KANSAS Shepherd's Bush Empire, London 12th June 2005
How long have I waited to see this band play the UK? Too long!
After discovering the delights of this band back in 1985 whilst at
school, I have been waiting for a chance to see then live ever
since. Bar shows at US air force bases (which are of course private
gigs) the UK hasn't seen the band play live since 1980. It was a
packed Empire - great to see such a good turn out. But first up we
had a young three piece blues rock trio called Divided By Three.
They played a good set of solid rock with the odd slow blues number
thrown in. Not earth shattering by any means but enjoyable and they
went down well with the crowd.
Kansas took to the stage to rapturous applause and the line-up
still features four members of the classic 70's line-up - Steve
Walsh (vocals/keyboards), Robby Steinhardt (vocals/violin), Phil
Ehart (drums and Rich Williams (guitar). Joining them are `new boy'
bassist Billy Greer, whose been with the band now for nearly twenty
years. Not a song recorded after 1980 was aired (shame really as
they made some damn fine albums in the 80's & 90's) with some of my
personal favourites on display like `Opus Insert' and a truly
stunning version of `Miracles Out Of Nowhere'. The epic `Magnum
Opus' went down well with the crowd and you just sat back and
marvelled at the sheer musical skill on display. Robby Steinhardt in
particular took the front man role well (looking uncannily like a
long haired Oliver Reed!), with Steve Walsh content just to belt out
the songs and add his distinctive keyboards. Sound wise it was good
although the keyboards did get drowned out in parts but hey this was
a memorable gig and I am over the moon to finally get to see the
band live.
Encore time was `Dust In the Wind' and a truly magnificent run
through `Carry On My Wayward Son'. After a finale like that you
couldn't really follow it with another song. Sadly they only played
for just over 90 minutes but hopefully they won't leave it so long
next time as I will be near retirement age and the band will be in
their 80's!
Belexes
Paradox
Opus Insert
Miracles Out of Nowhere
Icarus
Magnum Opus
Song For America
The Wall
Bringin' It Back
Portrait (He Knew)
Point Of Know Return
Encores -
Dust In The Wind
Carry On Wayward Son
Article comments
1 - Paul Roy
Glad you finally got to see Kansas. I have seen them a couple of times since 2000 and they sound as good as ever. It is great to have Robby Steinhardt back in the band. It just wasn't Kansas without him. I hope to see some more new material from them, as their last one 2000's Somewhere To Elsewhere, done with Kerry Livgren, was great.
2 - pdrums777
three piece blues rock trio called Divided By Three
i went to buy theirt cd afterwards but had sold out, are they still going or any footage of the gig?