LOVERBOY, REO AND STYX – FREEDOM MORTGAGE PAVILION AT CAMDEN NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 13, 2022
BY: Steve Trager
Many of us music fans have relished in our youth surrounding the decades of the eighties with many of the bands we grew up listening to from the likes of Vinyl to even that road trip cassette that has long seen its shelf life surpass a milestone of being out played. The days of MTV and its blissful memories of videos that made plenty of us hungry to see live bands as kids.
Much of our musical fascination between lyrics and melodies have intertwined tightly among bands that many say are not relevant of today, yet they still are cranking out new CD’S on a yearly basis even if we sometimes still think we admire them for only their hit makers way back in the day that still shines brighter than hundreds of songs of today.
Popularity is just one side of every coin in rock and roll and growing up listing to some debut record for the first time was like a mind blowing experience enough to still want to see every classic rock band still selling out seats no matter the trek to catch a live show.
While we waited for more than two plus years for some of our greatest bands to come around and celebrate music and its finest gift of life to anyone who lived for live music, the summer of 2022 has been nothing short of stellar with shows etched in every block filling up of faster than a things to do list it became quite clear that music was alive and well and ready to be unveiled.
If one band separately wouldn’t fix your need for arena rock them let’s put three on the same stage and bring the party to the stage like it’s 1985 all over again and that’s exactly what thousands certainly shared with the likes of Canadian Rockers LOVERBOY along side of a revolving co headliner set with STYX and REO SPEEDWAGON recently as part of the Live and Un-zoomed Tour that set the tone for a great evening at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in the back yards of Camden New Jersey.
Opening the show LOVERBOY wasted no time pulling out several hits dating as far back as their debut album. In their hay day as some say I was way too young to see this band when they were selling out arenas by themselves but can remember collecting some amazing records of one of rocks best imports from the shores of Canada.
With a ton of hits and the magic moments that truly captivated this band from day one LOVERBOY could have piled in a few more of those number one’s back in the day that made rock radio speakers boom with but the three chart toppers were “Lucky Ones”, “Queens of the Broken Hearts” and “The Kid is Hot Tonight” rounding out a great eight songs.
Mike Reno’s voice still as sharp as ever and still sounds like the first song I heard “Turn Me Loose”
The entire original lineup still brings the heat with everyone’s favorite like its Friday night we all are “Working for the Weekend” one of the biggest hits of their set certain sent chills through the air.
Having to admit of never ever seeing them live other than through the power of YouTube Concerts and videos, it was nothing short of great to finally check off a band as a kid now saying I’ve seen LOVERBOY for the first time and hopes it won’t be the last.
I absolutely love quick change over’s, and the blue backdrop rolls down and says REO SPEEDWAGON in bold letters, lights flashing and then the siren sounds, and the show gets going once again with one of rock’s most beloved bands of the eighties. While the set list consisted of all
the favorites and those power ballads like “Keep on Loving You” and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” were the highlights of the evening yet songs like “Riding The Storm Out” and “Roll with the Changes” still bring the band to their finest degree during their recent show in Camden NJ.
You might think bands that get old lose the ability to carry their weight with every single song ever written well front man Kevin Cronin delivers the goods at the ripe age of 70, nothing slows this guy down still running around the stage and performing like he is still in his twenties.
REO has never disappointed with their captivating live show experiences time after time.
Just knowing they have released a bunch of new material but never once snuck in a new song and made you think is this one I never heard? Well honestly I would rather hear the older songs that made them an elite arena rock band in the first place then sitting through a seventy-five minute set of a few hits and a bunch of songs from CD’S released several years back.
It wouldn’t have mattered if either band closed the show but with a co-headliner set from each band each night taking turns isn’t an option and with STYX closing out the Live and Unzoomed Tour was nothing short of spectacular and are currently a six piece band with an proud new addition on backing vocals and guitar Will Evankovich who also produced and played on the bands Newest CD entitled Crash of The Crown.
With an all new stage production and a brilliant display of lights, STYX opened their set with “Fight for Our Lives” from 2021’s Crash of The Crown roaring right into “Blue Collar Man” from 1978’s Pieces of Eight. While Styx still continues to release new material hand over fist, we come to expect to hear some new songs tossed to round out the set list that featured Will Evankovich on lead guitar.
“Light Up”, “Sound the Alarm”, and “Crash the Crown”.
It’s definitely been about a solid ten years since STYX played the east coast then again been a while since we all had a taste in live music since 2020, and that being in the rear-view mirror, it is a tremendous experience to be in that live mood setting with a great band we all loved and grew up with from the seventies right on through to today.
Many of the timeless favorites still a big part of their set list “The Grand Illusion” and “Lady” from 1973’s release of Styx II and those two gems never sounded better this time around with all the harmonies on backing vocals.
Throughout this entire show not just with STYX closing the show and with band mates REO SPEEDWAGON sharing the stage with Canadian rockers LOVERBOY bring back the youthful sounds of our yesterdays making our music fantasies come back to life with all the greatness this triple band tour had to offer, great music, fun times with friends and not to mention a stage production that was a visual spectacle.
One thing is for sure, classic rock like this never ever gets old no matter how many times you can see a band perform live it’s like the first time all over again!
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