Finch Platte
06-27-2004, 09:45 AM
Yup, against Dave G's advice, my friend Robert & I went to see K-K-K-Kansas at the county fair Friday night. The lowdown is as follows:
Parking: $5. Entrance into the fair: $8 (the show was free w/ the admittance charge). Metal detectors and security confiscated my keychain knife, with its whopper of an inch-and-a-half blade, never to be seen again. We were there early enough (the show started at 8) to get a couple of beers ($3) from the Bud booth (arrrgh), and find seating in the metal grandstands in the back of the outdoor venue. Not too far away- just far enough where we couldn't see the wrinkles on the aging prog-rockers' faces.
They came out promptly at 8 (thank you!), starting off the proceedings with 'It's You' from Masques. The crowd went sedate, standing only for the better part of the first song, and then again for the encore 50 minutes later. 'Belexes,' 'Miracles Out Of Nowhere,' 'Icarus,' 'Hold On,' 'Down The Road' and more moldies led into the encore of 'Dust In The Wind' and 'Carrion My Wayward Son.'
We were both pleased with the show. It could have been a disaster, as Dave G predicted, but it was a very good show. We had expected the worst from Steve Walsh's vocals, as we had heard bad things- how he couldn't hit the high notes and it was strained, but he was fine. Rich Williams' had an incredibly meaty guitar tone, altho he seemed the oldest of the group by the way he moved cautiously around his little part of the stage. I guess only having one eye doesn't help, eh? Robby Steinhardt on violin and vocals was the manic presence onstage, seemingly in several places at once and slashing the bow thru the air, accenting parts of songs (I wonder if that's how Rich lost the eye?) ;) . New guy Billy Greer on bass was competent, standing on his little pedestal for the whole set and adding occasional background vocals.
To me, Phil Ehart (drums) was a pleasant surprise. I'd always thought of him as a rather timid (albeit precise) player, but Friday night, he was hitting hard and fast. Good chops.
Some guy with a God-awful silver mullet was strolling thru the crowd before the show. Robert joked that it was Kerry Livgren hoping he could hop onstage at some point and rejoin his ex-band mates. Ewwwww. What posesses people to get haircuts like this? :eek:
Robert and I both noticed sounds that no one onstage seemed to be doing. There were harmony guitar leads to at least one guitar solo, and mysterious keyboard embellishments fattened the sound. I garntee Walsh wasn't playin' 'em. Overall, the sound was very good. We had seen Joan Jett several years earlier, and the sound was extremely loud and distorted, so we were happy campers. We complimented the Kansas guys behind the soundboard and they were underwhelmed by the fact a couple of drunken yahoos thought the sound was good.
Many people around us were chatting throughout the whole show. Some to each other and some on cell phones. I HATE focking cell phones. People, if you want to catch up to buddies you haven't talked to in years, couldn't you do it outside the venue? Idiots.
It was a good show, and I'm glad we went.
Oh, the pig story.
After the show, we had to wander around the grounds and see what was up. Being a county fair in the middle of the world's breadbasket, there were animal exhibits, where the local 4-H'ers were priming livestock to be judged the next day. I was dying to see the pigs. Ah loooove pigs. Bristly-backed porcines, brimming with intelligence- but enough about Kansas. :D ...I had to pet them, and as I knelt, one pig snuffled at my cup of beer. I stuck a finger in the beer and rubbed it on his snout. Hey Mikey! He likes it! I gave him a couple of fingerloads, and behind me I hear "HEY! Quit it! You're gonna poison them pigs!" I turned, and behind the fence was an irate (and rightly so) woman, her eyes ablaze. She gave me a ration, and threatened to get security. "Go ahead" I mumbled, so off she went. I disposed of the beer and continued to pet the pigs. Soon enough, she showed back up, with a turbaned Sikh "security" guard. He didn't say a word- I think he was more scared of her than of me. I got up to leave, not without suggesting to her that she might want to work on honing her people skills.
That was it- we left, and the next morning, I awoke with a knife in my temple and memories of a good show, old boys.
fp
Parking: $5. Entrance into the fair: $8 (the show was free w/ the admittance charge). Metal detectors and security confiscated my keychain knife, with its whopper of an inch-and-a-half blade, never to be seen again. We were there early enough (the show started at 8) to get a couple of beers ($3) from the Bud booth (arrrgh), and find seating in the metal grandstands in the back of the outdoor venue. Not too far away- just far enough where we couldn't see the wrinkles on the aging prog-rockers' faces.
They came out promptly at 8 (thank you!), starting off the proceedings with 'It's You' from Masques. The crowd went sedate, standing only for the better part of the first song, and then again for the encore 50 minutes later. 'Belexes,' 'Miracles Out Of Nowhere,' 'Icarus,' 'Hold On,' 'Down The Road' and more moldies led into the encore of 'Dust In The Wind' and 'Carrion My Wayward Son.'
We were both pleased with the show. It could have been a disaster, as Dave G predicted, but it was a very good show. We had expected the worst from Steve Walsh's vocals, as we had heard bad things- how he couldn't hit the high notes and it was strained, but he was fine. Rich Williams' had an incredibly meaty guitar tone, altho he seemed the oldest of the group by the way he moved cautiously around his little part of the stage. I guess only having one eye doesn't help, eh? Robby Steinhardt on violin and vocals was the manic presence onstage, seemingly in several places at once and slashing the bow thru the air, accenting parts of songs (I wonder if that's how Rich lost the eye?) ;) . New guy Billy Greer on bass was competent, standing on his little pedestal for the whole set and adding occasional background vocals.
To me, Phil Ehart (drums) was a pleasant surprise. I'd always thought of him as a rather timid (albeit precise) player, but Friday night, he was hitting hard and fast. Good chops.
Some guy with a God-awful silver mullet was strolling thru the crowd before the show. Robert joked that it was Kerry Livgren hoping he could hop onstage at some point and rejoin his ex-band mates. Ewwwww. What posesses people to get haircuts like this? :eek:
Robert and I both noticed sounds that no one onstage seemed to be doing. There were harmony guitar leads to at least one guitar solo, and mysterious keyboard embellishments fattened the sound. I garntee Walsh wasn't playin' 'em. Overall, the sound was very good. We had seen Joan Jett several years earlier, and the sound was extremely loud and distorted, so we were happy campers. We complimented the Kansas guys behind the soundboard and they were underwhelmed by the fact a couple of drunken yahoos thought the sound was good.
Many people around us were chatting throughout the whole show. Some to each other and some on cell phones. I HATE focking cell phones. People, if you want to catch up to buddies you haven't talked to in years, couldn't you do it outside the venue? Idiots.
It was a good show, and I'm glad we went.
Oh, the pig story.
After the show, we had to wander around the grounds and see what was up. Being a county fair in the middle of the world's breadbasket, there were animal exhibits, where the local 4-H'ers were priming livestock to be judged the next day. I was dying to see the pigs. Ah loooove pigs. Bristly-backed porcines, brimming with intelligence- but enough about Kansas. :D ...I had to pet them, and as I knelt, one pig snuffled at my cup of beer. I stuck a finger in the beer and rubbed it on his snout. Hey Mikey! He likes it! I gave him a couple of fingerloads, and behind me I hear "HEY! Quit it! You're gonna poison them pigs!" I turned, and behind the fence was an irate (and rightly so) woman, her eyes ablaze. She gave me a ration, and threatened to get security. "Go ahead" I mumbled, so off she went. I disposed of the beer and continued to pet the pigs. Soon enough, she showed back up, with a turbaned Sikh "security" guard. He didn't say a word- I think he was more scared of her than of me. I got up to leave, not without suggesting to her that she might want to work on honing her people skills.
That was it- we left, and the next morning, I awoke with a knife in my temple and memories of a good show, old boys.
fp