from the beginning that both band and crew were in a celebratory
mood. You never quite know what will happen on the final night
of a tour and this night was no exception. The opening band,
Kansas, took the stage at 7:00 pm and delivered an eight-song
set that brought the crowd to their feet.
The only
drawback to these classic rock triple bills is that one band
gets really screwed on stage time. Kansas is a band that is
best with an hour and a half to two hours on stage. The
45-minute set barely got them warmed up. That said, Kansas
continue to be a powerhouse live act and they were a good draw
to get people to the venue on time. The band opened with the
classic “Point of Know Return” and then followed with ‘greatest
hits’ set. “Miracles Out of Nowhere” is a technically brilliant
song and the energy at the end of the tune got the crowd
excited. “Hold On” and “Dust In the Wind” were both met with
applause. Fan favorite “Icarus – Borne On Wings of Steel” from
the groups’ third album, Masque, had the Wheatheads in
the audience shouting for more.
“Portrait
(He Knew)” from Point of Know Return featured some end of
tour antics by the band’s tour manager and other members of the
crew. During the musical break where drummer Phil Ehart plays
fills between the melody lines, the crew members lined up on the
side of the stage and hit their heads with their hands as Phil
hit the drums. Later in the song, where the beat gets strong
and rocks hard, they did a dance that ended with an ‘up yours’
gesture. Laughter was seen from band, crew and audience. The
set ended with “Fight Fire With Fire” and the classic “Carry On
Wayward Son.” Kansas, as usual, put on a great show and gave it
their all despite the short time on stage and being in the
opening slot.
Next up was
Foreigner. The band only has one founding member, guitarist
Mick Jones. While he has done a meticulous job of hiring
sound-alike musicians, one does not quite get the Foreigner
concert experience of yesteryear. It is odd seeing an older guy
surrounded by younger guys on stage. It seems to shout out,
loud and clear, that this is Mick’s band and the rest are just a
bunch of hired guns.
While that
may be a drawback visually, one must give Jones applause for
picking musicians that can truly replicate the sound of the
classic material. It may not look like Foreigner but it sure as
hell sounds like them. And the setlist they have to work with
contains huge hit after huge hit, only interrupted by two new
songs, “Can’t Slow Down” and “In Pieces” from the band’s new
CD/DVD release, Can’t Slow Down.”
The concert
kicked off with the band trotting out “Double Vision,” “Head
Games” and “Cold As Ice” – not a bad way to start a gig. Other
classics included “Feels Like the First Time,” “Urgent” and “Hot
Blooded.” Mick took the microphone from Lou Gramm’s
replacement, Kelly Hanson, for the fan favorite “Starrider” from
Foreigner’s self-titled debut.
During “I
Want to Know What Live Is” the entire road crew took the stage,
along with Tommy Shaw of Styx, for the chorus. The final tune
of the set was “Juke Box Hero” which featured a very corny video
on the big screen. The video was out of date, cheesy and
actually took away from the power of the song. At the end of
the day, however, Foreigner, led by Mick Jones, did not
disappoint. Jones has worked hard to resurrect the band and
with the new album, tour and sound coming from this version of
the band, he has succeeded. He is not under the pretense that
this is equal to the glory days or that this version is supposed
to replace the original. He is content to know that he has a
top-notch band that can deliver the songs they way they were
intended to be played.
The tour
headliner, Styx, took the stage and played a set filled with
classic rock staples. The group started off with a quick medley
that included “Borrowed Time” from 1979’s Cornerstone,
followed by The Grand Illusion’s “Superstars” and the
number one smash from the 80’s “Mr. Roboto.” Also included in
the medley were “Rockin’ the Paradise” and “Pieces of Eight.”
Styx gave the crowd a history lesson in 70’s rock with “The
Grand Illusion,” “Lady” and “Lorelei.” Tommy Shaw’s classic
80’s tune “Too Much Time On My Hands” was also played and the
ladies in the audience sang along with every word.
Next up was a tip of the hat to Shaw’s band the Damn Yankees.
Styx delivered a stellar version of “High Enough” that had cell
phones and lighters lighting up the evening sky. Foreigner
vocalist Kelly Hanson ran on stage and helped Tommy out with the
chorus as well. Styx went back to their 70’s roots once again
and delivered a batch of songs that had the elder Styx fanatics
wetting their pants. Styx ended the evening with “Suite: Madame
Blue,” “Fooling Yourself (Angry Young Man),” “ Miss America” and
“Come Sail Away.” The crowd was not ready for the evening to
end and called the band back for two classics from Pieces of
8 for the encore, “Blue Collar Man” and “Renegade.”
Styx played
well…very well. While every joke, antic and word spoken to the
crowd is pure shtick, Styx plays it off well and makes the
audience feel that it was said just for them. They reproduce
the same set night after night, but as tonight proved, practice
makes perfect.
The
United We Rock tour was a success and one could actually
tell the bands and crews genuinely liked each other. Backstage
members of each band talked with each other and the road crews
were all smiles. The evening was a living testament to a time
when the music mattered most. One left the show feeling better
about life than when they entered the venue and that is what a
great live concert experience is all about.
