Midwest Rock N Roll Express Tour (Styx, REO, Nugent) - Grand Rapids MI

[SteveSly]

Saw this show on Tuesday night in Grand Rapids Michigan. For classic rock fans this was a great bargain. Tickets were only $37 for a lower bowl side arena ticket, and you basically got a 4 hour show with 3 headliners. Styx opened things up and were great as usual. They did a around an hour set of all oldies. They were full of energy and sounded great. REO was up next and they probably had the biggest overall crowd reaction. For the most part they stuck to their more rocking stuff which was cool by me. The occasional mushy ballad made for perfect pee break time. One highlight for me was when they pulled out “Golden Country” which IMO is one of their all time great tunes. “Riding The Storm Out” is always a blast live too. Like Styx it was all oldies with nothing beyond the 80’s played. Ted Nugent headlined. I think the Michigan shows are the only ones on the tour where he is headlining, so he had a much more striped down production than the other two bands, but got more stage time. Ted played and sang great, but he is definitely not the “Motor City Madman” of his younger days. He pretty much stayed in the same spot on stage most of the night and did very little running around even though he had a headset mike on. It was cool to see the original Nugent band back together with Derek St. Holmes on vocals and guitar. His voice is still great. Ted kept the political rants to a minimum which I appreciated. He was the only one on the bill who played anything beyond the 80’s, pulling out “Fred Bear” for his second to last number. My only real criticism of the show was all 3 bands were incredibly loud. I have nothing against loud concerts, but this was a 12,000 seat arena and it just seemed to be way over amplified making for a distorted muddy sound all night. My ears were definitely feeling it the next day. I could have used more of Styx and less of the other two bands, but overall it was just a fun good time rock n roll show.

Steve Sly

[SteveSly]

Here are some youtube shots of the show:

Styx:



REO:



Ted (short clip is all I could find, but you get the idea.....):

[ronmac]

My only real criticism of the show was all 3 bands were incredibly loud. I have nothing against loud concerts, but this was a 12,000 seat arena and it just seemed to be way over amplified making for a distorted muddy sound all night. My ears were definitely feeling it the next day.

What is it with today's sound crews? Do they ever step out into the crowd to actually hear what they're doing?

[SteveSly]

What is it with today's sound crews? Do they ever step out into the crowd to actually hear what they're doing?

I have seen this before in smaller arenas. The crews seem to set up the same size sound system that they use in the 20,000 seaters. This particular arena actually can have very good acoustics, but this show was just rediculous. I expected Ted to be loud as he has always been a eardrum blower, but the other two bands this has never been typical from my experiences with them, and Styx may have been the loudest of the 3.

Steve Sly

[Cuz]

If this tour ever came to the Northeast, I would definitely check it out. During Reo Speedwagon's set I would walk around.

[JKL2000]

Were there a lot of guys in the crowd going "Whoooo!" really loud?

I could have used more of Styx and less of the other two bands

Yeah, I'll bet!

[Jerjo]

I haven't seen REO since the early 80s but I saw them several times back in the day. And each time they were ear-splitting. Damn, I miss Richrath and that fat tone of his.

[SteveSly]

If this tour ever came to the Northeast, I would definitely check it out. During Reo Speedwagon's set I would walk around.

I still have a soft spot for REO. A lot of people don’t remember that before hitting it really big with the “High Infidelity” album, REO was simply a kick ass Midwestern rock n roll band. I still think that some of their pre “High” albums are outstanding, especially “REO II”, “You Get What You Play For”, and “You Can Tune A Piano But Can’t Tuna Fish”. “High Infidelity” changed things and I still don’t care for most of that one. The albums that came after were hit and miss with some good stuff and some fluff. Their current lineup (which has been together now for 23 years) are a very tight professional live unit and can really rock when they want to. I don’t like all of their stuff, but live they are still a lot of fun. I have probably seen them a dozen times over the years.

Steve Sly

[SteveSly]

Were there a lot of guys in the crowd going "Whoooo!" really loud?



Yeah, I'll bet!

Yea, there was quite a bit of that, but it was really a pretty mixed crowd. Even though the band’s came out of the same era they are all quite different, and draw different people. Pretty much all age ranges too. Nugent (especially in Michigan) tends to draw a lot of more redneck looking folks (I saw more than a few NRA T-shirts), biker dudes, and metal heads, REO seemed to be the favorite of most of the women (of which there were a lot), and Styx, somewhat surprisingly to me seemed to be the favorite of the younger people. In fact Styx T-shirts appeared to be far the most popular among the under 30 crowd. Anyway, yea it was pretty much your typical aging rocker crowd.

Steve Sly

[SteveSly]

I haven't seen REO since the early 80s but I saw them several times back in the day. And each time they were ear-splitting. Damn, I miss Richrath and that fat tone of his.

Richrath certainly had his own unique style, and it is really too bad that he could not keep his shit together. He is one of my favorite guitarists from that era. Dave Amato does a great job with REO now, but yea no one sounds quite like Richrath.

Steve Sly

[SteveSly]

Here are the Setlists:

STYX:

Blue Collar Man
The Grand Illusion
Fooling Yourself
Lady
Light Up
Too Much Time On My Hands
Come Sail Away

Encore:

Rockin The Paradise
Renegade

REO SPEEDWAGON:

Don’t Let Him Go
Take It On The Run
Keep Pushing
Golden Country
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Time For Me To Fly
Back On The Road Again
Roll With The Changes
Keep On Loving You
Riding The Storm Out

TED NUGENT:

Wango Tango
Just What The Doctor Ordered
Wang Dang Sweet Poontang
Turn It Up
Free For All
Stormtroopin
Chuck Berry / 50’s Medley
Hey Baby
Live It Up
Cat Scratch Fever
Stranglehold
Great White Buffalo
Fred Bear

[JKL2000]

Goddamn, Nugent is a douche. Just from those titles. Keep on Lovin You is the only one of the REO titles I know. Did people hold up lighters for that? Styx is like Magma compared to those two bands. No offense, Steve, I'm sure REO was fun.

[SteveSly]

I actually went and took a piss and got a beer during “Keep On Loving You”. As soon as he hit those first chords on the piano I had already planned that it would bathroom break time. There were a few lighters held up when Styx did “Light Up”, but probably more cell phones. Regarding Nugent, yea subtlety is not something he does in his lyrics. It is probably more of a nostalgia thing for me since growing up in Michigan in the 70’s, Nugent was second only to Bob Seger in popularity. They were both just huge here during that time period.

Steve Sly

[ronmac]

Regarding Nugent, yea subtlety is not something he does in his lyrics.

Neither is maturity. Don't get me wrong, I used to listen to Ted endlessly when I was in high school and shortly thereafter. But I lost interest, even long before he decided to make a colossal ass of himself.

[JKL2000]

There were a few lighters held up when Styx did “Light Up”,