013, Tilburg, 40th ANNIVERSARY TOUR

Kansas gaf voor het 40-jarig bestaan helaas slechts één concert in Nederland. Zelfs toen bekend werd dat Steve Walsh na deze tour ging stoppen en dus voor het laatst in ons land te zien zou zijn, werd pijnlijk duidelijk hoe weinig mensen de show in Tilburg in hun agenda hadden gezet. Beneden was het weliswaar gezellig druk, maar  het balkon was gesloten. Was het wellicht de concurrentie van de grootste kermis in Europa die op enkele tientallen meters van 013 in volle gang was?

In anderhalf uur tijd deden de bandleden hun 'ding’ en dat deden ze weliswaar solide, maar echt sprankelend kon je het niet noemen. Steve Walsh was energiek bezig maar zijn stem was soms wel erg hees en zijn toetsenspel was in vroeger dagen beter verzorgd. Ook de gebruikte geluiden stemden niet overeen met de oorspronkelijke opnamen en dat heb ik ook beter gehoord bij liveshows van Kansas. Wat Rich Williams er aan kilo’s af heeft weten te krijgen, leek er bij bassist-zanger Billy Greer bij gekomen. Violist, gitarist en achtergrondzanger David Ragdale trachtte er wat schwung in te brengen, maar hij kon het wat plichtmatig aandoende optreden niet tot grote hoogten opstuwen.

Alleen bij de staande ovatie voor Walsh was er even dat zo broodnodige kippenvel. Het gespeelde materiaal kwam van de eerste vijf albums waarbij het zwaartepunt op Song For America, Leftoverture en Point Of Know Return lag. De uitzondering en tevens het meest ‘nieuwe’ nummer bleek het van origine niet eens door Walsh gezongen Fight Fire With Fire te zijn uit 1983. De overige leden van Kansas, die enige tijd geleden als Native Window een album uitbrachten, hebben laten weten dat vocalist Ronnie Platt (Shooting Star) de opvolger zal worden van Walsh. Het zal mij benieuwen of zonder de belangrijkste componisten Kerry Livgren en Steve Walsh de nieuwe bezetting met een aansprekend album voor de dag kan komen. Een van de beste vocalisten in de symfonische rock heeft de eer aan zichzelf gehouden en dat siert hem. Voor mij persoonlijk, als Kansas-fan van het eerste uur, was deze avond een heerlijke tijdreis naar het verleden en getuige het enthousiasme van de honderden aanwezigen deelden velen die opvatting.

ENGLISH:

Kansas gave only one show in the Netherlands, so I guess that tells us something about the popularity of the band from Topeka (Kansas, USA). The band are celebrating their 40^th anniversary and several weeks ago lead vocalist and keyboard player Steve Walsh announced his retirement from one of the flagships of the American progressive scene. The news barely went public or his replacement was announced: Ronnie Plat, the lead singer of Shooting Star, will be handling the vocal duties for the band starting next fall. A keyboard player will be announced shortly and the newly formed band is said to be in the recording studio next year.

To be honest: I don’t really think the biggest fair in Europe, which was going on in Tilburg around the date of this show, had anything to do with the number of fans who came to this concert. Usually 013 can harvest some 2000 people, but this evening the upper area was closed. That means somewhere between 800 and 1200 fans came to see Steve Walsh for the last time. For some reason prog loving Dutchmen never embraced Kansas like they did Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd.

From the original line up guitarist Rich Williams, drummer Phil Ehart and Steve Walsh were on stage. After the break in the eighties, when Kansas reformed with Steve Morse, Dave Hope got replaced by bassist Billy Greer (ex-Streets) who played in Steve’s band in the early eighties. Hope, I believe, is Anglican priest on staff at Immanuel Anglican Church, a member congregation of the Anglican Mission in America, in Destin, Florida. Kerry Livgren opted for a solo career and the band chose to continue as a five piece. After Robbie Steinhardt’s retirement the talented David Ragdale returned to play the violin. He had played with the band before (Live At The Whisky), does background vocals too and he plays guitar! Although the band played several tracks from their 2000 album Somewhere To Elsewhere on former occasions, as far as I know they only play ‘the old stuff’ these last years.

The show in 013 was no exception. All the songs came from the first five albums, only one of the encores came from Drastic Measures (1983): Fight Fire With Fire, a hit in many countries, but a song originally sung by John Elefante. Although the evening turned out to be a glorious trip down memory lane, the show went by like a smooth wind. Dave Ragdale was the only one trying to get something going and although Steve Walsh came down and away from his keyboards on selected occasions, it didn’t look as if the band were really trying to impress. Richard Williams, still getting thinner while Billy Greer is growing bigger, managed to have a smile on his face once and Greer didn’t seem to be eager to ‘rock’ with Ragdale. Obligatory is not the right word perhaps, but only the ovation for Steve Walsh was a moment for getting goose bumps. Hearing Steve Walsh sing on this night, my impression was ‘I’ve heard (much) worse’ but his vocal abilities were nowhere near what he used to be able to achieve in the seventies and eighties. His retirement comes as a relief for the man himself and surely he made his imprints in rock music. He is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable voices in symphonic rock!

So, being a huge fan of Kansas from the early seventies onwards, it was great to hear some of the best tunes they ever recorded, however Walsh’ keyboard playing was somewhat sloppy and Williams has never been able to play the guitar like Kerry Livgren used to do. In my opinion they do miss a second lead guitarist and though Williams played beautifully and Ragdale plays guitar as well, it doesn’t sound like Two For The Show. Greer’s vocal is also weakening a bit and added the fact that the whole show lasted only one hour and a half, it was all over much too quickly. Still the hundreds of fans were quite enthusiastic and naturally wanted more, but the gesture Phil Ehart made meant something like ‘yeah sure you want more, but you can forget it’.

Without their main songwriters Livgren and Walsh and remembering Native Window’s offering which was okay, but hardly comparable to any Kansas album, it remains to be seen whether the new additions to the band can help to produce a strong album, doing justice to the reputation of this great band. Maybe Ronnie Platt and his new companion on keyboards can bring back some of the old spirit the band used to have!   

Setlist: Mysteries Of Mayhem/Lamplight Symphony, The Wall, Point Of Know Return, Song For America, Hold On, Dust In The Wind, Cheyenne Anthem, Belexes, Icarus,  Miracles Out Of Nowhere, Down The Road, Portrait (He Knew). 

Encores: Fight Fire With Fire, Carry On Wayward Son.