Wheatheads rejoice! Another Kansas concert DVD is upon us. There's Know Place Like Home marks the 35th Anniversary of the band Kansas and it marvelously covers every period of their long and storied career.
Throughout the 1970's, Kansas were the most preeminent American, symphonic-progressive-rock band in the world, thanks to the massive success of their two breakout albums, 1976's Leftoverture, and 1977's Point Of Know Return, which both reached multi-platinum status.
Leftoverture immediately became one of my favorite albums when I first picked it up back in 1976, and it remains one of my all-time favorites to this day. The band wisely featured five of the eight songs from this masterpiece, opening the show with a powerful "Howling At The Moon," and later sending the crowd home satisfied with THE classic-rock anthem of all time, "Carry On Wayward Son." Don't believe me? Look it up in the dictionary.
The current version of Kansas still features three of its original members, Steve Walsh (vocals/keyboards), Rich Williams (guitar), and Phil Ehart (drums). Joining them are bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, who has been with the band since 1985, and violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale, who was in the band from 1991-1997, and recently returned to the fold after Robby Steinhardt split again in 2006.
With the departure of Steinhardt, Greer has effectively taken over as frontman for the band, handling all of the audience interaction. He also does a superb job with all of Steinhardt's lead vocal parts. Steve Walsh may still be the primary lead vocalist, but he is definitely no frontman, choosing instead to remain silent and stoic behind his racks of keyboards at the back of the stage. These two excellent vocalists, along with Ragsdale, easily reproduce all of Kansas' great harmony vocals of old. Walsh's vocals had begun to sound a little strained over the past couple of decades, but this is the best he has sounded in a long while.
There's Know Place Like Home was recorded on February 7th, 2009 at the White Concert Hall, on the Washburn University Campus, in their hometown of Topeka, Kansas. The band was augmented by the local, 50-member, Washburn University Symphony Orchestra, and if you have been put off by some of the other rock band-meets-symphony performances of the past, don't hesitate to give this baby a try. Most of Kansas' classic material was already very symphonic in nature to begin with, so this was one of the more blissful symphonic-rock marriages I have yet to encounter.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Nice review Paul. I was never that big a Kansas fan, but I actually really liked the solo album Livgren put out after he became a Christian. Can't remember the name of the album, but it had a couple of killer tracks with Ronnie James Dio (of all people) on vocals. I'd love to get my hands on it again if I could find it.
-Glen
2 - Paul Roy
Thanks Glen. The two albums he did with Proto-Kaw were really good too, especially the first one.
3 - Leif Rian
Looking forward to seeing and hearing this one! Kansas has always been my favorite band and with 30 live concerts under my belt this will be a first to see them with a FULL orchestra. Thanks for the great review Paul and the Album name Glen is looking for is "Seeds of Change" One of the tracks with Dio singing is "Mask of the great deciever" ROCKING tune!!